I Feel Like A Rusty Spinner

A REAL WOMAN WITH GUTS DEFINES HERSELF WITH THE CATHOLICS AND LETS THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY--ONE GREAT DAME IN MY OPINION.
A RUSTY SPINNER is a spent, almost dead mayfly called a Hendrickson. Trout love to slurp 'em any time of the day or night. I won't bore my few readers with the life cycles and love lives of acquatic insects, except to say I'm sore and tired today like one of those little bugs in the last stages of its happy life on the river. I'm tired and spent. The seven men I'm here with and I have fished hard for two days into night. Few fish have been caught, fewer netted and released due to heavy winds. This is not in the group but with every fisherman I talked to.

All this to say that they don't call the Upper Delaware one of the toughest river systems in America to fly fish for nothing. Simply unbelievable. And yet, yesterday was a wonderful day. The guides are top-notch. My fishing partner and I were "worked over" by our guide. In one day of exhaustive casting long distances in varying winds and angles, this guide coached, badgered, intimidated and otherwise worked me nearly to death yesterday. I am and will be a better fly fisherwoman as a result of getting my cast back on track. It's just amazing what bad habits a person can get in. But one day on the river with a much better, stronger fisherman/caster is a day well spent. Well, well worth the price of admission.

But even after a good night's sleep, I'm almost too tired and sore to fish or write today. It's a good tired though.

Fishing Report From the Upper Delaware

FOR FISHERMEN AND WOMEN, nothing is more exhilarating than getting out on the river for the first time each spring. When you come together with flyflishing friends you've know for over two decades, it's even more fun.

So it is that I arrived Monday night at Hale Eddy, NY near Hancock, to begin a three-day fly fishing trip with a group of men from the East I've fished with in Wyoming for years. They are a great group of guys and excellent fishermen. The company is wonderful and sense of humor level is ratcheted up to dangerously high levels. If you can't take the heat of being kidded mercilessly, you'd best flee for your life, while the getting is good.

Yesterday four of us who arrived early did a 10-hour float on the West Branch of the Delaware in unseasonably warm weather, as in 85+ degrees. The sun was shining and anticipation was high. All in all, real fly fishers say they could care less whether they catch fish....they're just glad to be out on the river again.....

In theory we all saythat, and boy does it sound good. And it's partly---partly---true. But in reality every one of us wants to catch a big fish. So what happened yesterday?

It was truly one of the roughest days of fishing I've ever experienced. The word brutal might be putting mildly. To a fly casters there is nothing more dreaded than high winds. Yesterday winds blew steadily at about 15-20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. To say it was difficult casting is an understatement. The hardest part was watching our guides rowing downstream against the wind for a large part of 12 miles of float.

Two drift boats of us finally got to our takeout about 10 pm in pitch black dark and light rain. Only maniacs would call it a wonderful day. That must mean that we are all indeed maniacs as everyone declared it a very good day in spite of the very difficult conditions. Almost no fish were caught.

We'll all be out on the Delaware again today in winds forecast to be high. However, I've put my female foot down and told the men, I'm going to be off the river tonight by 8 pm. Or else. It sounds good in theory. We'll see how it works out.

Now Let Me Get This Straight

WEDNESDAY: Feds knew NYC flyover would cause panic and did it anyway.
UPDATE: ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF ESTABLISHING A U.S. STUPID SERVICE, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

AIR FARCE ONE FLIES OVER NEW YORK. MEANWHILE PRUDEN: A Pandemic of Panic.

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SHOWCASES ITS STUNNING GOOD JUDGMENT AGAIN

AFTER SEEING OUR new half-nude celebrity president without his shirt and rubbed in oil on two magazine covers (here's one) this weekend in DC for his adoring public, I have say this latest White House photo-op/stunt has definitely been taken waaaaay too far. I'm without words and can only wonder as the rest of the sane world, What ever were these people thinking? The White House really needed to fly a 747 at low altitude around the tip of Manhattan with a fighter jet in hot pursuit scaring the wits out of people watching from below?

Oh wait, of course, there IS a plausible reason: The White House was updating its photo files of Air Force One, using the backup 747. Now it's all starting to make sense:

An administration official says a presidential Boeing 747 and a fighter jet flew low near ground zero (terrifying workers and observers) in New York City Monday because the White House Military Office wanted to update its file photo of the president's plane near the Statue of Liberty.

This official said the White House Military Office told the Federal Aviation Administration that it periodically updates file photos of Air Force One near national landmarks, like the statute in New York harbor and the Grand Canyon. The official requested anonymity (I'll bet he requested anonymity) to give more details than the official White House announcement that took the blame.

