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From the Sand Pit – Message From a Recon Marine in Afghanistan

January 28, 2009 By 15 Comments

Marine in AfghanistanWow! I’m not sure if the letter below is legitimate or fabricated. It sounds like it could be from a real Marine, and so I’m going to publish it just in case. Either way, it gives you a lot to think about…

It’s freezing here. I’m sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains along the Dar ‘yoi Pomir River watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stake out, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my ass every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I’ve actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but them scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

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President Barack Obama’s 2009 Inauguration and Address

January 20, 2009 By 13 Comments

president-obamaToday The United States of America took a profound step forward. I don’t believe that any of us can yet comprehend the gravity of the day, but I am certain that we witnessed an event that will be forever etched in history. We, the people, freely elected Barack Hussein Obama as our leader, and today he took control of the most powerful and prosperous nation, perhaps ever, on the planet.

The video below captured this historic event, including both the presidential inauguration and President Obama’s address to the nation. If you were unable to see it previously I suggest taking a look at it now. President Obama’s address was meant not only for the citizens of the United States, but for the people of the world.
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Castro’s Cuba Leaves Nothing to Be Admired

January 6, 2009 By 5 Comments

fidel_castroI have a very close friend (who shall go unnammed) that seems to admire Fidel Castro. Well my friend, I came across this post at IBD editorials about Cuba’s 50 years of failure, and I just had to share it!

Spare us the fireworks and media-parroted claims of Fidel Castro’s dictatorship bringing universal health care and education to Cuba. The real story is that a prosperous Cuba was turned into ruins in just five decades.

Its inflation-adjusted gross domestic product is a mere 5% of what it was in 1958, the year before Castro took over, according to Jorge Salazar-Carillo of Florida International University.

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Religulous – Bill Maher’s Impassioned Argument Against Religion

January 3, 2009 By 27 Comments

religulousBill Maher seems to be following in Michael Moore’s footsteps by putting out a movie called Religulous. This film, which I’m certain will prove to be extremely divisive, makes the case that the most dangerous force on earth is religion.

Maher’s ultimate message is simple: Abandon religion… or we’ll all die.

In the clip that follows, Maher lays out the foundation of this statement. Here are a few choice quotes which I believe pretty much sum things up:

  • “If one believes that the world is going to come to an end, does it not drain one’s motivation to improve life while we’re here?”
  • “Religion must die for man to live.”
  • “Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking.”
  • “Those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders.”
  • “Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings, who don’t have all the answers, to think they do.”
  • “The only attitude for man to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt.”
  • “The solace and comfort that religion brings you, actually comes at a terrible price.”

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What’s Next? America After the Obama / McCain Election

November 4, 2008 By 7 Comments

Here we are on the eve before we discover who will become the next President of the United States. Already it is set to be a historic election.
President Bush Approval Ratings

But what happens after tomorrow?
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Did God Really Grant Houses to the Poor? You Betcha!

October 6, 2008 By 7 Comments

Joel OsteenTime magazine just put out an article about how a certain type of Pentecostal Evangelism likely put a large number of consumers more or less in harm’s way by preaching that “God will give you a house, if you first give to God (as in… make an offering to the church).”

The religious movement, spearheaded by Godatorium super-star Joel Osteen (who may also be the devil), is called Propserity Gospel – and teaches that, dammit, God wants you to be rich in this lifetime as well as the next!

And quite a few folks are apparently coming around to this idea…

In three of the Gospels, Jesus warns that each of his disciples may have to “deny himself” and even “take up his Cross.” In support of this alarming prediction, he forcefully contrasts the fleeting pleasures of today with the promise of eternity: “For what profit is it to a man,” he asks, “if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” It is one of the New Testament’s hardest teachings, yet generations of churchgoers have understood that being Christian, on some level, means being ready to sacrifice–money, autonomy or even their lives.

But for a growing number of Christians like George Adams, the question is better restated, “Why not gain the whole world plus my soul?“

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The US Declaration of Independence

September 20, 2008 By 1 Comment

Declaration of IndependenceI was recently reminded of just how cool the U.S. Declaration of Independence was, and how it united the citizens of the original 13 colonies in the common goal of establishing freedom and abolishing the reign of a tyrannical dictator.

Since both of the major political parties are currently advocating “change”, it is apparent that the citizens of the United States are once again seeking a radical departure from our current ways. Here is how we did it once upon a time… back when we had some real cajones!

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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Educational Qualifications: Obama and Biden vs. McCain and Palin

September 11, 2008 By 29 Comments

Obama vs. McCainSince we’re in the process of selecting not only the new leaders of the United States, but also the new leaders of the Free World, I wanted to do a little research on their educational backgrounds. Personally I view wisdom as an important trait in a leader, and there can be no wisdom without knowledge. It also seems to me that humans have basically always universally held this belief, as we even see evidence dating back to Plato’s Republic in which the Guardians of the state required strict educational training.

I then decided that we should include the Vice Presidential candidates in the research because, after all, they are next in line for succession to the Presidency in case something terrible happens. On top of that, the Vice President of the United States is also the President of the US Senate. So, they’ve got one hell of an important job either way.
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Sarah Palin’s Church Videos Show America in Flames?

September 9, 2008 By 13 Comments

Master's Commission: Wasilla Alaska WorshipersOk. This scares the crap out of me! Sarah Palin’s church, Wasilla Assembly of God, apparently has created the Master’s Commission: Wasilla Alaska which is some kind of… um, I don’t know what to call it… cult? And for the record, she was baptized in this church at age 12 and attended it for most of her adult life. As I understand it, when she was inaugurated as governor, the founding pastor of the church delivered the invocation.

Anyway, no need to guess as to what is being preached, luckily all of the sermons are online so you can spend as much time listening as you please.

According to one anonymous person, you’ll hear the following if you listen to them (heck, I’m not gonna do it):

  • “Pastor Kalnins” has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war “contending for your faith;” and said that Jesus “operated from that position of war mode.”
  • Kalnins bristled at the treatment President Bush was receiving over the federal government’s handling of Hurricane Katrina. “I hate criticisms towards the President,” he said, “because it’s like criticisms towards the pastor — it’s almost like, it’s not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That’s what it’ll get you.”
  • Kalnins has preached that the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq were part of a “world war” over the Christian faith, one in which Jesus Christ had called upon believers to be willing to sacrifice their lives.
  • He preaches repeatedly about the “end times” or “last days,” an apocalyptic prophesy held by a small but vocal group of Christian leaders. During his appearance with Palin in June, he declared, “I believe Alaska is one of the refuge states in the last days, and hundreds of thousands of people are going to come to the state to seek refuge and the church has to be ready to minister to them.

Anyway, ignoring all of that, just watch the promotional video for their “intense discipleship training program”:
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