THE "PROBLEM" WITH TRUMP

THE "PROBLEM" WITH TRUMP . . . is that , though rich, he is an ordinary guy in many ways. That is why he says stupid things, shoots from the hip, and says things he probably doesn't truly mean. Like many of us, he voices his inner thoughts about what is going wrong, knowing that it is really more complicated. He knows that he will have to actually put more work into things like the illegal immigrants who are in some cases model citizens today . . .those who were essentially much like refugees. We do not know why each one came. Many were desperate, and he knows that. And he knows, as an international businessman, that immigration is a real problem and open borders is an elitist goal. He knows the abject evil of radical Islam and that some of his seemingly radical statements (to the elitists and leftists) are not wrong, like restricting Muslim visas. He knew when he fired off an ill-advised shot from the hip and "insulted" John McCain, that in many ways McCain is not a strong conservative and does not always seem to have America's best interest at heart, and that McCain was attacking him. anyone can see the wrong positions of many politicians of McCain's ilk. Trump challenged McCain not veterans or POWs. He is the ordinary guy, though wealthy, that America has always needed. It is time to evict the "ruling class" the class of people who think of themselves as our permanent bosses.

A LITTLE STRAIGHT SHOOTING

A LITTLE STRAIGHT SHOOTING . . . about what is said. Huma Abedin once said that banning some or all Muslims was racist. Islam is a religion not a race, and there are issues with it's belief system in a free society. We are open to other religions that support a free society. Donald Trump spoke derogatorily in a sort of joking/sarcastic way about John McCain's capture. While we all revere such heroes, his comment that it is better to avoid capture is not wrong. McCain isn't the hero he was during Vietnam to many of us. He is too moderate and too cozy with those we perceive as crooked politicians and those who may be a threat to the Republic. When Huma's possible ties to questionable Muslim people and organizations were brought up, he jumped to defend her in a knee-jerk manner. One wonders if he knew the truth and facts, or just defended a leftist . . .and is he one. A lot of Republicans may be closely tied with questionable leftist, and Trump knows that. Another thing that is happening is that Hispanics are apparently being told that 'trump will deport them even if they are legally here. That is of course not true, and he has even said that he will study the options concerning illegals who are vested in this country and otherwise positive and productive residents. The bottom line is that misrepresentations are being made in this election and all of the time. and they are more often the tool .of the left . . . those that portray themselves as the insightful, knowledgeable young rebels defending you from the corrupt establishment. Hell they are the establishment, the biggest and worst part of it anyway. And the real establishment they have planned when they can regulate and punish every thing you do is a society built on the concept of metaphorical prison walls.

US Civil Rights Commission Targets Religious Liberty - Crisis Magazine

US Civil Rights Commission Targets Religious Liberty - Crisis Magazine: On September 7, 2016, the US Commission on Civil Rights issued a report entitled Peaceful Coexistence: Reconciling Nondiscrimination Principles with Civil Liberties. The report has not received the attention it deserves. Should the next president appoint and the Senate approve judges and justices that agree with its findings, the report will serve as a playbook …

THERE WAS NO INCOME TAX BEFORE 1913

THERE WAS NO INCOME TAX BEFORE 1913 and the Federal government was funded by trade tariffs and federal land rentals and such things. Less funding was needed because the U.S. Federal Nanny State did not exist and needed no money to take care of the world outside our borders and the world trying to sneak in our borders to steal our good life from us here. Then the jobs of government were, as they are supposed to be, protecting our borders and coasts and helping develop basic infrastructure and maintain basic law and order. The government could be helpful with some programs and sensible laws, such as those banning child labor and establishing national parks. But maybe the Federal Government still broke the law. Perhaps the use of troops against striking mine workers is one example. That came after income tax however. I believe it is illegal in the U.S. to use the military against American citizens, no matter what. And thus, the Civil War was probably an illegal Federal act. But of course the Confederates standing against Fort Sumter fired the first shot because the Feds would not close up shop there and leave. I'm not sure who was right there, but I suppose the South Carolinians were. All of you open borders folks and free traders pay more now because of the system you support. I'm all for other countries building their economies, but not on our shoulders. We take home and get to keep less money because of free trade robbing our government coffers of tariff income and open borders letting illegals in to suck from the welfare breasts engorged by our taxes.

Hanson column: Diversity: history's pathway to chaos

Hanson column: Diversity: history's pathway to chaos: Emphasizing diversity has been the pitfall, not the strength, of nations throughout history.

IS THE FILIPINO FISHERMAN WHO FOUND THE WORLD'S LARGEST PEARL GETTING RIPPED OFF.

IS THE FILIPINO FISHERMAN WHO FOUND THE WORLD'S LARGEST PEARL GETTING RIPPED OFF. The article in the paper we read says he will receive a yet undisclosed reward. He found this years ago and has kept it in his home. Fishermen seek valuable items form the sea (food fish, pearls, etc.) as a business. It is his work and he has possessed the pearl for some time. I ask_ Isn't the pearl his to sell as he wishes for the price he can get? If the Philippine authorities want to keep the item in the country for heritage reasons, should they not have to buy it from him at a fair market price. A benefactor could help foot the bill, and maybe the fisherman will lower the price some out of patriotism. But is it not his to sell, not to give up for a 'reward'? [Pass this around, and if you know an official Philippine website or page, send it to them.]