The incident on Monday caused a brief panic among workers, who weren't warned. They recalled the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Now I see, there was a good reason for all that panic in New York City today.

And remember, this is our taxpayer money--our children's and grandchildren's money--at work again. It could even be some kind of bailout money being used here, but I'm just too sleepy to go there tonight.

Unbelievable.

The Week of Swine Madness Begins

THE OBAMA ADMINSTRATION CONFRONTS THE SWINEFEST WITHOUT A SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES....AND IT GETS WORSE.

LET'S WALLOW IN IT, SHALL WE?

Let us start with Andrew Breitbrt's column in Monday's Wasthington Times on the missteps and hypocrisy of the gay pride movement and how it threatens to send itself down the river, so to speak. I am not influenceable on the same-sex marriage issue because I stand on a bedrock principle that I believe was set by the Almighty. However for those who are, Perez Hilton is the poster child on how NOT to win friends and influence people to his cause. He gives a bad name to pigs to say the least.

******

As a former newspaper reporter, I learned one thing very well: the news media creates as much news as it reports---and I use the word reports loosely these days. Be that as it may, one of the main challenges to a reporter/writer of news is what to do on slow news days, especially over the slowest of days THE WEEKEND. A good reporter can make someone mad enough at someone else by a couple of phone calls on Saturday or Sunday to be a page one story by Monday. It's totally fabricated, and in my opinion dishonest.

Needless to say, I have been fascinated on the froth and madness over Swine Flu that's occurred over the past 48 hours in both the MSM and the alternate news outlets, such as DRUDGE. Goodness gracious! What a monumental and unchecked fear-fest it has been. The world is now in the gripes of mental swine flu if nothing else.

But it remains to be seen if there's really anything much to it. I tend to think it will be only a minor event, but I certainly could be wrong.

Sunday: A Mother's Prayers Have Far Reaching and Profound Effects

SUNDAY UPDATE: While Lon Solomon leads a group in Greece "In the Footsteps of Paul," McLean Bible's associate pastor Jim Supp gives a dynamite sermon today I need to hear more than once. So fine. I was there this morning with some of my favorite friends.

*********

In a small town in Oklahoma in 1921, a young mother prayed for her yet unborn son, dedicating her child to God's service. When this child was born his parents named him William Bright. As a child he showed little interest in spiritual things, but his mother continued to pray for him.

Bill Bright graduated from college in 1943 and went west to Los Angeles to seek his fortune in business. On his first evening in LA, Bright picked up a hitchhiker who invited him to visit a home where he was living. It turned out to be the home of Dawson Trotman, the founder and director of The Navigators, an evangelical ministry. Bright was impressed by the hospitality and stimulating conversation of the Trotmans and other people he met there that evening, though he quickly forgot them as he went on his way to pursue his financial goals in the city.

Meanwhile, his mother continued praying for Bill.

The business he started was Bright's California Confections, which marketed gourmet foods in upscale shops and department stores. He was quickly achieving financial success.

After repeated invitation from his landlords, Bright began attending meeting for college students and young professional led by Dr. Henrietta Mears at Hollywood Presbyterian Church. He was very impressed by her teachings and others in the group, finding them intellectually stimulating and successful yet not materialistic and selfish like he considered himself.

He began to realize something was missing from his own life.

After a particularly challenging teaching by Dr. Mears on finding true happiness only at "the center of God's will," Bill went home yearning for this inner happiness. He later recalled:

I laid down beside my be that night and asked the questions which Dr. Mears challenged us to pray, "Who art Thou, Lord?" "What wilt thou have me do?"

In a sense this was my prayer for salvation. It wasn't very profound theologically, but God knew my heart and He interpreted what was going on inside of me. Through my study I now believed Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that He died for my sin, and that, as Dr. Mears had shared with us, if I invited Him into my life as Savior and Lord, He would come in.

Bright enrolled at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. In 1948 he married his wife, Vonette who had also been led to Christ by Henrietta Mears. Meanwhile he was constantly torn between business, evangelism, and seminary pursuits.

Late one night in 1951 while studying for an exam, he had a powerful vision of helping to fulfill the great commission in his lifetime by evangelizing college campuses. Greatly affected by the vision, he shared it the next morning with Dr. Wilbur Smith, his professor and mentor. Smith responded, "This is of God." And the next day Smith told him "I believe God has given me the name for your vision----Campus Crusade for Christ."

After much prayer Bill and Vonette decided that he should leave seminary to pursue his vision of bring the gospel to college students and training them to evangelize their peers Bright then sold his confection business and rented a house one block from the UCLA campus. Within a few months 250 students, including the president of the student body, the editor of the school newspaper and several top athletes had given their lives to Christ.

