"When the Son of Man comes...

in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him... and he will put his sheep at his right hand... Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'" Matthew 25:31-36 NRSV Heard a message at church today from a missionary named Ron Bueno. He is co-director of a group in Central America named ENLACE. Their mission is to extend Christian love to the community, through the local church, in concrete and tangible means. For example, they may provide the means for purified water to be brought into a local mountain community where the children are ravaged by parasites. They may help establish local single mothers or widows in employment endeavors that bring food into their households. The point is, they show that they care for the people and that, as Greg Koukl is fond of saying, the people are not important just because they are "gospel fodder." Ron's father, John Bueno, founded Latin America ChildCare forty years ago. It's an organization that teaches the Word of God, provides schooling, a hot meal, and medical care for children throughout Latin America. Through its evangelistic outreach it has laid the foundation for groups such as ENLACE. Check out their websites and consider donating time or money to these ministries. Note that some of the people that ENLACE ministers to make as little as $1 a day. Does your morning cup of coffee matter that much?

Davis out...

After 5 Years, Davis Leaves a Lasting Imprint: The outgoing governor's legacy includes laws on health care and gay rights, Indian gaming and limits on auto emissions... so says the L.A. Times editorial. Lasting Imprint?... yeah, they got that right. They say, "Davis repeatedly called education his "first, second and third priority." Over the last five years, Davis and the Legislature spent an additional $9 billion on kindergarten through high school education. The state will spend $6,887 per pupil this year, almost 20% more than the $5,757 spent in 1998-99. The National Education Assn. places California 29th in per pupil spending, up from 43rd when Davis took office. California teachers are the highest paid in the nation." Translation: We've spent more money. How about a look at where California students score academically as compared to the rest of the nation? Why do you think that data is conveniently missing from the editorial? "Davis signed 447 bills backed by organized labor, according to the Senate Labor Committee." I was wondering why so many companies are leaving California! "Davis signed gambling agreements with Indian tribes in 1999, his first year in office, and voters ratified the deals. Since then, Indian casinos' revenue, closely guarded by most tribes, has risen from an estimated $1.5 billion in 1999 to about $5 billion a year." Is there anyone out there who still doesn't understand why McClintock got money from the Indian casinos? "Davis, a cautious and moderate politician, took a leadership role on gay-rights issues. It was one area in which he consistently agreed to bold changes. Critics called his expansion of domestic partner rights an attack on the institution of marriage — and a subversion of Proposition 22, a successful 2000 ballot measure that defined marriage as between a man and a woman." And the "critics" were right! I wonder if the Democrats in Sacramento have gotten the message sent by the voters last month? It's pretty obvious that the Times hasn't.

The Chicago way...

Remember Sean Connery in the fictional account of Eliot Ness' Untouchables a few years ago? He was instructing Ness, played by Kevin Costner, on tactics... Chicago tactics to be specific. Connery's character, a beat cop, told Ness that the only way to win against the likes of Al Capone was to fight him 'the Chicago way.' The cop says something along the line of, "If he hurts one of your guys, you send two of his to the morgue! That's the Chicago way." Fictional or not, there's a lot to be said for that line of reasoning. It's tremendously reassuring to see the U.S. military taking that route in its reaction to Iraqi terrorists. In fact, it's gone beyond a "reaction." U.S. military forces are now actively seeking out terrorist cells, whether in response to terrorist activities, or due to intelligence data. Powerline blog references an article by the Washington Times with regards to Israel's use of these tactics. In Israeli warns of terrorist training, Rowan Scarborough explains that an October bombing, by Israeli jets, of an Islamic Jihad terror camp near Damascus also included one of the jets buzzing one President Assad's palaces. I would imagine that the pilot probably also waved his hand in a not-so-friendly manner. Even a fanatic would get the message. The article also states, "Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said yesterday terrorist bases in Lebanon are training some of the foreign fighters who are moving into Iraq to kill American troops. Asked whether Hezbollah is training recruits to enter Iraq, Mr. Mofaz said, "They train them to be terrorists. To what directions [they are] sending them is a different question. Part of them, I believe, are going to Iraq."" I spoke with a Marine who was on the front lines in Iraq and he confirmed that they raided abandoned camps littered with Hezbollah paraphenalia, as well as finding chemical weapon facilities. In an earlier post I referenced Israel's attack on a nuclear reactor under construction in Iraq before it was capable of producing WMD material. The article also references this attack and states, "In 1981, Israel gave a demonstration of what would become President Bush's policy of pre-emption in the global war on terrorism. Israel F-16s bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor before it could go on line and produce nuclear bomb-making material." 1981 was 22 years ago. NOTE: Israel is still fighting its war on terror. As President Bush stated just after 9/11, this war will be long.