App Shows Donald Trump Winning HUGE! Polls are WRONG! 8/15/16

Julian Assange : we have proof that the Clinton camp is rigging the elec...

Julian Assange : we have proof that the Clinton camp is rigging the elec...

This Man Has Been Building a Cathedral By Hand for the Last 53 Years | ChurchPOP

This Man Has Been Building a Cathedral By Hand for the Last 53 Years | ChurchPOP

THIS IS RADICAL ISLAM AT WORK [my apologies that the Blogger website cannot seem to paragraph properly]

I am speaking as a native born Caucasian American with deep ties to my non-white wife's family and homeland, in which I lived after officially immigrating there. We returned to the U.S. after several years for political reasons (tyranny). Presented in the following paragraphs are my comments about the graphic post-attack video of the victims in Nice, France. THIS IS RADICAL ISLAM AT WORK, but supported, according to the evidence in France, by many in the mainstream of the belief. and it was not done by a firearm; it was done with a common motor vehicle. Radical Islam will do its evil even here in the U.S. as well because our government has shipped the refugees here, 100,000 of them according to Sec. of State John Kerry . . . refugees that will surely include some imbedded radicals. That's common sense because such operatives get in even in common travel, without the cover of a refugee movement. Reportedly, the victims in Nice included 10 children and some Muslims. And these radicals will find a way, with or without guns. The methods to kill in large numbers are restrained only by the boundaries of the imagination. That is why Americans must always be free to arm themselves, should train themselves, and must never give up that right. It is why the government and its laws must be made to work with the citizens, armed and trained as well as those who chose not to be. Government's role is to be on our side, not that of our enemies and the least patriotic among us, as they now are. Radical commentary has been reported in some American mosques. Muslims need not be harassed, but investigations need to be carried out and radical elements removed from our country. The vetting of American Japanese during World War II was handled very badly and unfairly for the Japanese American; but an investigation (a better, more ethical one) should have still been done. Nations should allow immigration to their lands, but it should be done in a controlled way to maintain some semblance of the social, traditional, and ethnic identity of their country. As an example of why that is important,for a foreign culture such as that of the Islamic faith to immigrate into another nation and demand their laws become accepted and become law, whether just for them or for the whole country is bizarre. But then, for a country like the U.S. or other developed nations to feel obligated to help those at risk by taking in massive populations of them is equally bizarre. There are other ways. One must never underestimate the goals and power of the political left, which takes the long historical view in trying to change the world. Socialist leaning governments are in power now around much of the globe, and refugees from other lands dilute the tradiotional leaning population of any nation.

THIS IS RADICAL ISLAM AT WORK

I am speaking as a native born caucasian American with deep ties to my non-white wife's family and homeland, in which I lived after officially immigrating there. We returned to the U.S. after several years for political reasons (tyranny). Presented in the following paragraphs are my comments about the graphic post-attack video of the victims in Nice, France. THIS IS RADICAL ISLAM AT WORK, but supported, according to the evidence in France, by many in the mainstream of the belief. and it was not done by a firearm; it was done with a common motor vehicle. Radical Islam will do its evil even here in the U.S. as well because our government has shipped the refugees here, 100,000 of them according to Sec. of State John Kerry . . . refugees that will surely include some imbedded radicals. That's common sense because such operatives get in even in common travel, without the cover of a refugee movement. Reportedly, the victims in Nice included 10 children and some Muslims. And these radicals will find a way, with or without guns. The methods to kill in large numbers are restrained only by the boundaries of the imagination. That is why Americans must always be free to arm themselves, should train themselves, and must never give up that right. It is why the government and its laws must be made to work with the citizens, armed and trained as well as those who chose not to be. Government's role is to be on our side, not that of our enemies and the least patriotic among us, as they now are. Radical commentary has been reported in some American mosques. Muslims need not be harassed, but investigations need to be carried out and radical elements removed from our country. The vetting of American Japanese during World War II was handled very badly and unfairly for the Japanese American; but an investigation (a better, more ethical one) should have still been done. Nations should allow immigration to their lands, but it should be done in a controlled way to maintain some semblance of the social, traditional, and ethnic identity of their country. As an example of why that is important,for a foreign culture such as that of the Islamic faith to immigrate into another nation and demand their laws become accepted and become law, whether just for them or for the whole country is bizarre. But then, for a country like the U.S. or other developed nations to feel obligated to help those at risk by taking in massive populations of them is equally bizarre. There are other ways. One must never underestimate the goals and power of the political left, which takes the long historical view in trying to change the world. Socialist leaning governments are in power now around much of the globe, and refugees from other lands dilute the tradiotional leaning population of any nation.

