An answered prayer

As stated in this article, Mosab was granted asylum today.  I was one of many who prayed that he would be.

Congratulations to Mosab Hassan Yousef, one of the real freedom fighters!

This is by far the bigger and, in my opinion, the better story in today's big news.

Pray for Mosab

A fellow Christian needs our help.. NOW

Related article can be read here.

from the dept. of stupid

"EPA classifies milk as oil".

No, seriously.  Farmers, you've now got to have a spill prevention plan and extra spill-storage tanks if you have dairy cattle.

No mention in this article about what prevention measures are necessary if when cows release deadly poisonous methane from their backsides into the environment.

The Fix

Regarding the firing of General McChrystal...

Things I've learned from former Muslims

Lately, I've taken an interest in the conflict going on in the Middle East. As we all know, there is a spiritual battle going on between Muslims and Jews/Christians. After reading Son of Hamas (Yousef), and watching a couple of Joel Rosenberg videos (Inside the Revolution and Epicenter), I have learned so much from new Christians who come from an Islamic background. Living in the United States, we are naive and ignorant, and we all need to take an interest in what's actually going on over there. Perhaps even pitch in a little...

So what have I learned? Here are just a few things...

1. Growing up in a Christian home, we take our faith and knowledge of the Gospel for granted. I feel like many Christians (including myself) go to church and try to do good because that's what we are supposed to do. But what does that truly say about our faith in Jesus Christ? I find that when I question my faith, I learn the most. I think Mosab Yousef said it best when he said "how do we know that Jesus is God? Because He has the HIGHEST standards." If you think about it, there is no higher standard. Love your neighbors AND enemies, turn the other cheek, if someone asks you to go one mile with him - go with him 2 miles... These standards are ones we know and have learned many times over - but there is nothing more perfect! I just hope that as Christians, we remember WHY we believe what we do, and we don't take our faith for granted.

2. Muslims, including terrorists, are people too. They have families, friends, struggles, and hope, just like Christians. But they don't know Jesus. They grew up in Muslim homes, and basically, they have been manipulated by a god who instills fear in people. As Christians, it is our job to help. Pray for these people. Give monetarily. Reach out to a Muslim in your community or beyond. Remember, God loves them too. Jesus died for these people too. It's easy to hate Muslims, especially after seeing 9/11, and the numerous terrorist attacks all over the world. But remember Jesus's standards... love your enemy!

3. God performs miracles even today - like the kind in the Bible! In Joel Rosenberg's video called Inside the Revolution, there are Muslims who came to Christ through dreams and visions. AMAZING. I thought those days were over - but he is at work. Tass Saada is a good example. Research his story or even buy his book, Once an Arafat Man. Look for YouTube videos and search for "how muslim became Christian." In discussing this with a friend, she even mentioned to me how a friend of a friend, who was not a Christian at the time, prayed to God out of desperation, and he heard God's voice!

I realize at this point I'm rambling out of excitement, and maybe my presentation isn't doing these ideas justice... but I encourage you guys to pick up some of the books and/or videos mentioned in this post.

If you feel compelled, there are a few ways I've learned you can help:

The Joshua Fund

Al Hayat TV

and PRAYER!

If I find out other resources/ways to help, I will definitely add them to the post.

Judgement Day

There are still good judges.  And this is so worth a read.  http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/shoebomb.asp

And take names...

I can just hear Couric now, "Ooooo, Oooo, kick me, kick me!"

Straight Dope about Meximerica

Two things:  1) White supremacists are ignorant.  AND  2) There is nothing racist about protecting your borders.  If those two statements seem incompatible, then you're probably a liberal (but you're still welcome to read our blog).  While we're at it, let's admit that a lot of Mexico is very beautiful.  But unfortunately, much of it is dangerous and poor.  So people leave.  America has become somewhat of a reverse osmotic filter for freedom and opportunity.  Where the concentration of freedom is noticeably deficient, people are crossing the barrier to get to where it is greatest.  You can hardly blame their desire to do so, but neither can you ignore the fact that America cannot always welfare the world into no longer sucking.

I have pity on the Mexicans that desire to leave Mexico to find opportunity and freedom.  But I also have pity on the Americans that must somehow keep creating enough wealth to support not only its grossly obese government but to support a philosophy of ever growing dependency.  As long as welfare is a problem, more Mexicans in the US are going to be a problem too.  A constant influx of Mexicans gives liberals just what they need...fresh voters and new reasons for socialist policies.  In other words, more power.  Other than that, there is little evidence that liberals really care about the plight of the Mexican people whatsoever.

Many Mexicans are leaving Mexico to live just inside the States in a cardboard box because at least here, there's some chance of success.  Living in a box is better than worrying about you or your kids getting shot at or mangled by coked up drug smugglers.  America is strong.  And Mexicans are welcome to immigrate...legally.  Otherwise, all we have is a country that is absorbing the failed and corrupt policies of Mexican government.  America will eventually pop like a balloon that continues to fill with air.  The free people of this land can only take on so much global responsibility added on their individual responsibilities to their own families and neighbors.

Let's also not ignore the fact that if I, an American, were to go to Mexico illegally and try to live there, go to school there, get a job there, etc, I would likely be imprisoned, maybe beaten.  I half expect I would be killed.  So what's this double standard about?  Mexican immigration laws don't welcome me, and yet I'm a white supremacist because I question the validity of illegal immigration?  That's interesting.  Our nation is so accommodating that I have to press buttons to continue in English.  Perhaps it is not only Americans with the problem.  Perhaps it is jealousy.  People want what we have; but rather than create wealth and opportunity in their own country, it's much easier to give up, leave, and try to get a piece of it here. 

My advice to Mexico is to plead with the world to help you clean up the drug problem for good and clean up your own government.  That's going to be tough.  America itself needs help because Americans with drug habits are supporting a lot of the drug commerce.  The drug runners need something better to do than being errand boys for drug lords.  And the drug lords have better weapons than most police forces.  Start working on your own economy.  Build up your own people.  Produce something of value.  If you want to be more like the U.S. use capitalism to boost your wealth.  I'm no preacher, as you can probably tell, but I beg of you to ask the Lord for help because you're going to need Him to get out of the mess you're in.  There, that's something that you have in common with the U.S. right off the bat.

This Much

As a follow up to Grimp's post earlier on Thomas Sowell and Wal-Mart's effect on the economy, I give you this:

However, if we do not quite see the underlying logic of exchange and how it works to help everyone, it is easy to underappreciate what market trading means to society. This is a tendency in the circles that discuss issues of social justice. The market is rarely given the credit it deserves for helping humanity improve its lot. In fact, the market is nothing but the cooperative interaction of humanity in improving the commonweal.

That's from Jeffrey Tucker at the Mises Econ Blog hosted at the Christian Science Monitor.

A very scary sentence

CSMonitor:

The second reason this is a landmark case is that the Justice Department has unambiguously stated that refusal to accept government price controls is a form of illegal “price fixing.”

How Much?

How much a-double-s can one man kick?  I'll tell you.  A lot.  And Thomas Sowell kicks like a mule: read on.  I too mentioned the phenomenon of Wal-Mart's lowering the cost of living in my post, "Citizen's Address", posted Jan. 2009 as well as "Letter to my government" in Nov. 2008.  Chris also mentioned it in his post, "Economics 101" in Feb. 2010.  You know what they say about great minds...