Campus Crusade quickly spread to other campuses and on August 28, 1953, Campus Crusade for Christ was officially incorporated. Bill Bright's vision and ministry have shaped the organization into one of the largest interdenominational mission agencies in the world. It's most substantial mark on world missions is the JESUS film, which has been viewed by more than 4 billion people in more than 650 languages, with millions of conversions since 1979.

All of this had its beginnings with a mother who prayed for her unborn son and dedicated his life to God, and then kept praying for him the rest of her life.

----E. Michael and Sharon Rustin, The One Year Christian History

Scenes Of Spring and New Green Across America

GOING GREEN ON I-68

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE to describe just how beautiful this country is to me, especially as new greens--in grass, budding leaves and wide swaths of fields and forests---sprout up everywhere across mid-America. It's truly a sight for sore eyes, my sore eyes included.

After spending all day in a conference in Louisville, Kentucky on Thursday, I decided to wind my way east a new way-- to Columbus, Wheeling, then Pittsburgh eventually dropping down to DC for a few days (before continuing north to the Delaware River country.). But instead of going all the way on I-70, I decided to take a side trip outside Pittsburgh south onto I-79 into West Virginia for a few miles and then continued east on I-68 across western Maryland, eventually rejoining I-70 near Hancock, Maryland. I know, it's far too much information. But there's a point here.

As you may know by now, I travel a lot in my car and on the interstate system. So I'm always happy to discover a new stretch I had not seen before and be utterly thrilled by it. So it was yesterday in Western Maryland from Morgantown, WV all the way to Hancock, Maryland.

I was wowed for several hours at the splendid terrain of this spectacular drive on I-68---the undulations of elevation gains and losses and the perfect mix of forests and fields for almost 100 miles. I-68 has to be one of the most beautiful interstates I've ever been on, and I've been on many beautiful sections. I cannot begin to imagine the cost of building this one, as it gains and loses elevation from about 1,200' to almost 2,500' at least a half-dozen times. At one point it goes up to the Eastern Continental Divide, before dropping down again and again and again before reconnecting with I-70 on to Fredrick and eventually Baltimore.

All this to say, if you have or can make time to travel this little gem of a stretch of mostly sparsely traveled road, by all means do it. And if you're fortunate enough to do it in spring, consider yourself blessed. This country is breath-takingly beautiful, and vast and fortunate! And for history buffs, there's more Revolutionary War, as well as Civil War history along the way than you can shake a stick at. (Think Cumberland, Maryland and George Washington's first outpost during the French and Indian War, the Battle of Antietam, and Little Round Top north off I-70 at Gettysburg, PA. Makes me swoon just to think of it!)

Interstate 68. And more.

The Sum Total of Obama's Foreign Policy Stance Redux

AS A CITIZEN BLOGGER I feel it my boundened duty to keep you well-informed of what's going on out in other parts of the world, especially my favorite world of the highway. To that end, I'm going out of my way to travel all the way to the East coast again, just for YOU, gentle reader! And to make sure you're getting informed by something beside just Drudge, Hollywood, Pajamas and assorted Tweeters (you know who you are). I mean they're all great, but I want to get you out of your comfort zone of reading long articles and short tweets and into the more basic flow and throttle of life in these heady times.To that end, how great is it that I found for YOU---this very afternoon off the Interstate-- the SUM TOTAL, IN ITS ENTIRETY of President Obama's foreign policy package on the back end of a car? I sure did, and posting it below. hope you like this condensed version of the Obama's foreign policy lovefest redux. So eat, drink, be merry and feast your eyes, for tomorrow we'll all be running for our lives out on the highway trying to escape the effects of this. But for now, just take it all in. And let me know if you have any questions. Meanwhile, I'll be scourging the far reaches of the highways and byways to find more stuff that hits the nail on the head.

The Queen's 83rd Birthday Salute

Compliments of The Kings Royal Troop Horse Artillery and the WSJ. Just seeing this lifts my spirits. Long live the Queen!

Recharing My Perspective

I TRULY DON'T KNOW how writers, bloggers and consumers of post-modern news and current events go forth day after day on an even keel without occasionally having a day off to catch up emotionally and spiritually. I mean, does the news ever pile up so far in your head, that it begins to affect your emotions even down to how you do the laundry?

Well it does for me.

Yesterday, I was in my favorite local bookstore and overheard two women talking about how they couldn't take watching TV or listening to the news anymore. I've decided ignorance is bliss! one said to the other and me. I can't take all the bad news I'm hearing! I'm at my absolute wits end!