Islam, Revolution, and Black Lives Matter - Crisis Magazine

Islam, Revolution, and Black Lives Matter - Crisis Magazine: In a speech delivered to the Annual MAS-ICNA (Muslim American Society and Islamic Circle of North America) Convention in December 2015, Nihad Awad, the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), urged Muslim Americans to take up the cause of Black Lives Matter. “Black Lives Matter is our matter,” he said; “Black Lives …

LONG AFTER AMERICA'S 1st. ENCOUNTER WITH ISLAM'S BARBARY PIRATES

LONG AFTER AMERICA'S 1st. ENCOUNTER WITH ISLAM'S BARBARY PIRATES . . . & long before Radical Islam's modern terror, our nation's sons and daughters faced the fiercest of Muslim warriors in the steamy jungles and on the desolate beaches of the South Pacific . . . in the Christian Philippines, where the Moro minority often plundered and terrorized . . . . They were warriors who would drug themselves with natural intoxicants and tie their arms and legs to enable extended combat when cut arteries meant mortal wounds, and their raged charges gave our language 'running amok [amuk]' for such attacks that couldn't be stopped. See how the American Navajo woman, Sunny Jefferson (a lady and a knife fighter), petite as she is, deals with this most dangerous of threats in SUNNY OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST. http://curry.virginia.edu/magazine/classnotes/2016/05/13/robert-f-jackson-jr/

Five Male Celebrities Who Are Pro-Life on Abortion

Five Male Celebrities Who Are Pro-Life on Abortion: Recently I wrote about five male celebrities I boycott for their pro-abortion views. Today, I’ll tell you about five famous men whose careers I can feel good

No Exit (from Islam) - Crisis Magazine

No Exit (from Islam) - Crisis Magazine: The world is abuzz with talk of Brexit—the British vote to leave the European Union. Britain’s reclamation of its independence is now prompting talk that other nations might exit the EU—the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Italy, and a dozen more. Over on this side of the Atlantic, the Brexit initiative has renewed discussion about the U.S. …

Clinton's State Dept. calendar missing scores of entries

Clinton's State Dept. calendar missing scores of entries: WASHINGTON (AP) — An Associated Press review of the official calendar Hillary Clinton kept as s

Loretta Lynch: ‘Most effective’ response to Islamic terrorism ‘is love’

Loretta Lynch: ‘Most effective’ response to Islamic terrorism ‘is love’

STUCK IN THE SIXTIES . . . . when half of today's problems began.

It was recently clarified to me that the 'love thy neighbor' expressed in the Old Testament was directed at loving one's actual own people, the people of one's culture and society. It was directed as a command to the Jews about loving their own Jewish people as their neighbors, which is of course what they were. Christ expanded the meaning to the broader mankind but did not say that we must accept or submit to the evil of any other culture or people. 'Loving' does not mean submission. One turns the other cheek to a wrong done by a friend or neighbor, not to an enemy. And one only has one other cheek.

Another article in my e-mail today addresses why Christians are blamed for radical Islamist terrorism. I haven't read it yet, but my take on the topic is that the infighting, jealousy, greed, etc.(of the kings and military leaders involved) allowed them to screw up the Crusades, which they failed to win. They had a mission from God to retaliate against clear aggression and brutality; and, as flawed men, they failed.

When TV Host Asked Arab Woman For The Truth, He Got A Lot More Than He Bargained For

When TV Host Asked Arab Woman For The Truth, He Got A Lot More Than He Bargained For



WOMAN SCHOOLS FELLOW ARAB ON THE FALSITY OF BLAMING THE WEST FOR THEIR PROBLEMS, BEAUTY & BRAINS

Reality Check: The True Intent Of The Second Amendment

Hillary Clinton’s Church Problem - Crisis Magazine

Hillary Clinton’s Church Problem - Crisis Magazine: We Catholics constantly deal with questions about pro-abortion or pro-“gay marriage” Catholic politicians and their conflict with Church teaching. The likes of a Nancy Pelosi or Andrew Cuomo or Kathleen Sebelius are regularly called out. During the 2004 presidential race, Democratic nominee John Kerry, a lifetime Roman Catholic, was strongly criticized for his support of …

Poll: 9 in 10 Native Americans not offended by Redskins name

Poll: 9 in 10 Native Americans not offended by Redskins name: NEW YORK (AP) — A recent national poll found that nine of 10 Native Americans aren't offended b

Bishop Barron on the Disorienting Quality of Real Prayer

Why Are Americans Buying So Many Guns?

Why Are Americans Buying So Many Guns?

