Some Levity: Camp Politics For Children With Bossy Tendencies

LEARNING TO LOVE PORK AT AN EARLY AGE.

Today

GOP TAKES THE U.S. HOUSE AND MAJORITY OF STATE HOUSES AND GOVERNORSHIPS.

There's little time for celebration and jubilation because much work needs to be done to turn back the tide of the federal government's growth and encroachment in every aspect of our lives and pocketbooks.

Election Day 2010: 36 Reasons to Vote Democrat!

WHAT HAPPENS IN A 50/50 SENATE?
THE BIG DAY IS HERE AND WE'RE HERE FOR THE DURATION!

I'll be linking to important quotes, news and opinions today.

----FIRST, in the spirit of bi-partisanship, I offer you Thirty-six Reasons to Vote Democrat! (A few choice reasons: 30.If you think it helps you if your boss gets hit with a huge tax bill -- vote Democrat. 31.If Chris Matthews gives you a tingle up your leg -- instead of an upset stomach - then vote Democrat. 32.If you think insurance companies can lower rates, pay for every small medical item -- and every preexisting condition -- and every illegal alien -- and stay in business -- vote Democrat. 33.If you agree with the French union protesters upset about having to delay retirement for two years to age 62 -- vote Democrat. 34.If you think a rally sponsored by Arianna Huffington, the SEIU, and the DNC is a non-political rally -- vote Democrat. 35.If you think electric cars are the answer because they don't use energy -- vote Democrat. 36.If you don't want Nancy Pelosi to retire -- vote Democrat.)

----SECOND, Roger Simon at Pajamas Media corrects Tina Brown of The Daily Beast and her assessment of what President Obama should have done/should do to to get back in touch with his people. And it's all about policy, Tina.

----THIRD, Republican win the death knell for Keynesian economic policies and a new day for the dollar? From Ned Schmidt at Kitco:

......with political drama unfolding in Washington on 3 November the Federal Reserve is not likely to unleash a massive QE II. They may announce a modest program, but not one that will destroy the dollar. Betting on QE II and a collapsing U.S. dollar is not now wise.

As the dollar in the above chart is moving through the parabolic curve, a new question arises. How high will the U.S. dollar go? When a parabolic formation corrects, that correction is usually dramatic and for greater than any expect. Also, given the propensity of today’s market traders to push markets to an extreme, we can expect the dollar to be pushed up more than it should.

Risk now is not how low will U.S. dollar fall, but how high will it rise. Bernanke and his Keynesian hooligans have created another asset price distortion. This Gold bubble may go the way of all predecessor bubbles, into pain and agony.

This Day in History: Martin Luther Nailed His 95-Theses On The Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany

THUS SETTING INTO MOTION THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION ON 10/31/1517

IN 1517 A DOMINICAN friar named Johann Tetzel was selling indulgences near Wittenberg, Germany to raise money for constructing St. Peter's in Rome. According to Tetzel, those who purchased an indulgence would receive remission of purgatory. Indulgences could also be purchased on behalf of dead relatives and friends. The punch line of Tetzel's sermon was, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs."

These sales of indulgences by the Catholic Church infuriated Luther, the professor of biblical studies at the University of Wittenberg, and he decided to hold a disputation with other faculty members on the subject.

Luther knew from his own repentance and conversion that paying an indulgence could not achieve forgiveness of sins. Shortly before posting the Ninety-five Theses, Luther began studying the Greek New Testament and his studies persuaded him that the Greek word for repentance, metanoia, meant a change of heart, not merely a performance of outward works, as Catholic theologians of his day defined it.

Luther wrote the Ninety-five Theses in Latin, intending them to be discussed by scholars, not circulated by the general populace. But as Luther himself acknowledged, in a fortnight they flew all over Germany. Translated into German and sold as far away as Rome, the Ninety-five Theses became much more than a university exercise.

For the next two decades, Luther watched the Reformation grow. Many regions in Germany accepted the Evangelical doctrines that Luther and other Reformers discovered from the Scriptures he had translated into German. Luther lived to see a second generation of evangelicals sing the hymns he had written, read his German translation of the Bible, and learn his catechism from their early childhood.

