Joe Sestak Beats Arlen Specter

Welcome to the Tea Party, Senator Specter

Obviously some people are feeling underrepresented in Washington.

***

Arlen Spectacle [click to read]. That's what The Great One calls him. SWAC Girl takes us on a journey down memory lane. The moral of the story: Changing party affiliation only works if it brings you CLOSER to the people you represent. They are the ones who got you elected. They went door-to-door, manned phone banks and sent in their hard earned cash to put you where you are. They are the ones who are more comitted to America's core values than our media would lead you to believe.

***

How many 'experts' were out there telling everyone that the Era of Reagan was over? In order to win elections you had to distance yourself from those nasty old Neocons. The people, according to them, WANTED government to step in and take care of things. Meanwhile in the grassroots, the people were waking up to where expanded government was taking them. The Democrats were not sounding so reasonable anymore now that they controlled everything.

***

They didn't love Arlen all that much in the end either. He was useful as a vote for their agenda but he wasn't THEIR man. It is no big surprise that he lost a primary. Benedict Arnold probably felt the same... estranged from those he spurned and those he tried to embrace.

***

Specter stepped away from the people just as they became engaged in the process. That turned out to be his fatal mistake.

***

The Lesson [click to read] in all this is a story of betrayal and its consequenses.

Increase the Gas Tax? Think Again

The Journey Takes On 'McCloskey Monday'


Interstate 66 headed into Washington DC. Here is an opportunity for demand tolls to be put in place to support needed improvements.

Virginia may enjoy the lowest gas tax in the region, but think again before raising it on that count. If you travel the region in your business (I do), where will YOU buy fuel, given the choice. The lower rate assures more purchases by people passing through or coming over from Maryland.

Statistics may say that you'll raise $50 million annually with a one cent increase. Actual experience suggests you'll get less as people conserve or choose to buy in other states.

There is no way a single toll is going to fill the coffers. That's not the point though. Look at the Dulles toll road and you will see that tolls can provide the capital to bring private sector energy into providing NEW, and much needed highway improvements.

The areas that will support them are the areas that most need them. What's wrong with localizing the meeting of needs anyway?

A toll is a tax. Yes, but it is a voluntary tax. You are free to take Virginia Route 7 to Leesburg but plenty of people have no problem coughing up the money to drive on the tollway. This weekend in Chicago I happily payed 80 cents a trip to use the Illinois tollway to get to the suburbs. I noticed a lot of other drivers doing the same.

Congestion at the toll booth? Ever heard of EZ Pass?

The operative word might be IMPROVED. Build new wider bridges and improved roads and toll them with EZ Pass and safe well maintained roads will be a reality. Oh, be sure to lockbox the gas tax revenues we're already receiving. Then you'll have maintenance covered.

Phil Has These Thoughts [click to read].

An Apalling Lack of Curiosity

Why Doesn’t Anyone Care... The Unread Soviet Archives?


Tanks in Red Square.

A Hidden History of Evil [click to read] by Claire Berlinski in City Journal.

"We rightly insisted upon total denazification; we rightly excoriatethose who now attempt to revive the Nazis’ ideology. But the world exhibits a perilous failure to acknowledge the monstrous history of Communism. These documents should be translated. They should be housed in a reputable library, properly cataloged, and carefully assessed by scholars. Above all, they should be well-known to a public that seems to have forgotten what the Soviet Union was really about. If they contain what Stroilov and Bukovsky say—and all the evidence I’ve seen suggests that they do—this is the obligation of anyone who gives a damn about history, foreign policy, and the scores of millions dead."

I grew up during the Cuban Missle Crisis. The possibility of an all out nuclear attack caused me to consider Eternal realities at a very young age. Eventually that consideration would lead me to faith.

At that point in history evil was very real and clearly discernable. Today so many thinking people seem to just not want to know. Stalin's destruction of ten million lives just doesn't seem to matter anymore. Flying over Siberia on the way to Japan, I remembered that Korean Airlines flight 007 had been shot down for straying into Soviet airspace years before. I probably was the only person on the airplane who made the connection. Most of my fellow passengers napped or watched movies as I stared out the plane window at the frozen wasteland where dissidents were exiled to.

Today the American President is all too quick to find fault with our own country and all too oblivious to the evil outside our borders. We dare not ignore the honest study of history!

'Silicon Shenandoah'

Time to Ask the Question: 'Why NOT?'


A bird's-eye view of the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport.

It's Graduation Time [click to read] in the SWAC Blogosphere. Inevitably we look to the future and invoke history, hoping to see the generations that follow us change the world for the better. Sadly, we're seeing a systematic attack by cash-hungry government on the engines of creativity that normally drive human progress.