I didn't get into it with them because I was in a hurry. Yet I knew exactly what they were saying and agreed completely in my heart-of -hearts. Sometimes I find I simply can't take in anymore until I process all that I've already seen, heard and read. It now comes, if you let it, at warp speed. It's non-stop on the web, on Twitter, TV. All the financial and bailout news, Obama's foreign policy road show, the Miss USA pageant, not to mention stuff like this. My head reels, day in, day out.

So now one day in about 30, I awaken and feel a frozen place in my soul. I try but can barely go near my computer. I realize after my first cup of coffee that I've reached my limit a day or two earlier and need to step back for a few hours, a day, sometimes more.

It's when I don't recognize this, that I begin to talk about giving up blogging and going to live in a cave. But now I recognize when I start thinking like this, it's mostly about being in information overload and need of some space to process it all.

I learned long ago the secret to my own brand of vitality is to sometimes give myself an intellectual rest and let my emotions have their day. Yesterday and most of today was that for me. It's a way back to enthusiam and away from cynicism. It's the only way I can go on to turn on the computer and write about what I see and read the other days of the year.

Four Finalists in Sunday's Hijacked Miss USA Contest

TUESDAY UPDATE: Miss California, Carrie Prejean, looks back on her response to gay activist Perez Hilton. Also Big Hollywood weighs in.

Before militant "judge" P. Hilton hijacked the show and rudely made it a referendum on gay marriage. It was either his way or the highway for contestants. He wasn't interested in knowing their answers: he was only interested in his answer. And there was only one right answer.

Down, Down, Down

IT ISN'T JUST the Miss USA Pageant that suffered a major downturn in interest today (see below). Stock markets failed on brisk volume as financials (XLF down -11%) and techs (XLK down -3%) sunk the DOW and NASDAQ. It was obvious last week when new highs were made on soft volume that this rally was petering out. We'll see what happens over the next few days.

But for my money, the rally is over. Defensive mode is back and most likely for many months to come.

Details.

Miss California Answers Kindly, Perez Hilton Goes Into Ape Mode

UPDATE: Were the judges aware of her stand beforehand and out to nail her? Probably. Note how her response is described as controversial. In my book, there is nothing whatsoever controversial about her answer.

THE ANSWER IS YES, IT'S COME TO THIS WITH THE MILITANT GAY COMMUNITY WHO HAS A NUCLEAR TANTRUM WHENEVER ANYONE DISAGREES WITH ITS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AGENDA, EVEN RESPECTFULLY. BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT FROM THE CALIFORNIA VOTE LAST FALL.

Take time to watch the videos below and see Miss California answer Hilton's set-up question. She answers it sincerely. However her response is too much for the in-your-face militant, shaming Hilton who goes on below (be forewarned) to throw a hissy fit and summarily try, convict and execute Miss California for her political incorrectness at the Miss USA contest, on YouTube. His MO is the fine art of massive intimidation and marginalizing her, as in saying she has half-a-brain.

And yes, it's come to this. Be forewarned that below, this creep, Mr. (or is it Ms.?) Hilton has a tantrum. Miss California doesn't answer the question properly for His Hind-Endness. How dare she say what she thinks? How dare she not say it's a states rights issue? Creeps like Hilton just won't stop until they've intimidated every last one of us to death or into submission. Just ask the weak and contrite wuss, Rick Warren.

The last I looked, this is still a free country where you can express what you think without fear of imprisonment or death. Hilton certainly has the right to be a horses behind, but will never persuade me to his cause using these creepy tactics. Actually he won't ever persuade me to his cause in any event. But he loses my respect when he carries on like this. And he loses any hope that I'll ever visit his website again, even my usual once a year. One other thing: I haven't watched a beauty pageant in years. But I think any self-respecting young woman who enters a contest like the Miss USA Pageant should realize that it's mostly a forum now for a radical, bigoted agenda. For that reason, she should think twice. And if she goes ahead, she should say what she thinks, mean what she says.



The worst answer in pageant history? Perez and I must be living on different planets. And in the world where I live, this dreadful, immature, crazed person owes this woman a big apology.

Sunday, In 1775 The American Colonies Were In An Uproar

A PASTOR AND THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

THE BRITISH WERE TAXING the colonists without representation; King George III, a devout evangelical Christian, had recently declared himself and parliament sovereign over the colonies in "all cases whatsoever;" and British troops had just arrived in Boston to enforce royal supremacy.

During this turbulent time the colonists, more than ever, turned to their ministers for guidance, thereby giving them a unique role in history. They not only were preaching the gospel but also helping to create a nation. Their roles were both prophets and statesmen.

In Concord, Massachusetts, William Emerson---grandfather of Ralph Waldo---was one such prophet and statesman. As a minister he tried to analyze the rapidly changing events in the light of Scripture. In the spring of 1775 he was quickly propelled from being an ordinary country preacher into taking part in what he called "the greatest events taking place in the present age."

