In the midst of what presidential candidate is going to take off, fall down or get caught screaming on camera; the US Senate decided today that a fence is really overrated:

http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=19161424&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=618959&rfi=6

Yes, in a bill sponsored by the border state of Texas senator Hutchison continued to show she cares nothing for the future of the country by the means of controlling its southern border despite a very large majority of the country's disagreement with the continuation of an open back door.

Oh, and this bill was also initially co-sponsored by Texas senator Cornyn. So, if these 2 conservative, border state senators continue to stick their tongue out at the majority of America; i urge you to never ever let up on them ! EVER !

It seems to me that the only way that they will respond is if you annoy them every day and night thru constant phone calls, emails and faxes. It is quite disgusting to me that the only way to get Congress members to do what is best for this country is to start acting like a debt collector trying to collect a debt(or the future of the country in this case), but if that is the way it is; so be it ! This is still the greatest country on the planet and its not too late, but continuing to allow Senators like Hutchison and Cornyn any room will continue to hurt America.

Now, let me begin by saying that I am not looking to start and argument over who Jesus really was and what he means to each person or to the entire world, cosmos, rocks, trees or duck billed platypus. Not for one moment do I pretend that I am an authority on that. You have many much greater selections to choose from to help you with that. What I am here to present is just what the world would be like today if Jesus had not come the earth when he did. This case works well if you choose to believe Jesus is who he said he is, if you believe that he was just prophet and not the messiah(much like the Jews) or don’t believe in him as son of GOD, or worship another GOD, faith or no GOD at all. What I am asking you to do is to imagine what the world would be like today if he had not come or the messiah has not come yet(also much like the Jews).

I would like to present the case that Christ, no matter what you believe or who you think he is; has made the entire world better; and a better place to live. Yes, I can hear you now; “this(how the world is now) is better ? Maybe he should have stayed home.”

I’ll give you a point for acknowledging that it is no perfect world that we live in today, but you really are thinking much too shallow in terms of yourself, your community, your country and the world. This one person, Jesus Christ; has affected the entire world like no one else and all in 33 years. I know many people say that Jesus changed them and then wait for people’s eyes to roll into the back of their heads; but considering just how much he changed the world; one person should be easy; but I’ve digressed.

Alright, you have stayed with me through that; now I will take you for a short ride from Christ’s time on earth to today and make some notables along the way of just how he has increased progress of society, brought freedom, democracy and liberty to peoples all over the world, given rise to agricultural and industrial economies and help to those in need like no other person, religion or country and a record setting pace in comparison to all others.

Yes, I will give the naysayers their due that the Crusades were harmful to many, the inquisition could best be described as barbaric and even today, some do persecute and kill others in the name of Jesus; but these actions pale in comparison to just what the world has accomplished in 2007 years after Jesus Christ took lead. These same churches that put people on racks also were responsible for developing much of the agricultural system in Europe and had many people educated by the church that developed into architects and scientists. I will refer to just one book, “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization”; but there are many in which you can find contributions from the church, monks and the pope, which all begin with Jesus.

For instance, the Benedictine monks were considered the agriculturalists of Europe and included an agricultural college in every Benedictine monestary. The Cistercian monestary ran its own factory powered by water to crush weath and tan lether. We can also credit the Jesuits with things like the pendulum clocks, barometers, telescopes and microscopes and are listed as having 5% of the greatest mathematicians in history by Bossut, a math historian.

Also, perhaps the greatest contribution Jesus gave the world was individual freedom and liberty. Yes, I know that the Greeks nailed that down many years before Jesus every arrived on the scene. However, the Romans had pretty much put the lid on that and was spreading authoritarianism throughout the world before the church started grabbing hold of people’s desires and needs of freedom that first began in their heads and hearts and was later spread to actions and into democratic nations throughout the world. Even Europe’s serfdom society and essential slave labor was broken by the church and it’s people’s desire to be free.