Through his life he preached and taught God's promise of redemption to the repentant sinner, rather than through the works-based "indulgence" program of the Catholic Church.


----from The One Year Christian History, Michael and Sharon Rusten

Weekend Watering Hole/Happy Hour

I'M NOT THERE NOW AND DON'T EVEN WANT TO BE cause it's already freezing cold and starting to snow. But this is a wonderful photo of a couple of characters having a late afternoon drink at one of their favorite watering Holes taken by the Jackson's most famous 99 year-old photo-journalist, the indomitable Elizabeth McCabe.

Via JH NEWS/GUIDE

The Christian's Responsibility In Producing, Consuming

WORK IS PERMEATED with purpose; it is intended to serve God, benefit humankind, and make nature subservient to the moral program of creation.... Therefore we apply our whole being—heart and mind, as well as hand—to the daily job. As God’s fellow workers, we reflect God’s creative activity on Monday no less than on Sunday…. To consider work a channel of divine creation, by which the creature serves God and humanity, carries certain consequences for one’s attitude toward labor. The Christian becomes morally obligated to withhold producing, and even purchasing (since money is simply the conversion of his work into tender) culturally worthless, let alone harmful, items.

— Carl Henry, Aspects of Christian Social Ethics

Source

Lon Solomon: The Exclusivity of Christ for Salvation

Senator Boxer, Call Her Senator---She Worked So Hard....

Source

BRILLIANT.

Travel Day

HT @ GOSPEL COALITION: 1 TIMOTHY 1:4 & BLOGGING AFTER MORE THAN TWO WEEKS ON THE EAST COAST, AM ABOUT TO TAKE one of my favorite drives in all America. The Rockies and west are spectacular and dramatic, but for my money, nothing compares to the softly beautiful Shenandoah Valley and East Tennessee, especially at this time of year, as colors start to turn.

Sunday: Inspiring Story Behind the Miners' Jesus T-Shirts

FROM THE GOSPEL COALITION comes part of the rest of the story. A number of the miners came to faith in Jesus Christ during their long ordeal trapped underground. Will it last? Was it real? Only time will tell. I pray so.

True Woman Manifesto

TRUE WOMANHOOD IS MADE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. It is all about women who base their lives and actions on the Word of God. Simple but not always easy and only possible through the outworking of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

True Woman Manifesto

Will The Real Iranian First Lady, Mrs. Ahmadinejad, Please Stand Up?

THE HUFFPO has the answer. Hint, it's the obvious choice. This photo, taken a luncheon yesterday in Lebanon where the Ahmadinejads visited last week, speaks volumes. No further commentary needed.

Trapped In The Hole With No Quick Escape

EXCEPT PERHAPS DOWN EVER FURTHER

SIXTY-NINE DAYS IN THE HOLE WILL BE like a nano-second compared to the decades it will take for us to recover from the decades-long economic follies of our central bankers, big government spenders and too easy credit with low/no interest.

The World Loves An Uplift

AMEN DAN: HOW FREE-MARKET CAPITALISM HELPED SAVE THE MINERS
MICHELLE MALKIN HAS MORE & HOW AMERICAN GREATNESS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS RESCUE SUCCESSWHAT A MEDIA DARLING THIS HAS BEEN! From Day 1 of the deep mine explosion with 33 men trapped deeper and longer than any on record, it's captivated the fancy of ever one who loves drama, suspense and yearns for a happy ending. Remember, it comes on the heels of the BP deep well explosion/leak in the Gulf and the passage of ObamaCare.

So what's not to like here? The world needed to see these men adroitly extracted and lifted from the depths of the mine in an orange bullet after over two months. We needed it as much as we needed to see Jennifer Gray score a perfect 10 this week on Dancing With the Stars.

What amazed me this morning was not only the rescue, but how clean-shaven and unstraggly these men appeared coming out of the mine. They must have had all their shaving equipment tethered down before their grand lift. Amazing story with a happy ending---so far. God bless these men and their families and all the people involved with this inspiring rescue!

Waiting on the Lord: Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

LON SOLOMON AT MCLEAN BIBLE CHURCH discusses God's timing in our lives. Though we often impatiently want God to act sooner---in our timing, God is never late in His throughout history, working for His own glory and our greatest blessings. It is the hardest spiritual discipline of all because we are an impatient people.

