Southern Arizona

DOWN NEAR NOGALES the warm sun shines brilliantly almost every day.  Ideal winter weather for which I am  grateful.  Time to leave though and head back to the southeast. It's no surprise Mitt took Arizona in yesterday's primary.

Angelina's Oscar Dress

DANGEROUSLY MALNOURISHED?
ANGIE MOCKED FOR UNNATURAL LEG POSE

WITHOUT DOUBT, SHE'S THE BEST DRESSED WOMAN AT THE OSCARS AND KNOWS IT.

 Her hair is gorgeous---and I like the color. She's single handedly bringing back red lipstick.The black dress fits the dressy occasion and is befitting a true, glamorous movie star from days of old.

Only thing I would say about her leggy look is she seems a bit pale, thin and unmuscular to me---like she doesn't get enough exercise and fresh air. Maybe it's just me, but far too many women in the public eye verge on looking emaciated. Still, she's a beautiful, stunning looking woman.

The runner up in my opinion in the fashion sweepstakes (for looks only, nothing else) is the ever sassy Cameron Diaz. She really knows how to grab the spotlight and hold on to it. She has a fashion sense that usually works.  Like this much better than JoLo's dress and most others.

Sunday

THE INTER-RELATED WEB OF LIFE AND MUTUAL SUPPORT IN THE DESERT is beautiful.

Below is a short and amazing testimony of a former Chinese prisoner, known as Brother Yun, imprisoned for being a Christian evangelist. He has written an inspiring book on his escape from certain death and torture. He gives God---as well as those who prayed and fasted for him--all the glory and thanks.



PHOTO CREDIT AND MORE WONDERFUL PICS

Pssst! Wanna See Something Precious?

AND BABIES MAKE FIVE

THESE WEE LITTLE BRITISH BROTHERS WERE BORN 15 weeks early. After three months in the hospital they are now finally home with mummy and daddy.

Meet Max, Lucas and Harvey.  Read more here.

May God bless this darling family!

Kristen this one's for you! 

In the Desert

# 1 MISTAKE  PEOPLE I INTERVIEW MAKE @ BUSINESS INSIDER--A MAKE-OR-BREAK IN ALL RELATIONSHIPS

LOVELY! Relaxed, Tired. Nite, nite.

Runaway Slave Trailer

CONSERVATIVE BLACK MEN TELLING THE BLACK COMMUNITY TO RUN FOR THEIR LIVES! Run harder! Run from the government plantation and away from the slavery they're in today. Run towards economic liberty! Stop being tied to the apron strings of the Democratic party which only wants to enslave them more! We all need to see this movie.

More on Wednesday night's premier in D.C. @ PJMedia.

Chillin' in the Warm Desert Sun

IT NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME how as little as three days of sun, songbirds, saguaros, sleep, steep mountain climbs mixed with stillness and prayer can completely restore me. I've been coming to the desert for over a decade, though certainly not every year. Still love it and find it recharges my batteries in the midst of winter grayness back East.

Call it the vitamin D factor. Whatever, it works for me.

This year, beside the retreat center I come to, I'm adding an old, authentic guest ranch for several days starting Sunday down by the Mexican border where I can ride and hike to some new places in the high desert chaparral. It's an area I've visited long ago and I may not be able to get cell or wifi coverage, but we'll see.

I also find when I deeply relax, I am less interested in what's going on in the world and somehow, mercifully take consolation it goes on without me or my two cents worth. Having said that, I will add some links below with very short commentary. Thanks as always for coming by.

BIGGEST YAWN OF THE DAY: Santorum says Satan has his sights on the USA.

No really, this is news? And the lead story for Drudge? All I can say is it much be a dreadfully slow news day! Any Christian who believes in Satan and the fallen state of man, cannot in any way argue with this. But this statement by Santorum has been news since the founding of our great country and probably needs repeating by men and women who have the courage to step up and say it. We live in a fallen world and it ain't getting any better. I personally think Santorum is brave to state the obvious and probably knows it will cause outrage---outrage I tell you!--in the secular, atheist world.

Time to take a nap. Zzzzzz! More at the WSJ.

NOT NEWS, BUT STILL WORTH NOTING--PROGRESSION OF THE ENTITLEMENT GENERATION @ Tim Challies:

Jack Chambless is Professor of Economics at Valencia College. Every year he starts his class off by asking his students to write a 10 minute essay on what the American dream looks like to them, and what they want the federal government to do to help them achieve that dream. He describes this year’s results:

About 10% of the students said they wanted the government to leave them alone, not tax them too much, and let them regulate their own lives. But over 80% of the students said that the American Dream to them meant a house and a job and plenty of money for retirement, and vacations and things like this. But when it came to the part about the federal government 8 out of 10 students said they wanted free health care, they wanted the government to pay for their tuition. They want the government to pay for the down payment on their house. They expect the government “to give them a job.” Many of them said they wanted the government to tax wealthier individuals so that they would have an opportunity to have a better life.

Professor Chambless’ students belong to the “Entitlement Generation,” also known as the “Gimme Generation.” They think they can have and should have whatever they want, whenever they want, and from whomever they want it, while others pay for it.” Or more simply, as one Occupy Protester painted on her placard, “Where’s my bailout?”

ALSO: Welfare State Should Not Be A Middle Class Subsidy

Hey, how bout just getting gas prices down? That's all the subsidy we really need.

I LIKE IT, LIKE IT, LIKE IT: Dr. Alan Meltzers 3 Laws of Regulation @ Carpe Diem.

