A Necessary Task

There has been some discussion as to what exactly the Lebanese and UN troops will be doing along the Israel-Lebanon border. I thought it would have been obvious: they're there to protect the French.

To The New York Times

I the case of the New York Times revelation of the (formerly) secret program to monitor terrorist international money transactions, I wrote the editor tthe following letter:


Editor-

Who appointed you as the arbiter of the nation's secrets? Do you have all the information needed to unilaterally decide what can be safely revealed to our enemies? What checks and balances do we, the people of the Unites States, have on your independent decisions regarding our very lives? Your obvious hatred of President Bush has blinded you to the very real and bloody consequences of aiding terrorism. You would have revealed the plans for D-Day to the Germans.

Your actions and those of the Los Angeles Times are utterly contemptible. You care nothing for the safety and security of this nation and its people. Have you so soon forgotten 9/11?

Your arrogance and conceit are repellent.

Che Guevara is NOT a Role Model

Here's my latest letter to the Ventura County Star, published today (5/12).

Editor-

Today (5/2) on the front page of the Star was a picture of a demonstration in Los Angeles. In the crowd was a poster of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Cuban revolutionary. What does this say about some of the sponsors of yesterday's marches? "Che" Guevara was a hard-line communist in Fidel Castro's revolution which brought totalitarianism to that land. He said, "Hatred as an element of struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine. This is what our soldiers must become..." He helped establish Cuba's labor-camp penal system which would be employed to jail gays, dissidents, and AIDS victims. What does this say about a group who would choose to align themselves with such a murderous thug? If they tried such a march in Cuba, they would be jailed and possibly shot.

Groups such as A.N.S.W.E.R., a Stalinist organization that supports North Korean dictator Kim Jung Il, are actively organizing these marches. Those who truly believe in freedom and want the best for the illegal immigrants would do well to immediately dissociate themselves from these and other similar groups.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Flight93

I went to see Flight 93 Saturday. It is an intense, moving motion picture. I don't recommend it for young children. There is no narration, you are present for aall the activity. But you don't know anything more about your fellow passengers than you would if you were really there. All you know comes from the incidental conversations you overhear. Many of the FAA and military characters play themselves. This is a sort of documentary of the recreation of that Flight, done about as well as it could possibly be done. It just reminds us of those who would kill us for being Americans and that we are going to fight back. GO see it.

Civic Responsibility

Politicians run for public office. They promise various things to their constituent groups—or those they hope will become their constituent groups. The voters listen to these promises and sometimes are swayed by them. The public has the ultimate power and must exercise this power responsibly. It’s not just civic pride, political ambition, power, and/or wealth at stake. It can be life and death, not just for some but for thousands, and for entire cities.

Elected politicians are granted the power to do things for the good of the community. They must exercise this governmental power with care and responsibility. When they do not, we see the results in corruption, economic problems, civic unrest, and worse.

Now we see the results of the failure of politicians at the local and state level in particular in the case of Hurricane Katrina. Emergency planning is a LOCAL (city, county, and state) responsibility. Only the local level knows the details of their situation. The federal government can help when asked but has no authority to take the responsibility away from the local governmental powers.

In particular, it appears that the authorities at various levels in Louisiana failed miserably. The emergency preparedness plan for the city of New Orleans is posted on the web. Read it. The mayor failed utterly to carry out his responsibilities under the plan. The mayor and governor had to be persuaded to evacuate the city by the President, who has no authority to evacuate a city without the request of the local authorities. The concern of the state authorities? They were worried the feds might take over the evacuation. (see Washington Post)

In this and other circumstances in the planning and execution of those plans—or rather, the failure to properly execute those plans—the local governmental authorities failed.

Political office carries with it great rewards—but only when its corresponding great responsibilities are faithfully carried out. Only candidates who promise to shoulder these responsibilities with resolve should be considered for office. Those who fail in their responsibilities must be removed from office. The voters must shoulder their responsibility to see that this failure never happens again. Too much is at stake.

Hurricane Help

Hurricane Katrina has struck the Gulf Coast with disastrous consequences. How can we help? Super-Blogger Glen Reynolds of InstaPundit has taken up Hugh Hewitt's challenge to blogosphere to collectively contribute to the relief effort. Here's how YOU can help!
Give through the Salvation Army! (I just did). Here's the link...
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/

I write the Believer's Weekly, a review of Christian web sites, for WorldVillage.com, a family-safe web site. You can subscribe for free here.

Here's this week's edition on the Salvation Army...

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X WorldVillage presents
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X THE BELIEVER'S WEEKLY
X Featuring the Best Christian Web Sites
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Featured Site for the Week of August 31, 2005
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+ Salvation Army National Headquarters +

+ http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/ +

William Booth probably never dreamt of the growth and importance of the organization he founded in 1865 London. In 1878, the group was renamed The Salvation Army and was organized along military lines. Today The Salvation Army counts over 3500 officers, 60,000 employees, 430,000 adherents, and over 3,5 million volunteers. The Army's social services to more than 30 million people a year have expanded over the years to include disaster relief services, day care centers, summer camps, holiday assistance, services for the aging, AIDS education and residential services, medical facilities, shelters for battered women and children, family and career counseling, vocational training, correction services, and substance abuse rehabilitation. Right now, hurricane Katrina and her disastrous consequences are the Army's immediate concern. The Salvation Army needs your donations now! The informative web site is kept current with news of the disaster and offers an on-line method for accepting you donation. You may have heard of the phrase applied to some Christians, "Too heavenly-minded to be any earthly good." With the Salvation Army, it's because they are heavenly minded that they are so earthly good--real Christianity in action. The site is informative and useful. But right now, the most important part of the site is the donation link. Give today! You can contact the Salvation Army through the form at the "Contact Us" link.

Read more about this site and link to it at:
http://www.worldvillage.com/sitereviews/believers.html?id=466

Click here

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For information on how you can reach our readers with news of your
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Believer's Weekly Link Swaps


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Here are some other helpful links...
Technorati flood aid
Technorati hurricane katrina

Thanks to Michelle

Thanks to the wonderful Michelle Malkin for picking up on my definition of "Durbinize", posting my post to her blog, and actually using "Durbinize" in the headline of one of her later posts. (By the way, it's "Bill" not "Billy," but who cares! :)