'The Boss' Praised by Men Who Think They Are Women - Crisis Magazine

'The Boss' Praised by Men Who Think They Are Women - Crisis Magazine: As everyone in America knows by now, the old rocker Bruce Springsteen has canceled a concert in North Carolina, because the state passed a law preserving the status quo ante as of ten seconds ago, which is that men empty their bowels in the men’s room and not in the ladies’ room. It should be …

The Libertarian Catholic* pointed out on Facebook that there is great irony in Bruce Springsteen's hypocritical stance in the North Carolina homosexual laws debate: "I’m not going to do business with you because of my deeply-held personal belief that you need to do business with people despite your deeply-held personal beliefs." ‪#‎hypocrisy‬ ‪#‎libertarian‬ ‪#‎Catholic‬ ‪#‎religiousFreedom‬

*https://www.facebook.com/TheLibertarianCatholic/?fref=ts&em=1

The Whole Gay Rights Versus Gay Restrictions is a Political Game

The crisis concerning the issue of homosexuals not getting treated fairly by businesses is another political correct battle being fought to level our culture and remove our values. Liberal, progressive leftists do not want America or the world to have values. This is a war, a cultural struggle.

Does anyone really believe that business care if they are serving a homosexual customer or client? If a transgendered person has had a sex change or is well costumed, will anyone know that he or she are not what they were born as in the privacy of their own bathroom stall. Bisexuals of course are another issue.

The point is that this is the Confederate flag all over again. The left wants you to conform. North Carolina and other states will cave in on the issue and repeal their laws because they have no backbone in the face of boycotts. Probably, if they were patient, conservative companies will bring business their way. Beretta moved to Tennessee from Maryland to escape that liberal state.

There are two separate battles in this present campaign in the culture war. The bathroom is generally a false issue, and people, in most cases should go to the bathroom of their obvious birth gender. Perhaps a third bathroom needs to be available for adults who are transgendered in the more fluid bisexual way. That should only require a few extra bathrooms in public buildings, in spite of the attempt to convince us that this is more broadly normal.

Secondly, a homosexual or otherwise gender 'different' person need not go into a business and announce, "I'm gay; now serve me." [that didn't come out right, but you get the idea.]

Business owners do not care until your demand affects the practice of their religious faith life. So a bakery might not mind making a cake, even a wedding cake. He or she might rather not know he is making it for a homosexual marriage. Don't tell him. If the cake has homsexually suggestive art, such as two men or two women kissing, that would offend his religious beliefs and sensitivities. Find a gay baker or one who doesn't mind. Christians have no problem in their business life in serving a client or customer who might be homosexual. They just do not want to serve the homosexuallity. They don't want to photograph the happy couple being affectionate or in the wedding, or serve the wedding, or bake 'that' cake. Their religious beliefs come first in their lives and they should.

Of course ministers of churches cannot be forced legally to marry anyone within the boundaries of their faith that they do not deem eligible or worthy in  religious sense. That is non-negotiable.

But as to the business world, no one is telling anyone that they will not serve homosexuals. They are saying o those gay customers: Do not come into my business and demand that my company meet your demands in a blatant act, such as a gay wedding, that is offensive to my religious faith.

Study Shows Many UK Muslims Hold Extremist, Anti-Semitic Views

Study Shows Many UK Muslims Hold Extremist, Anti-Semitic Views

Why True Christians will Never Accept Homosexual Behavior as Moral

This article/essay will not display properly on my blog at Blogger.
Please read it on my other Blog at_

http://AmericanArt.weebly.com/blog

Jets' Ferguson makes retirement official in letter to fans

Jets' Ferguson makes retirement official in letter to fans: NEW YORK (AP) — D'Brickashaw Ferguson played 10 rugged seasons in the NFL, never missed a snap

IT'S NOT ALWAYS JUST A CAKE . . . Economic Blackmail Must Not Mold Our Culture

I am not against Boycotts. I am against the Conservative Wimps who cave in to Liberal Boycotting.

Because of the pressure from gay rights advocates (including the Federal Government), large businesses have threatened to not do business within states that try to protect the religious rights of small and large businesses people who fear they will have to break their own moral standards.

It isn't always a simple cake or photograph. I had a small business next to a custom bakery. They were somewhat known for their risque cakes, and they used to have us come over to see the results of some of their orders (even for straight people). I would not have baked those cakes. I am an artist as well as a writer. I am quite sure that I will not paint some of the portraits or custom paintings a gay person or couple, a Satanist, or many other types of people would ask me to paint. Luckily I currently do no custom paintings; and, if I ever do, I will advertise that I am a painter of orthodox oriented Christian oriented art. You can't force a blacksmith to groom your horse or a Jazz band to play in a classical concert. I've written a poem or two for others as well. That will never be a future business service of mine without the orthodox label.

I have never shied away from the boycott of something or someone I did not respect. I'm not telling people to stop boycotting as political tool. I am telling Conservatives to stand up to it when it is a weapon against our values. Conservatives should boycott those who are hurting our nation in our view. You have to stand for something.

Equally strongly and tenaciously Conservatives should resist the tendency to give in to the businesses, Federal Government, and groups who use the boycott technique against them, against their state or town. There are important elements of life and society in play here: courage; morality; true, traditional values; the survival of religious freedom; and one's own dignity and that of your state and Conservative party to have core values and hold on to them.

Society and the marketplace will shake it all out. Conservative and Christian oriented business will accept incentives and move to your town or state. If your town is liberal and your county is more conservative, lure the business to your county and to hell with your nearest town.Standing up to economic pressure, making your local and state leaders do so, and luring like minded companies and organizations to your area will all help define this nation. Region will mean something again. We won't all be trying to be one thing. We won't all be gray , and America will have color and flavor again.