Never was there a better example than waiting for God than the raising of Lazarus from the dead.Sure He could have healed him before he died which Lazarus's sisters wanted Jesus to do. But Jesus had a much more amazing plan.

Hanging Out

MEANWHILE: JERRY BROWN'S DESPERATION
THE GREAT LAWN, CENTRAL PARK

....JUST ADD A SIX MONTH OLD BABY GIRL, A 22-MONTH OLD LITTLE BOY INTO EVERYTHING, STREAMS OF SUNSHINE, cool weather and lots of love for the perfect recipe! What more could any of us ask for?

I'm there!

The Green Supremiscists/Nazis Are Here

TARANTO: ENVIRONMENTALIST FANTASY OF VIOLENT TOTALITARIANISM

PERHAPS THE WORST PUBLIC ADVOCACY/PUBLIC RELATIONS STUNT-GONE-BAD---EVER. Couldn't happen to a more deserving extremist group than the radical fascists of the Global Warming/Climate Change/Carbon Footprint brigade in England.

Needless to say this stunt had to be pulled after massive public outrage. If the thought processes of the 'creative geniuses' behind this 'no pressure' video doesn't scare you silly, then I have to wonder if you're breathing. To say this promo for a greener way of life is ineffective would be the understatement of the decade.

The Social Network: Cultural Icon of Our Times

JOHN TAMNY @ FORBES: MYTHS OF CREATING A FACEBOOK BUSINESS SUCCESS
SEPARATING FACT FROM FICTION
FEMINISTS ARE WHINING
PUNK, GENIUS, BILLIONAIRE, LOW BUDGET, The Social Network will earn Sony millions if not billions in profits for the greatly awaited movie on Mark Zuckerberg and the genius genesis of FACEBOOK. Whether you're on it or not---I'm not, this movie is an imporant cultural slice of life in our fallen, addicted, narcissistic post-modern culture. It's mixed fact with fiction but still rings true. It portrays the ever-increasing superficial, unreal, shallow ways we now connect as a society and increasingly mistake it for real.

I wouldn't miss it for anything and think it is very well done and well-cast. While some characters come across as less than savory, the movie captures the brilliant geek persona, lifestyle and crazed entrepreneural spirit that spawned the mega-success at Harvard called FACEBOOK and created billions in assets and value for founders, users, shareholders, along with several competing wannabes.

Sunday, Fireproof

BEEN A LONG WEEK FOCUSED ON FIRST THINGS FIRST. And it's paid off, though not so much on my blog. Plan to be back later today to post a little more.

Insider Reviews Wall Street 2

TUESDAY UPDATE FROM ZH: ANYBODY LISTENING? BE FOREWARNED, READING NOT FOR SISSIES; ALSO, US ECONOMY CLOSE TO DESTRUCTIVE TIPPING POINT
MADHEDGEFUNDTRADER REVIEWS WALL STREET:MONEY NEVER SLEEPS TODAY @ ZERO HEDGE


WAS EXPECTING TO DISLIKE IT, cause I don't care for Oliver Stone, his politics or even his looks. But lo and behold, after being taken there on Saturday after bemoaning then acquiescing, I ended up liking it better than I ever expected. While MadHedgeFundTrader can better give you details of who each character in the film represents in real life---though it's not rocket science--- I can tell you most of the film rang true on a lot of financial themes and cast of characters that have played out over the past few fast-paced years. These are the same themes that will undoubtedly play out to an even greater degree in the years ahead and fodder for more movies to come starring those bedeviled stars of quantitative easing (money printing) and S&P and bond manipulation now in the process of collapsing the economy for us and our children and grand-children. Men like Geithner and Bernanke will be easy to spot as they're drug off to the electric chair.....just a little joke.

Still, we never seem to learn from history and so are doomed to repeat it. Nevertheless, if you want to see how the big boys play their games at the top echelons of madness and then get bailed out using our money, then go and see this movie.