Nowhere is this more true than in California, where increased taxation and regulation strangles all but the best and brightest. Still, Silicon Valley is home to a surprising number of start-ups. Human ingenuity always finds a way to excell even in the direst of times. Sadly, the growing burden narrows the number of winners. Here is where Governor McDonnell's Pro-Market Virginia needs to be promoted with increased vigor. Virginia could well become known as the state that refused to let opportunity die.

In The Silicon Lining [click to read] Guy Sorman talks about the continuing wealth creation of California's high tech firms, even in the face of government hobbling. Still, the victor's circle is getting smaller. At some point taxation and regulation... and government attempts to pick winners... will kill the golden goose. Here's where I believe Virginia can shine.

Governor McDonnell can continue to promote policies that allow many start-ups that would be impossible in California to gain traction in the Old Dominion. We've already become competitive with wine, why NOT technology too. Northrup-Grumman just placed their future growth here. Why can't the trend continue?

We have world-class universities, the Langly NASA facility, and an existing tech industry in Blacksburg and Herndon already. We have empty manufacturing plants in the valley that could be part of this creative renaissance. We have a good workforce that would allow some industries to localize their operations for both economic and strategic advantage.

I have a feeling we're in a unique position to make a reality of the next 'great idea!'

What is the next great idea? I don't know. I do know that Cyrus McCormick lived here and revolutionized agriculture with his mechanical reaper. He built it in the mill shop in Raphine. Wilbur and Orville Wright were two bicycle mechanics in Dayton Ohio. People probably shook their heads at heavier-tha-air flight until that day at Kitty Hawk. This weekend I stepped on two magnificent airplanes that the Wrights could not have imagined and rode to and from Chicago in comfort.

Tomorrow's innovations will no doubt be in the technologies that power our mobility. Our job today is to clear the right of way -- in the area of regulatory and revenue collection -- to allow those pioneers of the future to take wing.

SWAC Girl Continues the Discussion [click to read].

Graduation Weekend at MBI

Celebration Our Son's Graduation in Chicago


The city from the air.


The Chicago River.


I have a feeling...


...we're not in Staunnton anymore...


...riding the elevated railway past the red CNA Building!

Cloudgate (aka 'The Bean')


This sculpture in Millenium Park is probably the most photographed piece of civic art in the world.


Be sure to look up when you walk through the gate.

Moody Bible Institute


Moody Bible Institute is part of the legacy of Dwight L. Moody. An uneducated shoe salesman, Moody became one of the greatest evangelists of the Nineteenth Century. He started a Sunday School Movement to reach uneducated urban youth. Today Moody graduates minister around the world.


The Moody Church, site of the graduation ceremonies.


The 2010 graduates march out...


...to find their place in the world. My Son and his fiancée participate in the obligatory cheezy photo session. My joy in them is very real.

The View from the Signature Room

The 95th Floor of the Hancock Tower


The Hancock Tower's unique cross-bracing reduced the need for interior columns.


Looking up. Your ears pop during the elevator ride.


Feasting on the view...


...of the city...


...and Lake Michigan.

Journey to Chicago

The Hancock Tower


We had lunch in the Signature Room at the top of the tower.

Rainy Morning in the Garden

Spring Colors and Raindrops


Japanese Maple.


Japanese Maple.


Pansies.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XX

The New Sheriffs of Nottingham...

When the 'other' news magazine called them 'The New Sheriffs of Wall Street' [click to read] an old favorite movie came to mind...

The regulators are coming! The regulators are coming! Here's a trio of regulators for Wall Street, but watch out. The Internet is a 'public utility' now. That means the government will seek to regulate it!

Enjoy your hamburger while you can. Mrs. Obama has her sights on regulating that too.

Unless we stop them in November we might all be eating beans and without horses!

So... I'm an Exploiter Now?

Guilty as Charged of Exploiting Homeschoolers

John Stossel Writes [click to read] in the Washington Examiner:

"Do you employ unpaid student interns - college students who work in exchange for on-the-job training?

If so, President Obama's Labor Department says that you're an exploiter. The government says an internship is OK only if it meets six criteria, among them that the employer must get "no immediate advantage" from the intern's activities. In fact, the employer's work "may be impeded."

I've 'exploited' a few high school students over my career. They've had a chance to work on models I've built for names you'd recognize in the architectural world. I wonder though if they feel 'exploited' when they land good jobs in a bad economy using me as a reference?


A fifteen year old home schooler
helped me landscape this model.

I guess I'll ask the young man who helped me build the existing structures in this model. He's pretty busy though as he just took a job with a design firm in North Carolina. He absolutely loves it! Many of his friends are still looking for work. Who can really say if the 'exploitation' of him helped him later in the job market?