Baby Huey and Carl's Jr...

I thought that Carl's Jr. (fast food chain mainly in the west) could do no worse than when it utilized Dennis Rodman in it's commercials a few years ago. But they have. Hugh Hefner graces the T.V. screen now in a commercial for the fast food chain. In the ad Huey rambles on about not being able to pick a "favorite" because he loves "them all." We then cut to some quick clips of a few bimbos pondering the question, "just how can Hugh choose?" Of course, he's talking about the myriad of burger choices he has at Carl's Jr... but the off color humor is obvious. The commercial closes with the words, "Some guys don't like the same thing night after night." Now, lots of families grab fast food on their way to soccer practice or whatever. I, for one, do not want my kids associating their high fat meal with this icon of hedonism. Let Carl's Jr. know what you think about their using Hugh the Playboy in their ad campaign. Better yet, go for In-n-Out Burger.

Iraqi Underground...

MSNBC reports, Is this Saddam’s counterattack? Commander says insurgency has signs of planning. Not to put too fine a point on it but, as I've mentioned earlier, this conclusion should be plain and clear... and it should also alert us on to how to respond to the Iraqi acts of terror. It is encouraging, though, to see that our military is taking the fight back to the Iraqi terrorists. When you get right down to it, it's a pretty basic strategy - hit them back harder than they hit you. Even if they can't figure out the consequences... you'll eventually eradicate them.

Horse Evolution...

Rapid body size decline in Alaskan Pleistocene horses before extinction, so says the article in Nature. Here's an excerpt, "About 70% of North American large mammal species were lost at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. The causes of this extinction - the role of humans versus that of climate - have been the focus of much controversy." So what? Well for one, understanding the role humans have played in animal extinction will help us better manage our current world. But the important thing to note is that the large mammals went extinct regardless of whether humans were involved. Now... why is that important? It's important because some of the so-called best examples presented for natural evolution are the horse and the whale... large mammals. But history has shown us that large mammals run a high risk of extinction due to their inability to react fast enough to environmental changes. Just look at how easily we can run various species of whales into extinction. Why, manatees might not be able to survive whether humans are involved or not. The supposed evolutionary sequence for horses has been drastically revised in the past 100 years, with species originally thought to be part of the modern horse's lineage now considered to be evolutionary dead-ends. Well, they've got the dead-end part correct. Simply put, the evolutionary model cannot account for the appearance and re-appearance of large mammal species, prior to mankind. The Biblical model can. In Genesis we read that God created up until His intended culmination..Humans. After that, it tells us that He rested or, ceased, from His creative activities. Hebrews tells us that God continues in His rest to this day and that is supported by the fact that the seventh day shows no conclusion in Genesis. Now, to be sure, human activity tremendously exacerbates species extinction rates. Yet, discounting the effect of human involvement, species will go extinct at a rate of about 1 species per year. The question that evolutionists should be asking is, "Why aren't we seeing any replacement species evolving?" The answer is in Genesis 2:1-3 "The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them. By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation." NET

It takes a Big Brother...

