Blackhacker

Rumsfeld Resigns as Defense Secretary After Big Election Gains for Democrats - New York Times
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years at the Pentagon, Republican officials said Wednesday.

Evangelical Outpost

If after spending a quarter of a century in the church, a Christian woman can uphold the most unjust ruling since Dred Scott, then we have failed as a church. If the best we can say about an evangelical is that she “brings donuts” rather than that she brings a passion for justice, then the blood of the innocent will be on our hands. We will have failed to fulfill the calling of the church.

So why do we have this strange feeling in our stomachs about this nomination? Because deep down we know that being a member of a “conservative evangelical church” may make you an evangelical, but it doesn’t make you a disciple.

I am very tired of those on the right defining what it means to be a Christian by what your beliefs are on hot button issues. THIS is the calling of the Church. And This is how you can tell a disciple. The Christian Right are neither masters of Heaven nor Hell. They are squirrels like me just trying to get a nut. It is apparent to me that too many Christians have lost focus on what the mission of the Church is. It is NOT to overturn Roe v Wade. It NOT to see that gay marriage is banned from America. It is NOT see that prayer is returned to public schools. It is not even to feed the poor, or provide relief for the homeless, or ANY of the stuff that we find churches doing these days. It is preach the Gospel. That is the mission. ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL the other stuff is only a means to that end. If your end Goal is not to proclaim the Gospel you are NOT doing the work of the Church.

They Took Prayer out the Schools and Let the Devil in.

I could really careless if “under God” is in the Pledge, or if the Commandments are displayed on a stone monument in front of a court house. This is immaterial to me. It is more important to God that the Commandments be in your heart than on some hunk of rock. It didn’t work for the children of Israel. They carried the ORIGINAL Stones, and for 40 years and grumbled and complained the whole time. So much so that God had to smite them with one thing or another from time to time, just remind them of what God has done for them. And when they finally came into the Promised Land they couldn’t stay right for more than 1 generation at a time before God had to allow an enemy to come in and oppress them for a while. These where God’s CHOSEN people.

I said all of that to say this. If we are worried about how God is represented in American life then BE LIGHT, BE SALT. The healing of America is in the hearts and minds of the Christians.

I find it very ironic and hypocritical that Christian Conservatives want the Government to do what Christians should be doing. They want the Government to advocate for Christ and stand for Christian principles. But when the rocks cry out they the Government but for Christians who refuse to glorify Christ in the manifestations of his love.

What we see a lot of today is patriotism, disguised as a genuine love for Christ. We should stop trying to be a Christian Nation and be strive to be a Nation of Christians. In the end it will not matter from which nation you come from anyway. America is part of the WORLD and if you read the end of the Bible the fate of the world is sealed.

I have been hibernating but I got blog this from the NYTimes.(reg required)

In Secretly Taped Conversations, Glimpses of the Future President
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: February 20, 2005

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 - As George W. Bush was first moving onto the national political stage, he often turned for advice to an old friend who secretly taped some of their private conversations, creating a rare record of the future president as a politician and a personality.

In the last several weeks, that friend, Doug Wead, an author and former aide to Mr. Bush’s father, disclosed the tapes’ existence to a reporter and played about a dozen of them.

OK this is really not a big issue. Being that he was a known under achieving, alcoholic frat boy, it is a for gone conclusion that W did a little doobie. The “duck and cover” only gives legs to a controversy that doesn’t REALLY exist. In fact I would have most missed it except for the fact that I head about this while listening to AirAmerica today.

Trio of Papers Pull Today’s ‘Boondocks’ Referring to Bush and Drugs

By Dave Astor

Published: February 28, 2005 5:10 PM ET

NEW YORK At least three of the approximately 300 “Boondocks” clients dropped today’s strip mentioning President Bush’s alleged former drug use.

.. because of following that ran yesterday..

Just so you know. The part of about the “coke” is probably just punch line.

Lastly, I must say this ….. At least Clinton didn’t inhale .

HA ! I kill me!

Anyone who knows anything about NJ politics knows there are three big issues in the Garden State: High property taxes, High auto insurance, and "Pay-to-Play" corruption. Pay-to-Play is when businesses give contributions to canidates for elections in return for government contracts when they win. One of the last thing McGreevy did before stepping down as Governor was sign an executive order banning the practice. The federal court has stepped in.

TRENTON — The federal government won a court battle yesterday against New Jersey, saying the state’s ban on "pay-to-play" practices restricts competition by barring campaign donors from winning contracts for state work.

The state went into U.S. District Court in Trenton seeking an injunction against the federal government for its decision to withhold highway funding, but the judge refused to override the federal government’s position.

The federal government had filed documents Thursday, saying New Jersey’s anti-pay-to-play executive order, issued last September by then-Gov. James E. McGreevey, limited who could bid on state work.

And that, said lawyers for the federal government, violated federal guidelines for awarding highway contracts. The lawyers said businesses and individuals seeking government contracts have a right to make political contributions.

Says who ?!?!?!

If you ask me (if you are reading this you did) keeping the politcal system fair and honest trumps individual rights to bid on contracts. We talk about all of the money being put political campaigns. Where is this cash coming from ? This is America, the largest capitalist system on the planet. Everything is for sale. Everything is a sale of some sort. Contributors are buying somthing. If small and medium size business can influence govnerment to get there hands on public money, with contributions what do you think is going to happen as gloabalization sets in ?

Lily Tomlin

"Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent,
hard-working, honest Americans. It’s the other lousy two percent that
get all the publicity. But then–we elected them."

twice