Mike has More Thoughts [click to read] on unpaid internships.

Art that Has Class...

Remembering the Cost of Freedom


Xaver Wilhelmy's beautiful glass organ pipes form an American flag.

Lynn at SWAC Girl has been writing about Run for the Fallen, [click to read], a beautiful tribute to some great American heroes. We used to be pretty good at remembering why we enjoyed such freedom as we do. We made movies like The Longest Day [click to read] and the story of Alvin York. The men and women who serve today deserve the same honor.

The War Memorial in Richmond is one place I would recommend anyone visit. Every name is a life worth remembering.

Send a Shirt and Send a Message

A World Without America Would Be Far More Offensive



Tim, of Left Coast Rebel, contacted No Sheeples Here [click to read] via email with a request to make an idea go viral in support of the five kids who were sent home because they chose to wear T-shirts that depicted the American flag. The idea is the brainchild of Chris, the proprietor of My Thoughts on Freedom. I’m supporting the effort and I hope you will too.

If you own a blog, please repost this on your site and invite your readers to send T-shirts to the patriotic kids who stood up for America to let them know that we’ve got their backs.
America is under attack. Our history, our culture and our way of life has been assailed by forces from within to the point that if you celebrate America and what it stands for, you are called a racist, a Nazi or a tea bagger.

The latest assault on America came last week when five high school students in California were sent home for the day because they chose to be patriotic and wore T-shirts depicting the American flag on Cinco de Mayo. This act of patriotism was deemed incendiary by one school official and offensive and disrespectful by students of Mexican descent who claimed that this was their day to celebrate Mexico.

This cannot be tolerated. Even though the school's principal has since apologized, that does not begin to address the issue which is this is America and every day we are a free nation is a cause to celebrate.

To this end, we need to band together to show the anti-America crowd that we will not accept these assaults on free speech and patriotism. We also need to show, not only these five students but, students across the country that they should not be ashamed or fearful of showing their pride in America at any time.Please show your solidarity and send a flag adorned T-shirt or any other representation of the flag to:

Flags for Freedom
c/o Live Oak High School
1505 East Main Ave.
Morgan Hill CA 95037

Let the kids know that America’s got their back. ht/No Sheeples Here

Meanwhile in Art Class...

California Again [click to read]. In this art class drawing the American Flag is 'offensive' but drawing Obama is cause for praise.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XIXA


Volume II, Issue XIXB

Special Half THYME Issue

If the MSM treated Elena Kagan like they do Sarah Palin...

TIME Sept 15, 2008 [click to read]
TIME July 20, 2009 [click to read]

In her thesis she bemoaned the decline of Socialism. Need I really say any more.

On Free Speech [click to read] her arguments for banning political pamphlets are troubling.

We've already heard about her position on military recruiters on campus. THYME will once again step in where the MSM fears to tread.

Kagan Flunks Her Own Test

This just in. James R Copland [click to read] in City Journal reports:

"Elena Kagan, President Obama’s nominee to succeed John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court, published some thoughts on the judicial confirmation process in 1995. Reviewing Stephen Carter’s book The Confirmation Mess in The University of Chicago Law Review, Kagan asserted that prospective jurists should have demonstrated a talent for judging: “It is an embarrassment that the President and Senate do not always insist, as a threshold requirement, that a nominee’s previous accomplishments evidence an ability not merely to handle but to master the ‘craft’ aspects of being a judge.” While not in my view an “embarrassment,” Obama’s decision to nominate Kagan to the nation’s highest bench flunks her own test. If confirmed, Kagan would become the first justice in 38 years to join the Supreme Court without judicial experience."

Kagan's Problematic Past [click to read]. Evan Gahr in Jewish World Review.

As articles editor for the Harvard Law Review in 1985 Kagan helped shepherd into print a racially noxious story by a radical law professor and architect of Critical Race Studies, which is essentially "blame whitey" in legal vernacular.

Required Warning: THYME Magazine contains INFORMATION and does not subject itself to any government Truth Meter. INFORMATION presents a severe risk to inflated egos [sudden deflation and choking hazard]. If sudden deflation or choking occurs, consult your chief of staff immediately.

'Messiah' or 'Shadowman?'

The Varieties of Liberal Enthusiasm

The Left’s political zealotry increasingly resembles religious experience. Benjamin A. Plotinsky Explains [click to read] in City Journal.

"Obama’s speedy fall from godhood since his election has been encouraging, perhaps a sign of America’s traditional reluctance to embrace a Great Leader. But it’s far too early in his administration to assume that the fall will be permanent. Radical environmentalism, moreover, will surely be around long after Obama has left the White House. And the threat of other charismatic leaders will remain as well—a troubling lesson that we can learn from no less a religious authority than the Bible. A nation that bends the knee once, as the book of Judges bleakly demonstrates, is all too likely to bend it again."