What is it with the Libs? Last week, Al Gore-rhythm criticized Bush' approach to national security citing that freedoms shouldn't be compromised to fight terror. Among other things, Gore said that "the new technologies of surveillance, long anticipated by novelists like Orwell and other prophets of the 'Police State,' are now more widespread than they have ever been." Welcome Big Brother? How does that sit with rookie Senator Clinton's It Takes a Village philosophy? We all know that it ain't a village she's talking about. Or what about First5 California and their goal of mandatory pre-school? Now we hear that the Human Resources Subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, held a hearing to examine "a recent failure to protect child safety". (emphasis added) Where do they claim we are failing to protect child safety? - In HOMESCHOOLS across America! Therefore, so the thinking goes, we need to track and monitor all homeschools. Hey Al! H. R. Clinton! Help! You need to let your followers know about this Big Brother tactic! Hello?!... Are you listening Al?... Billary?... Of course they aren't listening. But, per the HSLDA article, listen to Carla Katz, president of a union representing social workers in New Jersey, who testified at the hearing. "Home schooling creates gaps. Nearly 20% of all abuse cases are reported by schools. When children are outside the school system, extra protections are critical. There are no home schooling regulations that would require homeschooled children to see anyone from the public education system. There is no cross-referencing with the Department of Education to look for children who are in the 'system' but have not been seen by anyone." (emphasis added) So, once they've got the homeschoolers "in the system", what's the next step? Well, they've already targeted all preschoolers... the only group left are infants to preschool age. Tell you what Ms. Katz? Let's take a look at the ratio of child abuse across all children who are homeschooled and compare that with the ratio of child abuse across all children who are in public schools. Wanna bet what the numbers will say?

Seek and Destroy...

The L.A. Times reports, U.S. Military Responding More Fiercely to Iraqi Guerrilla Strikes, in which John Daniszewski and Patrick McDonnell tell of a recent incident in which a suspected terrorist safe house was bombed: "U.S. military authorities said the bombing... was a prime example of a firm new response to those who plant roadside bombs, hide weapons or carry out ambushes that kill or harm American soldiers, and they want the people in these parts to know about it. It was the third fixed-wing bombing in a week across Iraq, pointing up a re-escalation of the war by the U.S. in response to heightened insurgency. "The message is this: If you shoot at an American or a coalition force member, you are going to be killed or you are going to be captured, and if we trace somebody back to a specific safe house, we are going to destroy that facility," said Maj. Lou Zeisman, a paratroop officer of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division deployed here from Fayetteville, N.C. "We are not going to take these continuous attacks."" I doubt the message Zeisman refers to will get through to the fanatics still causing problems, but offensive operations such as these will certainly help to weed them out.

An Army of One?...