Conversation Between Tim Keller and John Piper

LON SOLOMON PREACHES ON THE BLIND MAN JESUS MET

Women---Conservative Movement's Greatest Asset

FIREWORKS: WHITE HOUSE FURIOUS OVER FORBES COVER STORY ON OBAMA

MORE FROM STEPHEN KRUISER AT BIG HOLLYWOOD:

Having grown up in the supposed age of feminism, I couldn’t help but think that this is probably what it was supposed to look like: strong, independent and successful women who have no interest in hand-wringing victimhood. The Left has Hillary Clinton, a woman who rode her husband’s coattails for a couple of decades before trading her Aggrieved Wife Victim Card for elective office. The Right has Phyllis Schlafly, who still commands attention in the way few men can.

It also has Reps. Michele Bachmann, Jean Schmidt, and Cynthia Lummis working hard within the system. Bachmann’s famous grilling of Timothy Geithner is one of the highlights of the film (and featured in the trailer on the website). The film also features Ann Coulter, Michelle Easton, Michelle Malkin, Deneen Borelli, Janine Turner, Dana Loesch, S.E Cupp, Jenny Beth Martin, Jamie Radtke, Sonnie Johnson and Michelle Moore. These women represent old and new media and a cross-section of the Tea Party movement. In short, they’re everywhere.

Update: Bristol and Dance Partner Mark Ballas Run Up To Alaska To Meet Momma Bear

BEING A DANCE PRO NEVER LOOKED MORE FUN! Sure hope Mark is a conservative. With the kind of ratings Bristol is bringing to Dancing With the Stars, don't think she'll be kicked off anytime soon. She'll go much further with Mark, though probably not to first place. But what do I know. Read more.

Mama Told Me Not To Come

UPDATE/SOURCE:-- "Dancing With the Stars" (21.3 million viewers, 5.1 adults 18-49 rating) returned up 24% from last fall and gave ABC the highest-rated show on the season's opening night (videos here). "Dancing" drew a younger-than-usual audience, marking its best-ever fall premiere among teens. Though even the inspired casting of Bristol Palin and The Situation couldn't overthrow last spring's Kate Gosselin-fueled opener. Last fall: 4.1 adult-demo rating / Spring: 6.4.



DECENT PERFORMANCE, CUTE COUPLE AND GREAT, FRISKY FUN. GO BRISTOL AND MARK!

From The Daily Beast:

On Monday night, Bristol cha cha-ed her way into a pretty good score from the ejudges. Her moves, coupled with supporters by the phones ready to vote for another Palin, means that there is a good chance that she may be around for awhile, leaving plenty of episodes for her Mama Grizzly to root for her in person. Until then, Palin sent one last tweet, along with a photo: “Over-the-moon excited and happy for Bristol! Cheering her on @ DWTS party in the Palin living room.”

The King's Speech, Movie Well Worth Seeing

HAVING TAKEN TORONTO BY STORM, The King's Speech will win every award this year. An historical movie of a period of time in England before Queen Elizabeth, it's a niche of time most of us know very little about. But we will. Colin Firth is the star and what a role he has.

Could We Talk, Hillary?

WOMANO A' WOMANO

KNOW YOU'RE BUSY AND STRESSED what with the wedding this summer, the UN meeting this week in Manhattan and Bill's Global Intiative going on right up the street, so I'll make it brief and to the point: This is not your best look by a long shot. Not even by a country mile. We all have bad hair days when we're too tired and involved in the cares of the world to take care of ourselves and recharge our batteries.Sometimes we just stay close to home. But you're out in public and need to go look at yourself in the mirror. Right now. Then run out to the nearest salon and get a quick cut, shampoo and blow-out that puts you back in the presentable lane. A little more softness around your face and a few more bangs would be good.

Please don't do this again. There will be no excuse if you do. You can forget ever running for president. It just wouldn't do to have you looking like a puff ball while trying to become president. Do us all a favor and get yourself back in a little better shape with a little more stylish do. And shining shampooed hair. Do it for the children....and the orphans and the whales and.....