Is it any wonder then, that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan [click to read] appears to be "made in the image of her creator." [Barack Hussein Obama].

“Kagan was the last person from Obama’s short list that military personnel and their families want to see appointed to the Supreme Court. Not only has Kagan never even been a judge, she has a record of being radically anti-military, most notably in her opposition to the Soloman Act.” -- Danny Gonzalez ht/SWAC Girl

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XIX

Honesty in Science - The Future of Energy

Consider for a moment your own home. Within a few feet of where you sit, substances and energy resources are being safely transported that can:

Kill you with electrical shock
Start fires
Explode
Drown You
Asphixiate You

and I daresay you would resist any well meaning effort to remove electricity, natural gas or propane, water and central heating!

Such is the logic that must be employed on a global scale.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico must be seen in light of the vast amount of oil that is safely drilled and transported every day. Let's look at how hysteria has crippled our energy production in the past and why we need a common sense approach that lets us become energy independent and improve our safety in doing so.

The Seventies

Remeber gas lines? Three Mile Island? We were going to run out of petroleum then and nuclear power was shunned as too risky. The MSM hyped our fears and we let other countries build the nuclear plants that had been on our drawing boards. We stalled a lot of domestic oil production and didn't build any new refineries.

Now we still burn a lot of fossil fuel to create our electricity and you can see the haze of our energy production as you look out from the Blue Ridge Mountains. We missed the opportunity to create clean nuclear plants to take care of those power needs. We are thirty years behind schedule.

We are literally over a barrel when it comes to providing for our transportation energy needs. We buy it from places that hate us, at prices that we can't control and we haven't the refinery capacity to respond to interruptions in the flow.


Caribou browse contently under the pipeline near Prudhoe Bay.

The 2010's

Now is the time to begin building those nuclear plants. Now is the time to pursue energy independence with all the urgency we can muster. A new American refinery and increased domestic production are manditory. Failure is not an option.

The 'other' weekly news magazine is reporting The Big Spill [1.]. The need for better engineering and procedures is real. The efforts to derail domestic energy production by the left must be resisted at all costs. They must not be allowed to twist this disaster to fulfill that end.

Obama Doesn't Like Information

Phil Has the Details [click to read].

"You're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank all that high on the truth meter." says the President. Please Mr. President, single out THYME so I can go viral and charge confiscatory advertising rates like Rush, Glenn and Sean!


I wondered why 'Shadowman' from 'The Frog Prince' reminded me so much of the POTUS? Could it be that they both have 'friends on the other side?' Having Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff sort of makes you wonder?

Obama Shaman [click to read] by Michael Knox Beran in City Journal makes you wonder even more.

"Obama-mania is bound in the end to disappoint. Not only does it teach us to despise our political system’s wise recognition of human imperfection and the pursuit of private happiness; it encourages us to seek for perfection where we will not find it, in politics, in the hero worship of a charismatic shaman, in the speciousness of a secular millennium. Lacking the moral parables that made our ancestors wary of those delusions in which overweening pride is apt to involve us, we pursue false gods and turn away from traditions that really can help us make sense of our condition."

School Official "Was Only Following Orders"

Child Given Week's Detention for Possession of Candy


This is outrageous.

Where's the common sense? Leighann Adair, 10, is a third grader at Brazos Elementary School. Another child gave her a "Jolly Rancher" hard candy. School policy does not regulate what she can bring from home but it does cover what she is allowed to receive at school. ht/Phil

Homeschooling looks better all the time.

Today is the National Day of Prayer

Once Again Our Nation Stands at the Crossroads


The United States Capitol.

Today people of faith are encouraged to join in prayer for our nation. No 'official' proclaimation or invitation is necessary.

National Day of Prayer [click to read].

The Founding Fathers in Their Own Words

The Christian Foundations of the Founders' Faith


Real authority recognized.

John Adams and John Hancock:
We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus! [April 18, 1775]

John Adams:
“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”
“[July 4th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”
–John Adams in a letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --October 11, 1798

"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." December 25, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson

"Without Religion this World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell." [John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817]

Samuel Adams: “He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all… Our forefathers opened the Bible to all.” [ "American Independence," August 1, 1776. Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia]

“ Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity… and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.” [October 4, 1790]

John Quincy Adams:
“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"?
--1837, at the age of 69, when he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts.

“The Law given from Sinai [The Ten Commandments] was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code.”
John Quincy Adams. Letters to his son. p. 61

Elias Boudinot: “Be religiously careful in our choice of all public officers . . . and judge of the tree by its fruits.”