Remember the recruiting slogan used by the Army a few years ago?... "Be! all that YOU can be... in the Army!" Well, now you're probably familiar with the latest slogan... "An Army of One" I doubt that the marketing director (if one exists) in the Army really thought through the post-modern, narcissistic implications of such a slogan. For starters let's take a look at some definitions: army - a large body of people organized for warfare. warfare - the act of waging war. war - a state or period of armed conflict between nations, states, or parties. military - of or relating to the armed forces or war. Those of us who are Baby Boomers and older will have no problem understanding that an Army of One is a contradiction in terms, unless it is referring to a body of soldiers (like the definition above). But our culture today is so narcissistic in its thinking that they really believe the implication of the slogan that an Army of One means themselves as INDIVIDUALS. Don't think so? Just check out the article on Jessica Lynch's new book, co-authored with Rick Bragg, I Am a Soldier Too: the Jessica Lynch Story. The article is titled, Lynch book debunks myths about rescue: Former POW says Iraqi doctors were gentle caretakers. Here are some excerpts: "The authorized biography of Pfc. Jessica Lynch debunks early myths that U.S. troops waged a daring rescue to save her, and describes a team of Iraqi doctors as gentle caretakers who worked at their own risk to keep her alive." "I AM A SOLDIER, TOO: The Jessica Lynch Story, published Tuesday, suggests camera-toting American fighters met no resistance as they rushed a Nasiriyah hospital April 1 to retrieve the prisoner of war. The biography, by former New York Times writer Rick Bragg, discredits stories from the war’s first days that Lynch shot at her Iraqi captors, and that the Iraqi hospital was hostile territory that posed grave danger to Lynch’s rescuers." "Once, according to the book, Iraqi medical workers even loaded Lynch into an ambulance and drove it to an American checkpoint in hopes of returning her - but came under fire from U.S. troops and had to turn around." ""From the heartbreaking mess of the convoy ambush, gold was spun - first from an event that looked more dangerous on television than it perhaps had truly been, and next from a story of heroics in the fight at Nasiriyah that a Hollywood script writer would have been hard put to invent," Bragg writes." "Lynch and Bragg are splitting the book’s $1 million advance, and publisher Alfred A. Knopf ordered a first run of 500,000 copies. The cover features a smiling photo of Lynch in military garb, a U.S. flag behind her. "The book’s release, timed for Veterans Day, comes amid a blitz of promotional interviews by Lynch and Bragg. ABC’s Diane Sawyer interviews Lynch in a prime-time special Tuesday; NBC aired an unauthorized movie about her Sunday." "Lynch told Bragg she wished the war had never taken place because other soldiers would then be alive - including Lori Piestewa, a soldier close to Lynch who was killed in the ambush. ""We went and we did our job, and that was to go to the war, but I wish I hadn’t done it - I wish it had never happened," Lynch says. "I’d give four hundred billion dollars. I’d give anything."" I'll repeat what I've written earlier that Lynch is to be commended for going through and surviving the horrible experience of war and brutal captivity. Yet, as I've also stated before, she is confused. Bragg is of no help. Harping on about the unconfirmed and incorrect early reports of the incident is a waste of print. Anyone with half an ounce of sense who watched those reports remembers that they were sketchy from the get-go. As far as incorrect reporting goes, maybe Bragg should counsel his colleagues at the N.Y. Times. Bragg's biggest error is to paint the entire rescue raid as a publicity stunt woven in gold by the U.S. military. If Bragg truly thinks that the raid was less dangerous than it looked on TV then I suggest he be embedded on the next similar type raid conducted by our Armed Forces. Now, is anyone else a bit more than repulsed at the fact that they are promoting this book on Veteran's Day? $500,000 each upfront for Bragg and Lynch, and appearances on talks shows? I can understand Lynch wishing to have never gone through the experience. Who can blame her for that? I doubt you'll find that anyone who has experienced the horrors of war would wish to walk that road again. An Army of One? No, it isn't... but can we blame Jessica for thinking that it was? It seems that she wasn't fully aware, when she signed up, that the Army was part of the military... and that the military engages in warfare. And that warfare means people getting killed. It was said that she joined the Army to see the world. If true, we need to reeducate our youth that besides seeing the world, when you join the military, you may see war as well. An obvious point? Extremely. But it has somehow been lost by our youth.

The Great Commission (cont.)...

Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." As stated earlier, most Christians seem to think that Jesus commanded us to go into the world and win converts - that is - evangelize. But is that what the text above states? Read it carefully. "Go... make disciples... baptizing them... teaching them..." What is God's Plan or, as Biola Professor Walt Russell likes to say... What is the historical Biblical Worldview? He teaches that we should frame our reading of the Bible with this worldview, which he defines through a circular set of steps: 1) God, 2) has a Plan, 3) that He is working out in history, 4) first, through Israel, and then the Church, 5) to bless all the peoples of the earth through faith, 6) which, in turn, maximally glorifies ---> GOD. Notice that there isn't any room in that worldview for us to seek our purpose, or what God's plan is for me, unless we understand that our purpose is only relevant within the context of God's Plan. I've been thinking about this recently and I believe that a simple list of the functions of the Church could be prioritized as follows: 1. Worship / Bless God 2. Ministry 3. Spiritual Maturity 4. Evangelize Consider Romans 10:13-14, "For, "every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?" Surely we understand that converts will not be won unless they are first witnessed to? Yet we must also understand that making disciples is an intensive process. Cross reference the Romans passage with Ephesians 4:11-16, "And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love." (emphasis added) In this and other Epistles we are instructed to develop spiritual maturity in order to prepare us for... what?... ministry. Ministry to serve. Encompassing the entire process is the act of corporate and individual worship. Yet the act of worship is not a distinctly emotional one. One has only to seriously read the Psalms to see that they are a union of emotional worship with solid theology. Remember, we are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). So... the Great Commission. It entails much more than evangelizing. It goes so much beyond attempts to attract non-believers inside the doors of the church building. Through it, Jesus commands us to actually do some work... to learn... to mature... to think.

USMC...

the evangelical outpost just posted a great piece on the United States Marine Corps... Happy Birthday!

Another Reason to Homeschool...

Goose Creek

The Internet Creator's Big Brother...

Per the Washington Post, Gore Criticizes Bush Approach to Security: Freedoms Shouldn't Be Compromised To Fight Terror, Ex-Vice President Says, we find the creator of the Internet accusing the Bush admin of exploiting the 9/11 attacks "to justify an undemocratic suspension of domestic freedoms and to create a government built on "secrecy and deception."" Gore also said, "I want to challenge the Bush administration's implicit assumption that we have to give up many of our traditional freedoms in order to be safe from terrorists. Rather than defending our freedoms, this administration has sought to abandon them. Rather than accepting our traditions of openness and accountability, this administration has opted to rule by secrecy and unquestioned authority. Its assaults on our core democratic principles have only left us less free and less secure." (emphasis added) Wow Al! Just which domestic and traditional freedoms have we had suspended? Let's see... there's that Bill of Rights document... hmmm, why don't we start at the first one? Freedom of Religion? - nope - I know we still have that one because my family and I attended church today. Freedom of Speech? - nope - I know we still have that one by proof of my modest blog (as well as the article of your ill-informed speech). Freedom of Assembly? - nope - you and your MoveOn.org co-horts proved we still have that one. Okay, in fairness to Al, the article does state that he, "urged Congress to repeal the Patriot Act, with its broad enhancements of government powers that allow federal agents to "sneak and peek" at citizens' private records; enter citizens' homes in secret; and hold citizens indefinitely without access to legal counsel or a hearing before a judge." Of course, weren't we left so vulnerable for 9/11 precisely because we had lax security measures? So, please tell me, how does keeping those lax security procedures increase our security level? You just don't get it do you Al? How can we have increased security around nuclear facilities, power plants, water reservoirs, etc., unless we bump up the government's security procedures? Tell you what Al?... Grab a cab, go to the airport, and ask people boarding a plane if they'd rather go through the inconvenience and invasion of their privacy by having increased security checking, or if they'd rather just take their chances by letting everyone on board willy nilly?

The Great Commission...