This desire that Jesus has born into people, made them risk their lives and created the greatest nation of earth; America. Over its short history, it has brought freedom and liberty to more societies than any other country in the world; and to this day America provides more charity and relief to other countries and peoples each year than any other nation on the face of the earth. Luckily, that doesn’t even include the many people all over the world that go to the most remote parts of the world to bring food, medical care, agricultural and industrial technology to help people live better lives and bring news of this person called Jesus. Are there still people suffering all over and in wars(just or unjust), yes; but imagine the suffering without people venturing out to help these people because Jesus told them to do so in his name.

There is not one company, nation or culture that has affected positive change so much in the world in such a short period of time. I would submit that without Jesus, things that we take for granted in America today; we would not have yet. Planes, cell phones, refrigeration, air conditioning and the internet have all come within the past 100 years. Now, democracy would have come again; but at the same pace it did; I think not. Dictatorships and authoritarian rule would most likely have had a greater reign than they did and progress would have been much slower. In fact, much of the US might still be English, French and Spanish colonies; given that slower progress.

So, while Christopher Hitchens may say that “GOD isn’t great”; I submit he is and especially for sending his son. No matter what you believe or think about who he was, there can be no doubt that he brought people together in his name, which resulted in strengthening communities and building civilizations founded on the principles he teached about and people in these civilizations sought to improve it in many cases to gain a greater understanding of GOD through their education of what usually started with reading the Bible.

I will end this with my purposeful gotcha for all those of different faiths or no faith. I ask you to read more about just what has happened over history since Christ came and compare it to those nations that do not have a founding of Christ with their country and also compare liberty and progress in those nations without Jesus now and before the time of Jesus. I think you will find that no one else could have affected so much change in such a short period of time as Jesus did, if he was not who he said he was.

Yes, many have heard how the tax cuts were only for the rich, contributed to the huge deficit(which is down to 260B due to record tax receipts) and stifled the economy.

Well, allow me to relate a write up by some little organization called the Heritage foundation; who is full of a bunch of guys that are smarter than even John Kerry himself, if that is possible.

Well, they projected that if the tax cuts in 2001 had been repealed:
1. The change in personal income would have decreased to $115 billion in 2003, $155B in 2004 and is projected to be less than $275 billion than what it currently is with the tax cuts.
2. They also projected there would be 420,000 fewer jobs in 2003, 650,000 less in 2004 and projected to be 1.41 million less jobs in 2011 if the tax cuts would not have occurred.
3. The GDP was also projected to be $50 billion less in 2003, $75B less in 2004 and 220 billion less in 2011.

Now, this is definitely arguable by anyone and the Heritage foundation is not the absolute as far as effects of economic policies. However, given their past record; i'm willing to accept that this is at least in the neighborhood and does show that tax cuts do work for stimulating and growing the economy.

I also have yet to see tax increases do anything but stifle the economy to confirm the opposite is not a solution.

Now, the odds are; no one will believe these numbers that is not a economic conservative; but feel free to use them anyways and ask them to cite examples of the opposite doing the same.

I'm guessing they will walk away and perhaps call you names before they can accomplish that.

Feel free to look up, "What Would Happen if Congress Repealed the 2001 Bush Tax Cuts?" from the Heritage foundation's website for further details.

This seems to still be an issue, and I read through it all last time around on this; and can tell you the embryonic cells have shown no promise and only adult cells have.

Luckily, Rebecca Hagelin; has done the work for me this time; so I do not have to go find my stem cell folder; and yes; I have a stem cell folder. You never know when someone will go off without knowing the facts or smearing the facts will try and effect an election.

From Hagelin's article:

"As a trip to the Web site of the National Institutes of Health confirms, there is none. Oh, advocates have lots of “hope,” all right. But they have nothing -- that’s right, nothing -- to show for it. Ask Dr. Hwang Woo-suk, the South Korean scientist who resigned last December from his post at the Seoul National University when it was revealed that he had faked his alleged breakthroughs.