Charles Carroll - signer of the Declaration of Independence
" Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." [Source: To James McHenry on November 4, 1800.]

Benjamin Franklin:
“ God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” –Constitutional Convention of 1787 original manuscript of this speech

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?” [Constitutional Convention, Thursday June 28, 1787]

In Benjamin Franklin's 1749 plan of education for public schools in Pennsylvania, he insisted that schools teach "the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern."

In 1787 when Franklin helped found Benjamin Franklin University, it was dedicated as "a nursery of religion and learning, built on Christ, the Cornerstone."

Alexander Hamilton:
Hamilton began work with the Rev. James Bayard to form the Christian Constitutional Society to help spread over the world the two things which Hamilton said made America great:
(1) Christianity
(2) a Constitution formed under Christianity.
“The Christian Constitutional Society, its object is first: The support of the Christian religion. Second: The support of the United States.”

On July 12, 1804 at his death, Hamilton said, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy; pray for me.”

"For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." [1787 after the Constitutional Convention]

"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man."

John Hancock:
“In circumstances as dark as these, it becomes us, as Men and Christians, to reflect that whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgments, …at the same time all confidence must be withheld from the means we use; and reposed only on that God rules in the armies of Heaven, and without His whole blessing, the best human counsels are but foolishness… Resolved; …Thursday the 11th of May…to humble themselves before God under the heavy judgments felt and feared, to confess the sins that have deserved them, to implore the Forgiveness of all our transgressions, and a spirit of repentance and reformation …and a Blessing on the … Union of the American Colonies in Defense of their Rights [for which hitherto we desire to thank Almighty God]…That the people of Great Britain and their rulers may have their eyes opened to discern the things that shall make for the peace of the nation…for the redress of America’s many grievances, the restoration of all her invaded liberties, and their security to the latest generations.
"A Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, with a total abstinence from labor and recreation. Proclamation on April 15, 1775"

Patrick Henry:
"Orator of the Revolution."
This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”
—The Last Will and Testament of Patrick Henry

“It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” [May 1765 Speech to the House of Burgesses]

“The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”

John Jay:
“ Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Source: October 12, 1816. The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed., (New York: Burt Franklin, 1970), Vol. IV, p. 393.

“Whether our religion permits Christians to vote for infidel rulers is a question which merits more consideration than it seems yet to have generally received either from the clergy or the laity. It appears to me that what the prophet said to Jehoshaphat about his attachment to Ahab ["Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord?" 2 Chronicles 19:2] affords a salutary lesson.” [The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 1794-1826, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), Vol. IV, p.365]

Thomas Jefferson:
“ The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of man.”

“Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus.”

"I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus."

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (excerpts are inscribed on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in the nations capital) [Source: Merrill . D. Peterson, ed., Jefferson Writings, (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1984), Vol. IV, p. 289. From Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1781.]

Samuel Johnston:
“It is apprehended that Jews, Mahometans (Muslims), pagans, etc., may be elected to high offices under the government of the United States. Those who are Mahometans, or any others who are not professors of the Christian religion, can never be elected to the office of President or other high office, [unless] first the people of America lay aside the Christian religion altogether, it may happen. Should this unfortunately take place, the people will choose such men as think as they do themselves.
[Elliot’s Debates, Vol. IV, pp 198-199, Governor Samuel Johnston, July 30, 1788 at the North Carolina Ratifying Convention]

James Madison:
“ We’ve staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandments with all of our heart.”

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” [1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia]

• I have sometimes thought there could not be a stronger testimony in favor of religion or against temporal enjoyments, even the most rational and manly, than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments and [who] are rising in reputation and wealth, publicly to declare the unsatisfactoriness [of temportal enjoyments] by becoming fervent advocates in the cause of Christ; and I wish you may give in your evidence in this way.
Letter by Madison to William Bradford (September 25, 1773)

• In 1812, President Madison signed a federal bill which economically aided the Bible Society of Philadelphia in its goal of the mass distribution of the Bible
.
“ An Act for the relief of the Bible Society of Philadelphia” Approved February 2, 1813 by Congress

“It is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.”

• A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven. [Letter by Madison to William Bradford [urging him to make sure of his own salvation] November 9, 1772]

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison proposed the plan to divide the central government into three branches. He discovered this model of government from the Perfect Governor, as he read Isaiah 33:22;
“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver,
the LORD is our king;
He will save us.”
[Baron Charles Montesquieu, wrote in 1748; “Nor is there liberty if the power of judging is not separated from legislative power and from executive power. If it [the power of judging] were joined to legislative power, the power over life and liberty of the citizens would be arbitrary, for the judge would be the legislature if it were joined to the executive power, the judge could have the force of an oppressor. All would be lost if the same … body of principal men … exercised these three powers." Madison claimed Isaiah 33:22 as the source of division of power in government
See also: pp.241-242 in Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History: The Principle approach by Rosalie Slater]

James McHenry – Signer of the Constitution:
Public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.