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason recently made a great point (Oct. 19 broadcast) regarding the Great Commission and how it relates to the contemporary "seeker friendly" craze. In Matthew 28:19 we read, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Notice that it doesn't say to make converts... or Christians. Jesus commanded us to make disciples. Important distinction? Let's look at the word disciple in Greek (per - W. E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words) matheteuo - verb, is used in the Active Voice, intransitively, in some mss., in Matt. 27:57, in the sense of being the disciple of a person; here, however, the best mss. have the Passive Voice, lit., 'had been made a disciple,' as in Matt. 13:52, R.V., "who hath been made a disciple." It is used in this transitive sense in the Active Voice in 28:19 and Acts 14:21. It is interesting to note the context of Matthew 13:52 in that Jesus had been teaching His disciples through the use of parables (Matthew 13). When His disciples asked why He spoke in parables He revealed that it was given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:11). Upon the conclusion of His teaching in parables Jesus compares the disciples with those who have been trained... "Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes." And He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old." When Jesus finished these parables, he left that place. - Matthew 13:51-53, NAS. The NRSV says, "... every scribe who has been trained..." (emphasis included) Typically, as Christians, our reading of Matthew 28:19 seems to indicate that we are to evangelize the world or, convert non-Christians to Christianity. While that is certainly true, a careful reading of the text, combined with supporting passages and also combined with the model given us by the early Church, indicates that we are actually to be in the business of making disciples. In other words, we are to develop spiritual maturity within the body of believers. Included in that process is evangelizing and bringing to Christ those who are lost, but the stated command by Jesus is that we train, learn, and teach... make disciples. Is that what we hear nowadays? Nope. Rather, we hear that we should concentrate on making the church a more seeker friendly environment, altering our liturgy so as not to offend or bore. Our emphasis is on converting the lost with simple messages that let them know that God has a Plan for them, or that they have Purpose within God's Plan... can you find that in the Gospel accounts or in the book of Acts? In our 21st century, short-attention span, Generation Y (or is it Z now?) culture this type of teaching doesn't sit well. Let's face it - learning is work, hard work. Who wants to work when we can enjoy experiencing God? Well my friends, regardless of whether we relish the idea of hitting the books... we've been commanded to.

On Lynch and her ABC interview...

Jessica Lynch deserves commendation for her ability to withstand horrors most of us will never experience. She is a young woman who will have to live with the physical consequences of her time in Iraq for the rest of her life. In Too Painful, she recounts her experience - that which she can recall - from the ambush, to the captivity, to the rescue. She dismisses the initial accounts that had her emptying her weapon into the Iraqi attackers, vowing to fight to the end. I doubt anyone questions the prudence of releasing incorrect information like that at the time of the incident. But allusions to ulterior motives by the military are not entirely justified. One only has to look at the myriad of false reports generated, primarily by the media themselves, the first day or two after 9/11. Remember the account of the security guard on the roof of one of the twin towers who survived by "riding the collapse" down to the ground? Yet I'm a bit perplexed by some of her other comments to Diane Sawyer. The article states, "The U.S. military filmed the rescue, and U.S. television networks aired the dramatic green night-vision footage repeatedly as they reported how the special forces team, acting on a tip from a brave Iraqi lawyer, engaged in firefights on their way into and out of the hospital. "I don't think it happened quite like that," Lynch said, "though … anyone, you know, in that kind of situation would obviously go in with force, not knowing who was on the other side of the door." " Yeah, but that's pretty obvious - not knowing the exact strength of the enemy, you'd better engage the assault with sufficient strength on your side. It continues, "Asked whether the military's portrayal of the rescue bothers her, Lynch said, "Yeah, it does. It does that they used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff. I mean, yeah, it's wrong … I don't know what they had … or why they filmed it." " Lynch is confused. The military used her? Didn't they go in looking for all the POWs that may have been there? Her rescue was not the only night vision video that was shown during the war. They filmed it because they filmed it. That she was rescued is fantastic... that some of her comrades were found buried nearby is tragic. No Jessica, the military didn't use you. Yes Jessica, you were a symbol of propaganda. Propaganda for Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is not a new tactic. It was used in World War II in everything from war posters to newsreels to cartoons. She seems to feel abuse at being used by the military but has no qualms about writing a book, doing interviews, or having movies made about herself. It's entirely understandable that she will have intense feelings of bitterness, given her experience in Iraq. It will take years, if not the rest of her life, to deal with her experience. One hopes, though, that she will be able to overcome these feelings through other means than questioning the actions of the military that sponsored her rescue.

The Terminator Terminates First5 Commission Member...