If this leads to regionalism and sectionalism, so be it. If it leads to regional autonomy, so be it as well. Only liberals are trying to make us all the same. We Conservatives are willing to leave them alone if we are left alone. They won't leave us alone. Maybe someday, having local, state, and regional backbone now will have strengthen the nation; or maybe it will divide it. Either would be good for traditional Americans, for theirs would be the strong part after any sort of split. Perhaps it would be good for progressives as well. They would have their own little utopian dictatorial slum.

CAIR Leader Arrested in Major Child Sex Trafficking Ring Bust

CAIR Leader Arrested in Major Child Sex Trafficking Ring Bust:
WND.com reports that more than 100 people, including the Orlando leader of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), were arrested in a two-county Florida sex-sting operation, many of whom were allegedly trying to have sex with children.

Teen suspect faces murder charge in Austin student's killing

Teen suspect faces murder charge in Austin student's killing: AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A homeless 17-year-old has been arrested and will be charged with murder F

Officials: Texas student's killing on campus 'horrifying'

Officials: Texas student's killing on campus 'horrifying': AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A first-year University of Texas dance student whose body was found near t

How Catholics Can Save Our Dying Civilization - Crisis Magazine

How Catholics Can Save Our Dying Civilization - Crisis Magazine: In a recent address, Archbishop Chaput articulated how much we depend on the residual religious capital of earlier times, but once the capital is spent, “we may not like the results, because the more we delete God from our public life and our private behavior, the more we remove the moral vocabulary that gives our …

Catholic Social Teaching: It's Time to End the Misrepresentations - Crisis Magazine

Catholic Social Teaching: It's Time to End the Misrepresentations - Crisis Magazine: Imagine someone appealing to Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, to justify the activities of gangs in Los Angeles. Why not?  Lord Baden-Powell wanted boys to do risky things, and what’s more dangerous than running guns or smuggling cocaine or fighting another gang in a shooting spree?  He enjoined upon the Scouts a stern …

The Crusades: A Response to Islamic Jihad - Crisis Magazine

The only thing wrong with the Crusades is that they stopped before the work was done.



The Crusades: A Response to Islamic Jihad - Crisis Magazine: Following 9/11, there was renewed interest in the Crusades as explanations were sought for the brutal attacks. As terrorist attacks have continued throughout the years, and now with the rise of the Islamic State, this interest in the Crusades has not abated. Unfortunately, increased interest has not necessarily translated into increased knowledge. Prof. Thomas F. …

The Time is Now, for We Must Think of Damage Control

I've observed this primary race with greater interest than in the past. More than ever is on the line during our current era.  Concerning freedom of the individual and family, even of country, the world is sliding back into a dark age that will be worse than the age of monarchies and empires. The technology of our times will make the ruling classes ever so more powerful.  And make no mistake, socialist followers, there will still be ruling classes . . . there will always be ruling classes. The new era simply promises their greater brutality and tighter control.

I have been accused of siding with one candidate or the other, but I do not have a favorite person in the fight. My many favorite leader types and analyst either did not run or were weeded out early on. That has nothing to do with ability; they were all top drawer. The electorate isn't. The electorate, even in the Republican primaries where they think so highly of themselves, isn't.

What I have not cared about is Trump or Cruz's past. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone currently has some belief that I don't agree with, everyone changes (often for the better), and everyone has played the game in their chosen field or career. So i do not care about Trumps bankruptcies or Cruz's erroneous Senate votes.

WHAT I DO CARE ABOUT   is defeating the liberal communist leaning candidates of the other party; and clarifying Trump's positions on issues; and clarifying his level of knowledge; and getting enough votes for Cruz to put this decision into the party convention where it can be sorted out properly; and finding out who the real Trump is (because the personality we are seeing is unacceptable); and Cruz's answers to some of the accusations about his idea of more central government control.

But most of all we need to know who the real Trump is and he needs to show the dignified man if one is in there somewhere. We need a quality candidate now, and we need to start to present him or her to the general public. America needs to be "rebuilt" not just made great again.

WE MUST SUPPORT THE WINNER OF THE NOMINATION

We must defeat the left and take control of America. The threats are so great from radical Islamists and other threats. We must choose wisely.

I have not taken a solid stand for either Cruz or Trump, though I have leaned one way or the other from time to time, based upon logic. The bottom line is, like it or not, that in the general election campaign, CRUZ will have the background and demeanor to handle Clinton. In the debates he will clean her clock. He has argued more than once before the Supreme Court of the United States. Few senators and congressmen have and probably no president ever has. His religious position is pretty clear, and the NAU theories are just that, theories.

TRUMP, on the other hand, will be Clinton's lunch in debates. She, unfortunately, will seem uncharacteristically smart beside Trump. She will seem more levelheaded beside him as well. He may be smart, but verbally he is all over the place, and I do not think that will change.