Jedediah Morse:
"To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. . . . Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all blessings which flow from them, must fall with them."

John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg
In a sermon delivered to his Virginia congregation on Jan. 21, 1776, he preached from Ecclesiastes 3.

Arriving at verse 8, which declares that there is a time of war and a time of peace, Muhlenberg noted that this surely was not the time of peace; this was the time of war. Concluding with a prayer, and while standing in full view of the congregation, he removed his clerical robes to reveal that beneath them he was wearing the uniform of an officer in the Continental army! He marched to the back of the church; ordered the drum to beat for recruits and over three hundred men joined him, becoming the Eighth Virginia Brigade. John Peter Muhlenberg finished the Revolution as a Major-General, having been at Valley Forge and having participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stonypoint, and Yorktown.

Thomas Paine:
“ It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and all the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophy, as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles: he can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.”
“ The evil that has resulted from the error of the schools, in teaching natural philosophy as an accomplishment only, has been that of generating in the pupils a species of atheism. Instead of looking through the works of creation to the Creator himself, they stop short, and employ the knowledge they acquire to create doubts of his existence. They labour with studied ingenuity to ascribe every thing they behold to innate properties of matter, and jump over all the rest by saying, that matter is eternal.” “The Existence of God--1810”

Benjamin Rush:
• “I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them…we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible; for this Divine Book, above all others, constitutes the soul of republicanism.” “By withholding the knowledge of [the Scriptures] from children, we deprive ourselves of the best means of awakening moral sensibility in their minds.” [Letter written (1790’s) in Defense of the Bible in all schools in America]
• “Christianity is the only true and perfect religion.”
• “If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into our world would have been unnecessary.”

"Let the children who are sent to those schools be taught to read and write and above all, let both sexes be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education”
Letters of Benjamin Rush, "To the citizens of Philadelphia: A Plan for Free Schools", March 28, 1787

Justice Joseph Story:
“ I verily believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society. One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law. . . There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying its foundations.”
[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]
“ Infidels and pagans were banished from the halls of justice as unworthy of credit.” [Life and letters of Joseph Story, Vol. II 1851, pp. 8-9.]
“ At the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration [i.e., the First Amendment], the general, if not the universal sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship.”
[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]

Noah Webster:
“ The duties of men are summarily comprised in the Ten Commandments, consisting of two tables; one comprehending the duties which we owe immediately to God-the other, the duties we owe to our fellow men.”

“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed...No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”
[Source: 1828, in the preface to his American Dictionary of the English Language]

Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God [Exodus 18:21]. . . . If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted . . . If our government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. [Noah Webster, The History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie and Peck, 1832), pp. 336-337, 49]

“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” [Noah Webster. History. p. 339]

“The Bible was America’s basic textbook
in all fields.” [Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5]

“Education is useless without the Bible” [Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5 ]

George Washington:

Farewell Address: The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion" ...and later: "...reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle..."


“ It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible.”

“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.” [speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs May 12, 1779]

"To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian" [May 2, 1778, at Valley Forge]

During his inauguration, Washington took the oath as prescribed by the Constitution but added several religious components to that official ceremony. Before taking his oath of office, he summoned a Bible on which to take the oath, added the words “So help me God!” to the end of the oath, then leaned over and kissed the Bible.

Nelly Custis-Lewis (Washington’s adopted daughter):
Is it necessary that any one should [ask], “Did General Washington avow himself to be a believer in Christianity?" As well may we question his patriotism, his heroic devotion to his country. His mottos were, "Deeds, not Words"; and, "For God and my Country."

“ O Most Glorious God, in Jesus Christ, my merciful and loving Father; I acknowledge and confess my guilt in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day. I have called on Thee for pardon and forgiveness of my sins, but so coldly and carelessly that my prayers are become my sin, and they stand in need of pardon.”
“ I have sinned against heaven and before Thee in thought, word, and deed. I have contemned Thy majesty and holy laws. I have likewise sinned by omitting what I ought to have done and committing what I ought not. I have rebelled against the light, despising Thy mercies and judgment, and broken my vows and promise. I have neglected the better things. My iniquities are multiplied and my sins are very great. I confess them, O Lord, with shame and sorrow, detestation and loathing and desire to be vile in my own eyes as I have rendered myself vile in Thine. I humbly beseech Thee to be merciful to me in the free pardon of my sins for the sake of Thy dear Son and only Savior Jesus Christ who came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Thou gavest Thy Son to die for me.”
[George Washington; from a 24 page authentic handwritten manuscript book dated April 21-23, 1752
William J. Johnson George Washington, the Christian (New York: The Abingdon Press, New York & Cincinnati, 1919), pp. 24-35.]