Among one of Arnold's first moves as Gov. Elect is the removal of Kerry Mazzoni (see the blog on First5 and mandatory Preschool) as Education Secretary... EDUCATION • OUT: KERRY MAZZONI Mazzoni, 52, served six years in the Assembly representing parts of Marin and Sonoma counties, and headed the Assembly Education Committee, where she authored or worked on legislation targeting class-size reduction, student achievement, teacher credentialing and teacher incentives. Before coming to the Legislature, Mazzoni served on school boards in Novato and Marin County. Her legislation in Sacramento included the creation of reading academies for K-4 students. She was Davis' top spokeswoman for education policy. • IN: RICHARD RIORDAN Riordan, 73, was a two-term mayor of Los Angeles. As mayor, he set up reading programs for children with little access to books. He campaigned for reform candidates for the Los Angeles Unified School District and set up groups to boost literacy. Those include BEST, or Better Students for Tomorrow, an after-school program to help youngsters read and write. He created the Riordan Foundation in 1981 to teach children to read and write, distributing 21,700 computers to 2,100 schools in 40 states and enabling the purchase of more than 128,000 books for elementary classroom libraries. As mayor, he created the "Recreational Reading Mini-Grant Program," awarding $1,000 grants to teachers to help them create libraries in the classroom. He lives in Los Angeles and has seven children.

Another Evangelical Blogger...

Check out Christ at Work

Burger & Fries...

An L.A. Times editorial, No Politics -- Just the Truth, spells out some valid points regarding partisan politics and the questions in Iraq. But it falls short in some key areas. They call for an end to partisan politics in lieu of answering - “Where are the weapons of mass destruction that Bush administration officials insisted the United States needed to destroy because they so urgently threatened this nation? Before the March invasion, there was little evidence that Iraq was trying to develop nuclear weapons but there were hints it possessed biological weapons; many analysts believed Baghdad had chemical weapons or stockpiles that could quickly be assembled into weapons. Yet searches by hundreds of United Nations inspectors before the war and hundreds of U.S. and allied sleuths afterward have turned up nothing.” Two questions are then proposed – “Was, then, the initial intelligence wrong and did the weapons not exist? Or was the intelligence supporting their existence weak and then massaged for political reasons to support the war?” This is Fast-Food Mentality gone awry. In 21st century post-modern America if you can’t download it NOW through your DSL connection, well then… you be laggin’. Setting aside the report by David Kay outlining WMD evidence found thus far… there really are many other questions that should be asked. Namely: Is there evidence of pre-war movement of WMD? What is the likelihood that WMD were concealed pre-war? Given the coordinated attack pattern of post-war Iraqi terrorists, combined with their surprising lack of resistance during the war, what is the likelihood that they planned for WMD concealment pre-war? How easy would it have been to conceal WMD prior to and during the war? (remember how easy the Scud launchers were concealed?… and we knew they existed!) Could WMD have been relocated to neighboring countries? Asking questions such as these frame the expectations a bit differently. Of course, critics seem to think that, since stockpiles of WMD have not been found sitting inside warehouses, they must not exist! Remember back when Israel sent in fighter jets to take out a nuclear processing facility? The WMD did not yet exist… but the potential was there – one that Israel was not willing to wait for. Dylan wrote about it in his song, Neighborhood Bully, “When he destroyed the bomb factory – well, nobody was glad. The bombs were meant for him – he was supposed to feel bad.”

Book List...

