Jed Babbin Quote

"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion."


This made me laugh :-)

My Conservative President

This is a snippet from a press conference the President gave today. His answer is dead on. Conservatives believe in freedom and free markets while liberals/socialists believe in control and restriction. He defines the difference so well.

Q Mr. President, understanding what you say about energy supplies being tight and the debate over energy, which has gone on for years and will continue long through the campaign and into the next administration -- one thing nobody debates is that if Americans use less energy the current supply/demand equation would improve. Why have you not sort of called on Americans to drive less and to turn down the thermostat?

THE PRESIDENT: They're smart enough to figure out whether they're going to drive less or not. I mean, you know, it's interesting what the price of gasoline has done, is it caused people to drive less. That's why they want smaller cars, they want to conserve. But the consumer is plenty bright, Mark. The marketplace works.

Secondly, we have worked with Congress to change CAFE standards, and had a mandatory alternative fuel requirement.

So no question about what you just said is right. One way to correct the imbalance is to save, is to conserve. And as you notice my statement yesterday, I talked about good conservation. And people can figure out whether they need to drive more or less; they can balance their own checkbooks.

Q But you don't see the need to ask -- you don't see the value of your calling for a campaign --

THE PRESIDENT: I think people ought to conserve and be wise about how they use gasoline and energy. Absolutely. And there's some easy steps people can take. You know, if they're not in their home, they don't keep their air-conditioning running. There's a lot of things people can do.

But my point to you, Mark, is that, you know, it's a little presumptuous on my part to dictate to consumers how they live their lives. The American people are plenty capable and plenty smart people and they'll make adjustments to their own pocketbooks. That's why I was so much in favor of letting them keep more of their own money. It's a philosophical difference: Should the government spend their money, or should they spend their own money? And I've got faith in the American people.

έκλεκτός

I have begun a word study on έκλεκτός, which in English is translated "elect" or "chosen." I see too many instances where the word "elect" in the New Testament is talking about the nation of Israel, but people (specifically those who believe Covenant Theology) confuse them to be talking about the Church. So I am beginning to dig in and find out exactly how the word is used in the New Testament. We will see how this turns out! I will definitely post my findings.

Why Government-Run Healthcare Is NOT The Answer

From http://www.biggovhealth.org/stories/#lindsaymc

Lindsay McCreith

Lindsay McCreith, 66, was told he had a brain tumor but that he would have to wait four and a half months to obtain an MRI to rule out the possibility that it was cancerous. Unwilling to risk the progression of what might be cancer, Mr. McCreith obtained an MRI in Buffalo, which revealed the tumor was malignant. Even with this diagnosis in hand, the Ontario system still refused to provide timely treatment, so Mr. McCreith had surgery in Buffalo to remove the cancerous brain tumor in March, 2006. In Ontario, Mr. McCreith would have waited eight months for surgery, according to his family doctor. Eight months is enough time for a cancer to worsen, spread and progress to an irreversible stage. Had Mr. McCreith not paid $26,600 for immediate care, he might be dead today.

Ed is back!

Finally after 6 weeks out, Ed is back! He had quadruple bypass surgery in June... fun stuff. But he is doing great and is back to work! We needed him really bad. Bill was trying to keep up with at least some of Ed's work... but even that did not work. It took him 1000 times longer to do anything that Ed did. Then I would get yelled at for not having something ready in time and I would point out it was Bill who would not finish what we needed to do only to be told, "Don't be so hard on Bill." What? You holler at me but when you find out Bill is the problem you just shrug it off? I do not understand that, but now that Ed is back things will get done and we will have the parts we need and I will not get in trouble for Bill taking too long to do Ed's work.

We had Chocolate Fudge Cake from Bethlehem Diner this morning (Glenn brought it in) and I brought in ice cream and we had a small party. It was great :-)

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You so much for Hannah,
Thank You so much for Riley Joy,
Thank You so much for our home and Your gracious provision.

Thank You for Your Word,
Thank You for Your Grace,
And thank You most of all for Your sacrifice on behalf of us.

Please continue to provide our daily bread,
Please guide us into Your truth,
And please bring Riley to You at an early age.

All praise and glory and honor be to You forever and ever.

Amen.

Laughing, Laughing, Laughing

I was sitting at my computer making work orders today when suddenly my mind flipped to our old video with my brother Tyler dressed as an (American) Indian. My mother said, "Look, it's my little Indian! Can you do a little dance for me? Hay ya ya ya hay ya ya ya..." And with that, he started dancing. But not the Indian dance you would expect, instead he started to hula dance... :-).

I burst out laughing hysterically. My boss was on the phone but I am sure he was wondering what was going on. I was scared he would think I was crying or something because as I tried to muffle the laughter it ended up sounding more like crying. And it did not help when my eyes teared up at the end. Even now, just writing this is making me laugh again.

Tyler was one of the most original and imaginative Indians this world has ever seen.