"Although guided by our excellent Constitution in the discharge of official duties, and actuated, through the whole course of my public life, solely by a wish to promote the best interests of our country; yet, without the beneficial interposition of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, we could not have reached the distinguished situation which we have attained with such unprecedented rapidity. To HIM, therefore, should we bow with gratitude and reverence, and endeavor to merit a continuance of HIS special favors". [1797 letter to John Adams]

James Wilson:
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
Supreme Court Justice appointed by George Washington
Spoke 168 times during the Constitutional Convention

"Christianity is part of the common law"
[Sources: James Wilson, Course of Lectures [vol 3, p.122]; and quoted in Updegraph v. The Commonwealth, 11 Serg, & R. 393, 403 (1824).]

Source: Quotes of the Founding Fathers [click to read].

Faisal Shahzad's U.S. Citizenship

How Jihadists are 'Gaming the System'

Michelle Malkin Has This [click to read] in Jewish World Review.

"Jihadists have been gaming the sham marriage racket with impunity for years. And immigration benefit fraud has provided invaluable cover and aid for U.S.-based Islamic plotters, including many other operatives planning attacks on New York City. As I've reported previously" -- Michelle Malkin

An Open Letter to President Obama

By Lou Pritchett, Procter & Gamble

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you. You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American. You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll. You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core. You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others. You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail..

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad. You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector. You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one. You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world. You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations. You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people. You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient. You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do. You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh's, Hannity's, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view. You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing. Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management.. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history. ht/Nancy

National Day of Prayer, May 6th

In Times of Crisis Our Leaders Have Always Sought G-d...


Oak leaves.

Washington at Valley Forge, Lincoln when our nation's survival was at stake, and even FDR, when enemies across the great oceans stood ready to test our greatness, all sought prayer for our country. Today, faced with the threats of global jihad, economic upheaval and the destruction of our national sovereignty, can we honestly say we should do less.

Jim McCloskey of the Staunton News Leader questions the need for a national day of prayer in his McCloskey Monday. Jim, take a hard look at the problems facing us today and see if you don't want to rethink this.

A Friend of mine wrote this letter to the editor in response:

In regard to Jim McCloskey's article in today's paper, May 3, 2010, on The National Day of Prayer, I have a few comments:

Jim claims to be a church going person so I wonder why he is so concerned about having a National Day of Prayer?

I hope that he realizes that this is a time...
a day set apart for ALL faiths not just for the Christian or Jewish faiths.

It is a day set apart and the churches have this wonderful opportunity to have special services apart from Sunday.

There are prayer breakfasts, prayer in the park, prayer at noon, prayer called at different times ALL DAY throughout the United States...

We have extreme National concerns. We are a nation bordering on bankruptcy, threats of terrorism, immorality throughout our schools, government control of all or our lives i.e. National Health Care---there are bank failures, etc. There is MUCH to pray about. So, think of it as wonderful, that a day is set apart for ALL people, of ALL faiths, to join together to pray. I and my family look forward to participating in it together every year.

All faiths are called to prayer on this National Day of Prayer...I hope all of us realize that.

I do hope that he will not be so sensitive to a day that means so much to all of us and if he does not want to participate in it, he certainly does not have to---just give us the freedom to continue participating in this, our NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER.

Nancy Summers,
Staunton, Virginia

An Urgent Call to Seek Divine Intervention...

On May 1st a number of Christian and Jewish leaders called for urgent prayer for our nation. I was not able to be in Washington but I joined in the prayer and repentance as I helped my lovely wife do a craft show in Middlebrook. Surrounded by Civil War reenacters it wasn't too hard to get in the mood. Across the aisle from us was a Confederate camp and they were cooking a rather delicious smelling meal on their campfire. When I remarked that that was richer fare than my Great Grandfather would have eaten in camp they pulled out the hardtack and cracked corn that most of the men actually ate. "I don't think there are many of us who could live like that today," the reenactor remarked. He was camping there with his family.

Our first challenge, I fear, is to learn to PRAY like our forefathers. [1.] [2.] [3.]

Learn More About the National Day of Prayer [click to read].

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XVIIIA

Double THYME...

There is just too much going on these days! We thought it was time to remember TIME's past, specifically the October 16, 2006 Issue [click to view]. The issue features the hindquarters of an elephant and the subtitle "What a Mess." But the mess they gleefully prophesized would end the Conservative surge was NOTHING compared to the present mess. Americans by the thousands have gone to Washington to make our voices heard... and still our pleas fall on deaf ears! WHAT A MESS!