By March, Emerson and other patriots in Concord were aware that British spies had infiltrated their town and informed (British) General Thomas Gage about a hidden armory, where the local Sons of Liberty were stockpiling weapons. Emerson began to fear for the safety of his town.

On March 13, he preached a sermon to the Concord militia that would alter the course of history. Emerson had the power to either promote or discourage a call to arms. What should he say? Was it God's will for America to fight for independence?

After much prayer and study, Emerson came down on the side of armed resistance. He reminded the militia of the inevitable "approaching storm of war and bloodshed," and asked them if they were ready for "real service." He explained that readiness not depended not only on military skill and weapons but also on moral and spiritual resolve. He challenged them to believe wholeheartedly in what they were fighting for and to trust God's power to uphold them, least they they run in fear from the British.

He argued for colonial resistance on the grounds that they had been standing by their liberties and trusting only in God yet had been "cruelly charged with rebellion and sedition" by the Crown. "Nay, for should we neglect to defend ourselves by military preparation, we never could answer and to our own consciences...." The colonist should go forth therefore into war, assured that "the Lord will cover your head in the day of battle and carry you on from victory to victory."

Emerson was convinced that in the end the whole world would realize "that there is God in America."

THE REST IS HISTORY

On April 19, 1775, British troops marched as predicted on Lexington and Concord. Before they reached Concord, patriot silversmith Paul Revere had made his famous ride into town, warning of approaching redcoats. Because the colonists were warned, Emerson and other minutemen from nearby towns were assembled and ready.

The first shot, "the shot heard round the world," was fired, and the war for independence began. Three Americans and twelve British soldiers were casualties in that first battle.

Throughout the war for independence, ministers such as Emerson were the single most influential voice of inspiration and encouragement for the fighting colonists. For many ministers, the religious aspect of the war was exactly the point of revolution---gaining freedom in order to create a new order in which God's principles would rule.

----E. Michael and Sharon Rustin, The One Year Christian History

********

Sermon by Rice Broocks at Bethel World Outreach, first in a series called One Life to Live.

Saturday, Undercover Agent and Man of the Week

WHAT ELSE DID WE EXPECT AXLEROD TO SAY ABOUT TEAPARTIES?
ISRAEL PREPARING "SWIFT STRIKE AGAINST IRAN"

MY KINDA GUY

TELL ME, OFFICER, Was the crowd as well-behaved at this Tea Party as you expected?

Yes Mame. Only trouble we had was from those ACORN folks who wanted to start arguments with some of the people in the crowd. Other than that, everyone was orderly and had a real good time.

Then he pulled out his hidden passport, pinned deep inside his jacket:

Sir, I said, if I ever need to be taken into custody, I sure hope it's by you....I'm turning myself in now, guilty as charged!

******

Meanwhile, The Not-So-Cool Side of Paul Newman, today at the NYPost. Ugh. Yet another mainstream media myth bites the dust, not a minute too soon.

Mayapples in April

ISRAEL GETS READY TO BOMB IRAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES WITHIN DAYS. MEANWHILE, OBAMA MAKES NICE WITH CHAVEZ, AS THE BAD GUYS ARE LICKIN' THEIR CHOPS.

MAYAPPLES ARE OUT in full force here in Middle Tennessee and I find them just as magical today as I did when I was a little girl. I love to get down near the ground and find the little apples which hide---one per stalk---underneath its umbrella leaves. If you click the image above, you can see a couple of apples in the enlarged version.

UPDATE: In response to Gerard's question, can they be et?: Mayapples are very toxic to eat unless fully ripened which they're not at this time in Tennessee. But when ripe later in May, a highly motivated wildcrafter can gather and make jelly out of 'em. Here's a recipe.

Why Susan Boyle Thrills Me

Why does the sheer excitement of a Susan Boyle so capture our hearts and minds that we cheer unabashedly at her overwhelming victory on the stage of Britain's Got Talent?

Some say it's because it makes us all wonder if similar greatness lies within us. That's a nice idea, but doesn't really even come close to capturing my wild applause for Susan. The real reason I cheer for her and the revelation of her magnificent talent at the age of 47---almost 48, as she puts it---is something else:

It's that she triumphs wildly against all odds and without any of the normal trappings that we/I---THE WORLD---normally value so highly: Youth, wealth, beauty, power, status. Somehow she's gotten through all our filters that would have conspired to keep her away from that stage and our high approval ratings and bursts onto the scene as the unpretentious, wildly talented woman she is.

It happens so fast, that I love her immediately--almost in spite of myself. I love her frumpy, yet genuinely feminine dress, her unfashionable, curly hairdo, her unsculpted figure, her almost washer woman demeanor, her self-confidence and sweet sense of humor.