Sunday

New York Fashion Week Ends With Beautiful Feminine Gowns I'd Love To Wear

STARTING WITH THOSE CRACKERJACK BE-RIBBONED ORANGE POP VENUS PUMPS...I TELL MYSELF WHEN IT GETS RIGHT DOWN TO IT, THERE'S VERY little I really covet anymore. Then I pat myself on the back, feel rather self-righteousness and go on with my life. I really think I mean it. Until. Well, until I see photos of the grand finale of New York's fashion week yesterday. Gallery at The Daily Beast.

Lord, I love every one of these dresses! Is there a recession that may go into a double dip or depression? More banks going under? OK, I'll buy some silver and store olive oil and Clorox. But oh my goodness, how I'd love to be wearing any one of these feminine dresses when our economic ship goes down. Just for a little while....if only on the way to my revolutionary vegetable garden! Is that too much to ask?ABOVE: Could this be the perfect apres-fishing/hiking outfit for Jackson---leather, glitter, sequins, satins, velour and silver? Oh and did I mention a small touch of soft fur? Ethereal. What more could an outdoorsy girl like me ask for? After denim comes chiffon. Mercy me, I love these neutral softnesses!

OK, OK, so this one might be just a bit too-too for me. Somehow I don't think this chiffon whip would work so well at the Calico. But it might be perfect for a mid-summer southern ball at Tara. I can just see Sarah Jessica Parker stepping out of her over-sized limo onto the red carpet at the Oscars in this. Divine and divinely feminine to the max for the real woman who can carry it off.

Return of Citizen Politicians

RUSH: O'DONNELL'S OPPONENT A SITTING DUCK
ACE: 5 REASONS SHE MIGHT WIN
INSIDE-THE-BELTWAY CARL ROVE BITES THE DUST
THE REVOLUTION HAS ARRIVED
HUMBLING DELAWARE GOPLOOKING RESPLENDENT IN RED

LET US HOPE CHRISTINE O'DONNELL'S primary victory over Mike Castle for U.S. Senate last night in Delaware portends many good and desperately-needed things to come at the ballot box. Forget parties and career politicians who are often part of the entrenched problems of political entitlement without principle on both sides of the aisle. If this country is going to survive, it must elect women and men like the one above who are willing to go up against the so-called Goliaths of our decaying system. Those willing to let the gargantuan federal tier of government decrease while states rights and individual responsibility increase in size and scope. Those willing to get elected and then go to Washington and remain fiscally and politically conservative,even if it's for only one term. It's our only hope outside armed revolution. The clock is ticking.....and it's a frightening few minutes to midnight.

People who are truly concerned for our country and the principles on which it was founded and has flourished for generations have completely lost their sense of loyalty to specific political parties. Are you listening, Carl Rover? The establishment is over. All this talk of how the Tea Party movement will cause the GOP to lose the possibility of majority rule in both Houses this fall is hogwash. People need to vote their convictions and let the chips fall where they may. We've frittered away far too many elections and held far too many entrenced politicians unaccountable. It's got to end and soon or our country will be unrecognizable in a matter of years.

Great Dress, Beautiful Presentation, Blake

IN OUR CURRENT CULTURE OF NEVER-ENDING FASHION AWARDS EXTRAVAGANZAS AND BIZARRE OPENINGS---where clothes and costumes get more outrageous by the minute, it's truly refreshing to see a woman present herself with a modicum of good taste and discretion.

A woman looking like a woman should is a beautiful thing to behold.

Enter Blake Lively photographed in Toronto at the film festival this past weekend premiering her new movie. How refreshing. Of course it doesn't hurt that she has a world class great figure and gorgeous long blond hair. But so do plenty of other wackos who walk the red carpet.

Nope. She's a classically beautiful woman here and lovely to look at. Perhaps the most appealing part of the outfit is that her dress is hemmed at a perfect length instead of the current fad of thigh-high which I find extremely unattractive and screams for desperate attention. The length of Blake's dress here fits the proportions of her height and long legs to a tea and steps out of the narrow confines of fad-wear and into the the classic fashion hall of fame.

I also like the deep red lipstick for this formal occasion and the feminine red pumps that bring this striking dress into unified perfection.

Nice job, Blake. And just so you know she can do it twice, here she is looking darling in a summery classic garden party dress.

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos No 3

A LOVELY WAY TO END THE WEEKEND AND A VERY LONG DRIVE.