Follow the money, folks, because believe me, if embryonic stem cells offered any real hope, private companies would be lining up around the block to fund it. Sure, some would avoid it because of the ethical problems, but not all. That’s why the proponents of embryonic stem-cell research are beating the drums for taxpayer money. It’s their only chance."

and then, paralleling my finds that adult cells are the way to go:

"Adult stem cells are another alternative -- one that preserves life and, well, actually works. According to NIH:

“Adult stem cells, such as blood-forming stem cells in bone marrow (called hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs), are currently the only type of stem cell commonly used to treat human diseases. Doctors have been transferring HSCs in bone marrow transplants for over 40 years. More advanced techniques of collecting, or ‘harvesting,’ HSCs are now used in order to treat leukemia, lymphoma and several inherited blood disorders.”

Dr. Hollowell points out: “For more than two decades, we have been treating more than 58 different types of diseases using adult stem-cell research. Some of the most startling advancements using adult stem cells have come in treating Parkinson’s disease, juvenile diabetes and spinal cord injuries.”

Now, as someone w/ histories of Alzheimers on both sides of my family; i would have plenty of reason to not exclude any chance of a solution; but embryonic cells have not proven to by a solution for anything. You might relate this article to anyone you know living in MO or MD or anywhere else that the embryonic myth seems to be floating around.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=stem_cells_where_the_real_hope_lies&ns=RebeccaHagelin&dt=11/03/2006&page=full&comments=true

I was listening to some guy on the radio, goes by the name Limbaugh or something like that; and he is watching the series Planet Earth on cable now. Anyways, it became quite clear to him that, in the midst of all the envormental activity and damage that humans have caused; the sun is responsible for everything that happens on this planet.

This lead me to a further thought that the environmental left is so sure that humans have caused global warming, despite the facts that Mars is also getting warmer and the total CO2 output by man has been measured to be less than a hundredth's of a percent in comparison to the overall environment.

This then lead me to further thought. Currently, the enviromental left believes humans are the primary cause of global warming; yet the sun is clearly responsible for all activity on Earth.

So, they can choose to admit that the sun is the actual affector of the Earth's climate and lose almost all power to control other people's and country's livelihood by means such as Kyoto and burning effecient fuels like gas.

This would allow them to claim independence over GOD, by replacing GOD with the sun as the primary source of life; but at a great expense of the big control that is environmental movement. This is such a tempting idea to the secularists, that I am suprised it hasn't been promoted yet.

However, at the same time that you come to the rationalization the sun affects the environment more than anything else; you are also communicating that "something" other than people is affecting the environment; which gives rise to the thought that "something" or "someone" has thought thru the process of the sun's affect on the earth over a much greater time period than measely little humans have been around.

So, they can choose the sun to replace humans as the main affector of our environment and give up control on money and power the enviromental movement gives OR choose GOD and rely on faith that he has provided the means neccessary to give life and promote better life on Earth.

Now, do I think the secularists would ever admit this thought; no. No matter, the question still rises if the sun takes over as the main weatherman around here.

Regardless, It looks like we will see what this environmental movement is all about soon enough, but in my opinion; money and control seem to be leaving the environment behind.

Well, it seems that these days you can't swing a dead cat without seeing a story on how the sub prime loans have put the economy and financial markets on shakey ground, much the same as the beginning of this summer; you could not get by Al Gore taking his favorite Lear jet around telling you how fast the the coastlines were going to be new territory for sharks to swim in.

Well, much the same the hysteria has been blown up as the worst ever; when it was not even the worst this decade.

According to the WSJ editorial by Mr. Weicher on August 29th; todays delinquencies pale by comparison to just 5 years ago.

In '05 and '06 the rate was 6% and it's 8% so far this year. However, the delinquency rate from 2000-2002 was 12%.

And the foreclosure rate for the past 2 years was 1.5% and is about 2.5% this year, but ranged from 2.5% to 3% from 2000-2002.

And in 2000-2002; the no money down, 100% financed, you got a job, you can get a subprime were about 1/3 of new loans. Ten years, they were less than 5%.

Currently, they are about 44% of new loans; or they were earlier this year.

So, the Housing market was in worse shape just a little while ago; with a much worse overall economy. I am quite secure in saying that you can proceed to call this nothing more than the latest overhyped story to which you can site these facts and be called cruel and heartless for the little guy just like you are for mother earth.

Hmmm. Some people/businesses got bit by not being personally responsible to make sure they could afford a house; and now we have to bail them out. No, this never happens.