I love her solidness.

Most of all, I love her for sharing her God-given gift of singing from an inner place deep inside. I love it that she's not self-conscious.

As I listen and watch this miraculous moment unfold on stage, rather than wonder if some hidden talent hides in me, me, me, I completely forget myself and am lost in the wonder of her emerging, monstrous talent. I totally forget myself for a time and am enthralled in Susan, Susan, Susan--her hopes, her talent, her eight siblings and even her cat Pebbles, for heavens sake!

I wonder if someone turned the tellie on for Pebbles so that she can see her lady master's triumphant moment?

I'm reminded that often great talent in the world goes through long desert, gestation experiences before God brings it out in the open for all the world to see. And I hope and pray that the success that follows won't ruin or compromise this lovely woman named Susan Boyle. Her family. Or Pebbles.

I never want Susan to leave the stage. I certainly never want her---and what she represents---to leave the stage of my heart.

If the video below doesn't work and as if you haven't seen it yet, then try this YouTube link.

Britains Got Talent 2009 Susan Boyle 47 Year Old Singer
H/T
UPDATES: Good news, so far. And Bob Krumm on fast fame on the internet via YouTube that now often by-passes the Oprahs of the world.

Not So Fast

Know Us By Our Bumper Stickers

H/T Big Hollywood, John T. Simpson tells law enforcement officials who we are and what we have glued to our hind quarters.

Below, Ken Marrero of Blue Collar Muse speaks at a Tea Party in Mt. Juliet.

Nashville Tea Party Serves It Hot!

POLITICAL PROFILING BY THE PEOPLE HAS BEGUN; SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Rep. Marsha Blackburn with grandson, Jack, What's going on in Washington is the height of selfishness.

Ladies of tea, joining forces for a new day.

Tennessee tax protester Ben Cunningham gets ready to bring the scissors out to cut-in-two the Congressional Credit Card which expired today, a la Dave Ramsey. Where was Dave anyway?

Friend and fellow blogger Bob Krumm.

Conservative radio host Steve Gill with rabble rouser. We will not back down, we will not turn back. We will not stop until we have taken this country back.

Good question, and actually, the answer to the above is, I don't have that particular organ, but I wouldn't want Barney checking anything.

Great idea: The Constitution, an endangered species. Now, how can we preserve it?

Blogger/organizer and new friend Ken Marrero of Blue Collar Muse with his family.

Ken, I love you, man.
First to arrive and last to leave---we all had such fun.

Movers and shakers of the ladies Republican party in Davidson County.

Nothing Prepared Me For the Tea Party Turnout in Nashville Today

BOB KRUMM REPORTS ON TODAY'S RALLY
CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATES BETWEEN 2,500-5,000 (EVEN UP TO 10,000!) ATTEND

IF SOMEONE HAD told me of the enormous turnout that could be expected today at Legislative Plaza in Nashville, I simply would not have believed them. But I would now. This Tea Party was the most heartening, energizing event I've been to in years---if ever. Simply stupendous.

Will be back with lots of photos and some copy. First I'm off to the gym. Get ready cause it's a new day in America, America! It's Tea Party Nation and there's no turning back now.

Wednesday, Tax Day, Tea Party Day

TEA PARTY 101: Prepare yourself for Tax Day

A friend is picking me up in an hour and we're driving to West End Junior High School here in Nashville, park, meet some other protestors, and ride the bus downtown to the State Capitol! Will have my camera and be back later to post pics and give a complete report. Should be fun and interesting.

Go and do your Constitution duty, but remember, Janet's watching us right-wing nuts!

The new administration funds ACORN, full-term abortion and other such nonsense, but people who stand by the Constitution---and know the differences between federal and state responsibilities---are now radicals. What a world!

Wake. Up. Call. America.

I COULD NOT AGREE WITH HIM MORE.
The Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, has just about had enough of big Washington government intruding in his citizens' lives and pocketbooks. This is a major development in the great divide that is happening in this country. Read. Watch. Listen. Go back and read the Constitution. Attend to a Tea Party tomorrow, I am. And Pray.



Perry reiterates, I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”

Everyone Should Pay Taxes

Ari Fleischer in Monday's Wall Street Journal reminds us of some sobering tax faxs and adds,

I favor the abolition of all Social Security, Medicare and estate taxes. In their place, we should create a simple income tax system that has no deductions or credits at all. The result would be a progressive, multitiered income tax in which everyone pays. The bottom 50% won't be excused from paying the cost of government and top earners will no longer have the loopholes they're used to. The middle-class, whose wages have stagnated, will benefit from economic growth. Social Security and Medicare will be funded from income taxes, ending the myth that these programs are supported through government trust funds and payroll taxes. The tax base will broaden dramatically, allowing rates to fall and helping to foster what's most important -- economic growth.