Serious Americans must start thinking about the future and not their personal cult-like following of one candidate or the other. Because we are going to have to sell our Conservative Candidate to the general electorate, we independents (like me) and Republicans must choose wisely and then pull together. There can be NO 3rd. PARTY!

Failure to choose a presentable, seemingly levelheaded candidate and pulling together behind him or her will result in a leftist government and possible attempts to force more leftist, politically correct culture down our throats. There will be real attempts at serious gun control and possible attempts at gun confiscation. There will be an unscrupulous opening of the flood gates of illegal immigration and there will be much more resettlement of Muslim refugees in America. And there will certainly be more infiltration of radical Islamists into this nation. Sanity, fairness, and logic must reign here after the next election. More leftist domination will lead to tyranny or increased disunity and unrest. The history beyond that point is almost unimaginable in the modern era.

Future posts will comment on some of the forces driving these things.

WHAT WE'VE LEARNED & CONVENIENTLY FORGOTTEN

Long ago in the mists of ages, warrior societies learned that terror won wars. Thus villages and other communities were destroyed and anything and everything there became the proverbial 'spoils of war' including children for slaves and women for wives or whores. The victims were not given choices. Appealing to the captor, a captive woman became perhaps a wife; so-so, a mistress whore; indifferently sexy, bound for a whore house; homely, a mere slave. To the Comanche, the same choices existed, carried out ever so much more roughly and ruggedly; and the resulting life was ever so much harder for the victim. Children were killed or, if old enough to be self sufficient, taken as slaves, or girls, taken for future wives.

We've grown and evolved. And yet Sherman burned a swath through Georgia and cut the South apart to achieve victory, and the U.S. Army knew that the buffalo hunters were helping them do their work of defeating the prairie tribes by eliminating the animal that supplied everything those natives needed.

In the modern era, during the greatest of conflicts, World War II, with an unquestionable moral justification to it, the Allies learned that the people of their enemies supported their governments and were thus fair targets. The Allies and everybody's favorite historical target, the Americans, perpetrated serious bombing raids on Dresden and Hamburg that rivaled or surpassed the later Nuclear attacks on Japan. When Army Aircorps strategists learned that Japanese homes were made of paper, they fire bombed Japanese cities. When Japan did not surrender when it was clear that hey were a beaten nation, the nuclear bombs were employed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The political left has criticized the argument that those bombs saved lives. I for one believe they did. What America and her allies did know for sure was that the people of Japan were very dedicated to their country and to their emperor, who at that time was considered to be a god. A tremendous resistance to an Allied invasion was  expected that would involve the masses of the Japanese common people. Many Allied fighters' and Japanese lives would have been lost. Similarly, at the time of the bombings of Hamburg and Dresden, the Germans were thought to be fanatically behind their evil leadership.

In the more modern era, the world faces similar fanatical enemies, both those following religious beliefs and those perpetrating the drug and human trafficking trades. We have newer more efficient weaponry and more specific targeting techniques and technology. We know as well that often times the places where the enemies hide are peopled by their supporters and, at other times, the local populace is nearly held hostage. But modern intelligence is much better now as well.

We learned that well planned massive attacks win wars, even those against civilian populations that support evil and the perpetrators of evil. We learned that lesson and, within a politically correct era, we forgot it. We know now how better to discern who is innocent and who is not. who is hostage and who is a complicit supporter of evil. And we face great evil. The strategic and tactical goals should involve studying the collective lessons of military history and tactics, both old and new, and wedding them together for a greater and somewhat kinder,more moral modern warfare, but one that does not shrink for risks and does not fail.

Skimming the Surface of the History of Fighting Islam

A certain female presidential candidate was heard to say that we do not need to profile people who could be our enemies, possible members of groups that are our enemies. Another candidate from the same political party was heard to say that we are not at war with a religion but with a radical arm of it or radical people who believe in that religion and are perverting it. All of these statements carry truth in them.

These statements are perhaps mostly true, and yet . . . . Islamic teaching seems to echo the negative principles that the radicals follow, without the caveat that the Christians have of an older time that has been changed by a watershed event. The Muslim cannot say, as the Christian does: Our laws were brutal in older times (Old Testament times) until the Savior came to pay for our wrongs and eliminate such harsh justice by man. Islam has no similar switch in it's harsh teachings; and, though it recognizes the historical figure, Jesus, it considers belief in Christ the Redeemer a sin.. Other modern hints seem to reveal occasional, or more than just occasional, agreement between radical Islamic teaching and the general beliefs of the average Muslim.

We don't know. And that's the bottom line. We don't know how much we hear is true, but we do know that the old saying 'where there's smoke there's fire' is based upon decades of observation. Today, in this modern ever so sensitive world, people are getting killed for their beliefs around the world in very brutal ways, while slavery also exists among Arabs, and subjugation of women in modern times is institutionalized. Those are facts. Another fact is that Christians and Muslims have been fighting almost nonstop through the ages since Islam first assaulted Christians in the early beginnings of the Islamic faith.