Here are a few picks from my shelf, read recently or, not so recently: The Art of Political War, David Horowitz - former Leftist Horowitz tells us that Politics is war, and that it should be fought as war. He lists 6 principles which the Left understands but conservatives miss: 1) Politics is war conducted by other means, 2) Politics is a war of position, 3) In political warfare, the aggressor usually prevails, 4) Position is defined by fear and hope, 5) The weapons of politics are symbols evoking fear and hope, and 6) Victory lies on the side of the people. Every blogger should read this. Afterglow of Creation, Marcus Chown - ever heard of the COBE satellite? Chown details the significance of the detection of ripples in the microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang. The resulting image shows the time when light was first able to separate from darkness, approximately 300,000 years after the creation event. Scaling the Secular City, J.P. Moreland - an early, 1987, book by Moreland. He outlines apologetic strategies such as the Cosmological Argument, God and the Argument from Mind, as well as hitting on the Historicity of the New Testament. Rare Earth, Peter D. Ward & Donald Brownlee - an atheist and an agnostic propose that complex life is uncommon, if not nonexistent, in the universe. Their thesis is backed by the multitude of "just right" features that must exist in the universe, solar system, and planet in order for complex life to survive. Excellent, yet unintended, apologetic material for the existence of a caring Designer... produced by non-Christians no less! The Creator and the Cosmos, Hugh Ross - Christian physicist / astronomer details the evidence for the God of the Bible via what we know of the Cosmos. Good listings of "fine tuned" features within the universe that allow life to exist. Byzantium, Stephen Lawhead - historical fiction by a Christian author. The paperback version is 870 pages long... he gets into detail. Although it starts slowly, once you're in it's a wild ride from the Irish coast circa A.D. 940, into the land of the Vikings, all the way down to Constantinople (Byzantium), and into Arabia. You HAVE to read to the end... if you stop before page 862 you will have missed the point. Also... Darwin's Black Box, Michael Behe Faith & Reason, Ron Nash Intelligent Design, William Dembski Written on the Heart, J. Budziszewski Miracles, C.S. Lewis Ethics, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Show Me God, Fred Heeren

Remember Saigon?...

It was April of 1975. I was two months shy of graduating from high school. Are you old enough to remember the images that were being shown on the evening news at that time? If not, then maybe you should check out the following links… http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/saigon/evacuation.html http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/saigon/butterfield-article1.html The U.S. was pulling out of Saigon. The Vietnam War was, for all intents and purposes, over. The South Vietnamese people clearly understood the oppression that was upon them. There are images of people crowding onto helicopters and landing, unauthorized, onboard U.S. aircraft carriers. From, Saigon's Finale, by the New York Time’s Malcolm W. Browne, “As swarms of Vietnamese air force helicopters set down on the American warships, each helicopter was quickly unloaded and heaved overboard to make room for the next one. Meanwhile, legions of refugees used their sampans and fishing boats to reach the fleet, setting their craft afire to keep them from falling into communist hands. The tranquil sea, covered from horizon to horizon with blazing watercraft, looked like a vision of hell.” For those who continue to rant on that our presence in Iraq must not become another Vietnam, I heartily agree. We must not betray the Iraqi people, whom we have liberated from the hands of Saddam Hussein, as we did the South Vietnamese people (in 1975). We must not engage in an extended and limited conflict with terrorist cells in Iraq, as we did with the North Vietnamese (from the ‘60s into the ‘70s). We have recently lost upwards of 16 personnel in an attack on a U.S. helicopter. With every report on U.S. servicemen killed or wounded in action, the media paints a picture that our continued presence in Iraq is potentially counter-productive. Exactly who do they think military personnel should expect to encounter in their line of work?… girl scouts selling cookies?… or maybe the Dixie Chicks expressing their opinions? Let’s face it, we shouldn’t be surprised that soldiers in Iraq are still being shot at… but c’mon now – how many of the soldiers in Iraq are surprised that they’re still being shot at? No U.S. soldier lost in the War on Terror is insignificant. No U.S. soldier killed in the War on Terror should be forgotten. Yet we, as a country, need to understand the reality of fighting a War on Terror. Between March and November 3rd, there have been 376 U.S. killed in Iraq. Of those, 249 have been combat deaths. Compare those numbers with the Vietnam War, which lasted from 1959 to 1975, and took the lives of 58,000 U.S. soldiers. Now compare with the battle of Gettysburg, which lasted from July 1st to July 3rd, 1863, and took the lives of 48,000 soldiers on both the Union and Confederate sides. Have we become so frightened at the cost of freedom that we turn and run at the first sight of the reality of war?