To that, I would only add: if you don't pay taxes, you don't vote.

All He Wanted Was a Cookie

JEFF EMANUEL (PROFILE) TELLS THE REAL STORY OF PHILLIP'S RESCUE AND HOW THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS STILL THE BIGGEST WEENIE OF ALL.

DID YOU GET THE distinct impression Sunday after hearing news of the daring, stupendous rescue of Captain Richard Phillips by Navy SEALS in the Indian Ocean, that President Obama was a bold and decisive national leader of heroic proportions? I sure did.

I actually bit and believed all those frothy news accounts saying the president had acted courageously giving the orders--not once, but TWICE---to take the pirates essentially dead or alive. The mainstream media was so lathered up over the administration's astounding performance in this crisis, that everyone actually took it all at face value and believed it. Including you-know-who.

Wow, I thought, Obama may not turn out to be as bad as Jimmy Carter, after all.

But boy did I get snookered. I should have known better. My bad.

As all this Obama boldness hype unravels, a whole new story is coming out. The real story. Let's start with this:

From REDSTATE.com:

"The left and the press (but I repeat myself) are falling all over each other in their haste to congratulate Obama and his manly response to the pirates. A retch-worthy visit to the comments section of left blogs reveals revolting mission-accomplished-gasms and endless reposts of photo fakes featuring Obama being cool or hip with the words “I Got This” adoringly emblazoned upon the savior of the West. To say the fawning adoration is grotesque would be a dramatic understatement and an insult to the merely grotesque. "

So now let's go to what really happened in the rescue of Captain Mark Phillips yesterday that you won't read in the Main Stream Media: Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Jeff Emanuel of RedState.com:

"After four days of floating at sea on a raft shared with four Somali gunmen, Richard Philips took matters into his own hands for a second time. With the small lifeboat in which he was being held captive being towed by the American missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, and Navy Special Warfare (NSWC) snipers on the fantail in position to take their shots at his captors as soon as the command was given, the captive Captain of the M.V. Maersk-Alabama took his second leap in three days into the shark-infested waters of the Indian Ocean.

"This diversion gave the Navy Special Warfare operators all the opening they needed. Snipers immediately took down the three Somali pirates still on board the life raft, SEAL operators hustled down the tow line connecting the two craft to confirm the kills, and a Navy RIB plucked Philips from the water and sped him to safety aboard the Bainbridge, thus ending the four-day-and-counting hostage situation."

So let me get this straight: Phillips was again at the end of his rope at the Navy's seeming inability or unwillingness to rescue him after five days and with an AK-47 POINTED AT HIS BACK, JUMPED OFF THE PIRATE'S RAFT FOR THE SECOND TIME IN AN ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE. It was then the Navy commander gave the order for the sharpshooters to take the pirates out because he was tired of the Navy being made fools of by a boat of hoodalums.
Emanuel continues,

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on-scene commander decided he’d had enough. Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present danger to the hostage’s life, and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK-47 one captor had leveled at Philips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life, and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.

Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA, and Philips was safe."

Jeff Emanual continues to set the record straight on the Obama administrations short-comings here:

"Instead of taking direct, decisive action against the rag-tag group of gunmen, the Obama administration dilly-dallied, dawdled, and eschewed any decisiveness whatsoever, even in the face of enemy fire, in hopes that the situation would somehow resolve itself without violence — thus sending a clear message to all who would threaten U.S. interests abroad that the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has no idea how to respond to such situations, and no real willingness to use military force to resolve them.

Any who think they weren’t watching every minute of this are guilty — at best — of greatly underestimating our enemies. "

Again, read Emanuel's full story here and let's all get our heads screwed back on straight. It's getting late but all I can say is I am sure more of the real truth will come out in the days ahead. And you won't read it on the MSM, but you will here and other conservative sites.

Oh yes you will.

Where I Come From

WHY GOOD PEOPLE NEED GUNS AT BIG HOLLYWOOD. I mean, how can a tanker the size of a town on water be so vulnerable to a pack of underweight pirate thugs? Answer: The thugs had guns.

Where I come from it's cornbread and chicken
Where I come from a lotta front porch pickin'
Where I come from tryin' to make a livin'
Workin' hard to get to heaven
Where I come from.

---Alan Jackson, Where I Come From

More from the Washington Times editorial page on Pelosi's wanting to register guns.

Easter Morning

HE IS NOT HERE. He is risen, just as He said.

--Matthew 28:6, the greatest show---the greatest gift-----on Earth..... and there's much more to come.

FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN:

THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK came Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she ran, and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them,

They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then came Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and saw two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

Jesus said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

All We Need Is Need

Christ has done everything necessary for salvation. Nothing now stands between the sinner and God but the sinner's good works. Nothing can keep him from Christ but his delusion that he doesn't need Him and that his good works can acutally satisfy God. All we need is need. All we must have is nothing. All that is required is acknowledging our own sin and need, but alas many sinners cannot part with their good works and ideas of virtue....Therefore grace becomes unreal and unnecessary.

---John Gerstner

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
if I lack’d anything.

“A guest,” I answer’d, “worthy to be here;”
Love said, “You shall be he.”
“I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee.”
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
“Who made the eyes but I?”

“Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.”
“And know you not,” says Love, “who bore the blame?”
“My dear, then I will serve.”
“You must sit down,” says Love, “and taste my meat.”
So I did sit and eat.

---George Herbert (1633), ‘Love III’

BATTER my heart, three person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee,'and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due,
Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely'I love you,'and would be loved faine,
But am betroth'd unto your enemie:
Divorce mee,'untie, or breake that knot againe;
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you'enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.

---John Donne (1572-1631), Holy Sonnet XIV

Good Friday, Christ's Passion As the World Darkens

"TWO OTHER MEN, BOTH CRIMINALS, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right and the other on his left.

"Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

"The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."

"The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was a written notice above him that read, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

"But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God?" he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

"Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

"Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.

JESUS DEATH

"It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last.

"The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things."

---The Gospel of Luke, chapter 23, verses 32 through 49

Yet Another Reason to Skip Madame Tussaurds Propaganda Museum Next Time You're Visiting The District

NOT ONE, EVEN ONE, RECENT REPUBLICAN FIRST LADY HAS BEEN "WAXED" THERE

I PERSONALLY FIND WAX museums creepy, on the order of hanging out at funeral homes. However, evidently some people really dig them and like to be voyeurs of time and space in these kind of venues. So if you're thinking of going to Madame Trussards in DC anytime soon and you're a conservative, then think about this: DON'T.

There are no recent Republican first ladies on display, even as Michelle Obama's wax job was just unveiled recently with great fanfare for all the world to see. There's no Nancy Reagan, no Barbara Bush, no Betty Ford. Amazing!

That just creeps me out in more ways than one.

What a nice little place to boycott. I know I'll never go there---either in the flesh or in wax. I've been spared. And you can too. Just say no to the partisan madame and her silly, scary figures.

The Washington Times waxes eloquent with the full story.

Give me the National Portrait Gallery any ole day.

Reading Mark Levin's Liberty and Tyranny

STARTING TO THINK OF OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE LIBERAL STATISTS IN TERMS OF THE THING

FOR THE PAST day-and-a-half, I've buried myself in Mark Levine's new book, Liberty and Tyranny, A Conservative Manifesto. I believe every American---every man, woman and child over 15---should read this book. Every school should require and teach it (though the liberal teachers' unions would ban and burn it--- and those who teach it---at the stake.).

However, my recommendation comes with the caveat that, though much of the information is not new, the material is arranged and packed in such a way that one cannot help but be seriously impacted by this book. I certainly am.
What I am saying is while ignorance is bliss, panoramic knowledge of the direction this country is headed is very troubling. We are headed, and have been heading, towards a cliff in America and unless a good number of us take this seriously and understand how and why we got here and then act in courageous, new ways, I don't see how we as a democracy can remain in tact a whole lot longer. At the same time, I'm deeply concerned that there's nothing most of us can do with this runaway, out-of-control federal government which seems to be multiplying like The Thing---remember that movie?

I see it coming and I'm frightened by what I see, especially for my children and grand child. I've watched ultra-partisan politics divide my country, my family and many of my friendships over the past decade. It's painful to watch, it's even more painful to live. But live it, we shall with no assurances as to where it's all leading or that enough of us will wake up in time to get this behemoth ship of state---this Titantic of gargantuan government---turned around.

I am normally a world-class sleeper and yet last night I tossed and fretted again into the wee hours of the morning. I realized sometime between 1 and 2 am that Levine's book was affecting me in the depths of my soul and in ways I can't escape. I'm not normally a deeply pessimistic person, certainly not for long, but I'll tell you what: there's good reason for our citizenry to be very seriously concerned---from the fiscal malfeasance of our social "security" and other entitlement and bailout programs that are breaking us all, to immigration banditry and to our gross departure from enumerated powers in the Constitution and to the eventual breakdown of the rule of law---there are train wrecks, some of them massive, waiting to happen in every direction. The pain and suffering will be widespread and prolonged.