First, the modern, politically correct narrative has taught wrongly that the Christian Crusaders were the aggressors in their wars against Islam. In fact, as Islam grew and spread itself by the sword (a blame generally lain on Christians), Muslims conquered Christian lands in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, more or less completely conquering Spain except for a small hold out area. These Christian lands were not stolen from the Arabs. Christianity began in those lands. It seems there had been tolerance and some assurances of safety to those Christians by Muslim leaders. The failure of such safety precipitated the earliest crusades. Application by moderns of their modern standards to brutal historical times and the warriors who fought then have caused another mischaracterization of the Crusades. Yes their warriors were brutal, everybody's warriors were brutal then.

Long after the Crusades, Spain freed itself only to sail across the world to settle the Philippines with a strong Muslim presence in its southern regions. Having fought the Muslim Moors at home for 800 years, Spaniards called the Filipino Muslims 'Moros' (Spanish for Moors). Spain fought the warlike Moros; America took the Philippines in the Spanish American War in 1898 and fought them from around 1902 onward. Peace was achieved and after Philippine Independence the Filipinos have fought them off and on ever since. Radicals within the Moros are now part of the worldwide terror network, and they have taken tourist captive off and on in the area.

Additional facts that are generally known but little reported are that several Islamist groups and Muslim nations do not recognize Israel and do not want it to exist. Israel is located in its ancestral lands and was reestablished there in modern times when there was no other established nation present in the area. Perhaps the British occupation at the time had prevented such a Palestinian nation; and perhaps when Israel was thus founded there in 1947 after World War II, wise leadership could have divided the land and formed two nations at the time. It did not happen, but the Palestinians do have Jordan.

As to profiling and whether we are fighting a whole religion, questions brought up at the beginning of this essay, and I have no definitive answers for, we will address them in future essays. I have some suggested answers.

PERHAPS SOMEDAY THOSE IN DENIAL WILL ACCEPT THESE THINGS

Latin American Catholic priests in general tend toward social and political activism. It is sort of in the blood as the history there has often encompassed repressive regimes and priests were among those who struggled against them.

Historically, many in the clergy became outright activists, and this sometimes led them toward socialist and Marxists leanings. Rebel movements often became Communist in nature or even in membership and priests were often directly involved, sometimes as members. All of that, throughout the post World War II era and perhaps a bit before is now woven in the fabric of South and Central America and even up into Mexico. One remembers the classic scene during Saint John Paul II's South American visit when a known activist priest knelt before him seeking a spur of the moment blessing request perhaps. I don't remember if the blessing was imparted, but the priest did receive an admonishment replete with a pope's wagging finger.

The point is that social (and unavoidably attached 'political') activism is in the Catholic clergy from south of the border (in reference to the U.S.A.). Interest in such issues is in all of us, all humans; but, as Christians, if we are taught and asked to be in this world but not too much of this world, then shouldn't our shepherds set the example. Shouldn't the head shepherd set the best example.

We currently have a good, sensitive, loving, Christian man in the role of pope, one of the best perhaps the world had to offer during the selection time. Yet he has unnerved conservative Catholics with his support of the Climate change movement. His fans have explained to me that he is just taking the Christian position that we are stewards of the earth. He has; and we are. Yet he has seemed very supporting of the actual Climate Change political movement that has been pretty clearly identified with efforts to redistribute wealth from successful nations to poorer ones through economic penalties. Actual outright intentionally erroneous data has joined the often flawed data that supports that cause.

Similarly and particularly grating was the mass performed at the U.S. border, apparently to send some message about illegal immigrants coming into the United States. It is more than an issue of the poor, and I do not need to reiterate all of that here. Clearly some in the Catholic Church are not fond of borders, which is curious as 'one world' seems to harken to the one world order type of scenario of the more negative aspects of the End Times. I was not aware we supposed to try to rush those events. More ominous, with respect to this issue, is the underreported issue of an activist movement to fill the American Southwest with enough immigrants (legal or otherwise) to force (through sheer numbers) the return of the land to Mexico. [On an aside to this article, that issue necessitates a strong, conservative, nationalistic American government now and in the forecastable future.]

Up until now, the two issues mentioned just above have been the only things that bothered me about this pope. His support of distributism is not socialist, as that economic principle supports capitalistic entrepreneurship on small local levels within the concept of subsidiarity, more local (even familial) control.

These recent comments about combating the Zika virus with contraception, however casual, small, and seemingly innocent, are also apparently in direct opposition to clear, unchangeable Catholic doctrine. It seems that on at least some small level we have a somewhat liberal pope.

DO WE FIGHT EVIL?

One of my favorite priests irritated me a bit at Sunday mass. Full of the love of God, as he should be and we should be, and as he expresses so well, he led off with a comment that concerned me. He (in this Easter season) suggested that, should we imagine the most evil acts by the worst people, the reaction we might likely have would not be Christ's reaction. Perhaps, verbal craftsman that he is, he made sure that he created a true statement that would cause a reaction (perhaps an angry one) yet be hard to challenge.