Franklin Raines, Obama, Al Gore, Goldman,
Joyce Foundation, CCX and Barack Obama

A Partnership Made in Hell to Fleece America [click to read]. Once again that 'Mad Man,' Glenn Beck is ahead of the curve with a report on 'the usual suspects.'

Franklin Raines, bundler of worthless mortgages and major force behind the destruction of the construction industry makes his appearance as the purchaser of the technology to measure and manage carbon [using Fannie Mae money -- our tax dollars]. The patent was awarded the day after Barack Obama and Democrats won the election. Coincidence?

Is it a coincidence that the CCX or Chicago Climate Exchange, is projected to gross 10 Trillion a year if Cap and Trade becomes law? Is it a coincidence that this institution is in Chicago?


Glenn Beck diagrams the 'smoke and mirrors' involved.

The Real Education Scandal [click to read]. Nat Hentoff in Jewish World Review on how the teachers' unions are fighting aa gubernatorial candidate who want's real reform.

"Even if he loses the primary, staying in the state legislature, I will keep reporting on Anthony Williams because he will surely continue to be heard from on saving students from dead-end schools. He is a founder of the Hardy Williams Academy Charter School in his state. Like another historic Pennsylvanian, Benjamin Franklin, this model citizen practices what he preaches."

Visit Beautiful Arizona

Arizona Travel Guide [click to read].

Experience the State of Freedom -- Arizona

Once again the liberals are boycotting a state when someone there does the right thing. Another great travel opportunity folks! Enjoy a drive to the Grand Canyon without those nasty Obama bumper stickers!

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XVIII

Special Mother's Day Issue

The 'other' weekly news magazine just published its list of 100 most influential people. We agree with them on Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, and SWAC Girl offers This Write Up on Beck by Palin [click to read] that actually appears in the pages of TIME.

"Who'd have thought a history buff with a quirky sense of humor and a chalkboard could make for such riveting television? ... Self-taught, he's become America's professor of common sense, sharing earnestly sought knowledge with an audience hungry for truth. Glenn, 46, tackles topics other news shows would regard as arcane." -- Palin writes of Beck.

It get's better. Beck feels compelled to point out to Palin: TIME Folks Hate Us [click to read].

“Can we make sure that we're sitting at the same table?” Beck said. “I went last year. It is a nightmare!”

Palin replied: “Well, how did you face them? Because you know that there will be criticism of, oh, yeah, she condemns the mainstream media and yet she shows up at one of the functions . . . I don't mind making a couple of people uncomfortable in the room if I'm there.”

Well, Mr. Beck, Governor Palin, take note. TIME folks may hate you but THYME loves you! We'd love to be there with you and rest assured we'd make them uncomfortable too. Hey, we'd even tear out the endnotes of 'Arguing with Idiots' and study for a week just to keep it really interesting. I've done a little teaching and there's nothing so satisfying as sitting back and watching your students nail the stuff you taught them... we'd LOVE to treat you to some of that.

Before She Was a Governor She Was MOM!

Before she was a Vice-Presidential candidate she was a Mom. Those of us who had exceptional Mothers knew very well that that was a strong qualification for leadership.

My Mother worked in the engineering department of the Martin Company in Baltimore. During the war years she helped develop the seaplanes that were used in the Pacific. When we were kids Mom still pointed out cool looking airplanes. She raised five children -- all different. My two brothers are NASA engineers. My sisters are talented people who have had interesting careers as well.

Mom was there first. When she showed up at the Martin Company to crunch numbers for airplane designers she flatly refused to make coffee for the men. This truth is lived out in my own life -- I make my own coffee.

She must have been pretty good. When I was born the head of the department called her to beg her to come back. As the story goes, Mom took the call with me in her lap. No, she decided, she had a new project on her hands.

When we were homeschooling my daughter she expressed the sentiment that she wished she'd done that with us. People just didn't do that in the 1950's though. The 'experts' knocked you out to deliver the kid, sent the Dad home and then insisted that educators were better equipped to prepare little minds for the future.

The problem is that Mom had already taught me the complex English language and actually set me up with her old Underwood typwriter. She said I wrote little stories... sort of like primitive blogging.

I drew pictures too. I was pretty handy with a #2 pencil on the back of old medical forms provided by my Cardiologist Aunt. I remember fun summer afternoons when Mom put out the construction paper on the picnic table out back. We had a great time building little paper houses and assembling little villages.

Mom loved to teach complex concepts with illustrations. Once after we'd all had pie for dessert, she took the remaining piece and kept cutting it in half to show that [theoretically] it would be possible to continue to divide the remaining half in half again... forever!

What an honor it was to be her apprentice!