Verbal craftsman that I am, I will accept his challenge and challenge it. He knows his audience. This is a conservative place after all.

The Christ we have been taught and know is the Christ of mercy, and we would n't have it anyother way. He sacrificed fro us, ALL OF US, which was the priest's point. And I do not doubt any of that.

What I will do is to imagine a different narrative, which I do not believe changes the Christ we know but allows us to speculate on his reaction were he with us at this moment or his reaction in Heaven now. [Yes, I know he is always with us.] Thus, I believe the Christ in Heaven with the Father would possibly . . . perhaps probably agree with what follows here.

Don't bet your life (or soul) on this. I don't have my theology degree yet . . . and never will.

I believe the good Irish priest was referencing the atrocities against Christians in the Middle East. And, I believe that, Irishman that he is and a bit on in years, he has some memory of the 'Troubles ' in Ireland over the decades. He's a priest; he abhors such things. But 'atrocity' is such a sterile word . . . so generic. I have been researching and writing about the worst of times in the Old West that involved the worst atrocities perpetrated by some of the roughest native cultures at that particular time. The behavior is characteristic of some segments of Native American society from the less developed socioethnic groups within the larger people. Many native groups in this great land were less vicious in their defense of their families and societies.

My ultimate point is that some things are unacceptable, and I believe that the Christ that took a whip to the people who would defile the Father's temple, would have a hard time telling people today (or in 1874 Texas) that they should not defend themselves and others with the use of violence. I find it hard to believe as well that attacking a very evil enemy in his hideouts or villages would be immoral in the eyes of God or the Son.

I won't get into a debate in Luke about selling one's garment and buying a sword. This relates to the pending arrest of Christ, and he was not planning on the disciples saving him with their swords. He had no intention of avoiding his fate. I suppose he could be suggesting that the apostles could protect themselves with weapons in the days following. The issue here is more about standing against evil. Does turning the cheek mean capitulation to evil. I cannot believe we are expected to allow evil to be perpetrated on ourselves and/or others when we have the means to prevent it. I believe that the concepts of (on the smaller level) turning the other cheek and (on the larger level) suffering martyrdom are meant for scenarios where there are no other choices. This was seen in the Coliseum in Rome and similar arenas elsewhere as the early Christians face their fate during the reigns of certain emperors. They too had choices, but those were usually unacceptable, such as renouncing their beliefs.

When School 'Tolerance' Stifles the Christian Conscience - Crisis Magazine

When School 'Tolerance' Stifles the Christian Conscience - Crisis Magazine: People often speak of places of sanctuary, where they feel most free and where they can “breathe.” One such place for me—a former high school teacher—is within the walls of a school. There is something invigorating and God-inspired in having people of different ages, backgrounds, and experiences exercise their minds around common subjects and principles, …

Explosions rock Brussels airport, subway; 26 reported dead

Explosions rock Brussels airport, subway; 26 reported dead: BRUSSELS (AP) — Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels

America and the world must learn to hit ISIS and other aggressors and villainous organizations hard where they live with old battle techniques in the newer more precise ways. But we must be aware of and accept the collateral damage, and we must know that sometimes the community is complicit enough to be the target itself.

Introduction For a New Blog

I never liked the names 'Blog' or 'Blogger', yet here I am late on a Friday night (early on a Saturday morning) with a little Evan Williams and some thoughts.

I've been blogging, without admitting it, for some time now and this will be my fourth active blog. There's a dead one here and there. I will, in the future, invite you to the others. One is sociopolitical with a distinctly traditional Christian Conservative tone. Not the least restrictive as many believe that philosophy is liberating in so many ways. Perhaps that is what we will explore first here, as this will be my rambling, sometimes flighty, sometimes very deep blog.

Yes, that is what I'll/we'll do here . . . if anyone else shows up. The other 3 blogs are on my personal websites, and I hope you'll read them on occasion and share them often. I write what I call essays because the are perhaps more crafted than 'posts' and less researched than 'articles' . . . they are (I hope) well crafted opinion pieces with the facts that come from experience behind them. Yes, I'm the seasoned old fart know-it-all with (hopefully) some measure of humble pie in my diet.

My goals are twofold: the presentation of sound ideas and promotion of my novels. I am not seeking great wealth form the latter as I am well aware that my style and subject matter is not necessarily popular with the general public. I'm a bit old school  . . . an anachronism, and that's just fine. Our world is changing fast. Nevertheless, I feel that these are worthy reads, and I've gathered a few experienced and knowledgeable readers that feel quite the same.

The point is that there are absolutes and things that are good enough to be, even if they aren't. And I have a few in mind that I think should be absolutes in a worthy life that you may want to throw back in my face. Toss gently and respectfully (metaphorically( and we'll get along fine. That is what this blog will be fore: throwing crap at each other gently . . . if anyone shows up.

I have a very basic theory in mind for next time . . . one that will, perhaps, both make sense and rile you  . . . if any of 'you' are there.

For now here are the novels, as stated, the promotion of which is my other goal.

Here is the link to my period series.

Here is the link to my modern, dystopian novel.