Remember the private sector is always smarter, faster more flexible than the public sector aardvarks that want to regulate and tax us to death.

FRANKLIN GRAHAM ON THE GOP CANDIDATES:  Mitt Romney would make a good president, but he's not a Christian. THEN Graham says he thinks President Obama gives Muslims a pass.  I agree.

 REPUBLICANS IN TENNESSEE DECIDE AGAINST INTRODUCING A BILL---'Don't say gay.'
How embarrassing and radical can conservatives get?

Christ On the Cross

LET US SET FULLY before our eyes the doctrine of Christ dying in our place – His substituted death, and rest our souls on it. Let us hold on firmly to the mighty truth, that Christ on the cross:

Christ on the cross: Stood in the place of His people

Christ on the cross: Died for His people

Christ on the cross: Suffered for His people

Christ on the cross: Was counted a curse and sin for His people

Christ on the cross: Paid the debts of His People

Christ on the cross: Made restitution for His people

Christ on the cross: Became the guarantee of His people

Christ on the cross: Became the representative of His people

In this way Christ obtained His people’s freedom. Let us understand this clearly, and then we will see what a mighty privilege it is to be made free by Christ. This is freedom which, above all others is worth having.

~ J.C. Ryle

My Blog May Have Been Hijacked

WE'LL SEE

World's Cutest B-ball Fan

SEE HIM EAT POPCORN @ Business Insider

Meanwhile Down By the Border (Where I'm Going Thursday)

I'VE BEEN OFF AND ON HERE OVER THE PAST 5-6 WEEKS as I reset my priorities to what's most important, to help a dear friend recover from a wreck he had January 2.

Today that chapter ended as he's almost back on his own two feet and I'm ready to get going in several different directions.

To wit, I'm jetting out of here tomorrow to Phoenix, then driving to Tucson to take a retreat, regroup, be quiet, hike in some of my favorite mountains in the wonderful late winter weather of Southern Arizona.

Not a minute too soon!

I'm sure glad Big Sis is handling all our border problems down there, so I won't accidently get hold of a dangerous hair dryer or something. Who says Homeland Security isn't doing its job?

I'll add some links here tonight in between packing and getting ready to leave.

Thanks to Drudge for the pic.

Happy V-Day!

The Delusion of Earthly Happiness

     
DON'T TELL ME OF YOUR HAPPINESS if it daily depends on the uncertainties of the earth. Your home may be rich in comforts; your wife and children may be all you could desire; your income may be amply sufficient to meet all your wants. But oh, remember, if you have nothing more than this to look to, that you are standing on the edge of a cliff! Your joy may be deep and earnest, but it is fearfully short-lived. It has no root. It is not true happiness.

--R. C. Ryle

More

Soon-To-Be-Released Movie: 'Monumental'

MARK STEYN--OBAMA GOES HENRY VIII ON CHURCH


AT TIMES LIKE THIS, A MOVIE LIKE THIS IS IMPORTANT for us conservatives who despair of all that's going on in Washington.

Post 2

Save and do later

Real Sisters of Oil Patch USA: ' Boomtown Girls'

DATELINE WILLISTON, ND: 'IT'S OUT OF CONTROL'


TACKY AS ALL REAL HOUSEWIVES/REALITY SHOWS EVERYWHERE, JUST A LITTLE RAWER, ROUGHER. Still it's good to see the reality shtick has come to the boondocks.
H/T Carpe Diem

PJ Media's Breaking, Truly Shocking Video Expose of Minnesota's Non-Existent Voter Registration Requirements

ANDREA PEYSER: SPOILED BEAUTY HAS EVERYTHING BUT CLASS
,

TEBOW AND BRADY REGISTER TO VOTE IN MINNESOTA

ROGER SIMON AND JAMES O'KEEFE SURE KNOW HOW TO RUIN A CONSERVATIVE GIRL'S DAY. I mean, how can democracy survive with foolishness like this going on in Minnesota and so many other places in our country?

 We are going to have to be hyper-vigilant in the upcoming presidential elections literally to keep this election from being stolen from the real voters. Thepleasant enought women in this video aren't evil sounding and looking.  But they are complicit in this voter registration fraud either by ignorance or simply not wanting to rock any boats for fear of losing their jobs.

If this doesn't shake up your day nothing will. Voter fraud is real and comes in many different sizes, shapes and colors often masking as pleasant and helpful.

Richard Russell Predicts the Biggest Market Mover Event in 2012 Will Be An Iran/Israel War

RUSSELL PREDICTS THAT THE DRAMA AND TENSION THAT'S BUILDING NOW IN THE MARKETS and global theatre is only a prelude to all-out war between the two countries. I think he may very well be right. Everything will be affected including the stock and bond markets, the value of the dollar, as well as the price of gold.

This is not a good year to plan a summer vacation in Southern Mediterranean countries or the Middle East. Read more at Business Insider.

What A Game! Calls For A Favorite Psalm

PRAISE THE LORD! HALLELUJAH!
Sing the LORD a new song!
Sing with fresh thanksgiving
Where saints gather as one.

May the thought of his Maker
Joy to Israel bring;
Let the sons of Zion
Take delight in their King.

In exuberant dancing
Let them worship His name;
Tambourine and harp join,
Help them sing His fame.

For the LORD, in His people,
Find great joy and delight;
He adorns the humble,
Saving them by His might.

---Psalm 149:1-4, From The Book of Psalms for Worship

Weekend

IN THE BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINS OF EAST TENNESSEE. Thank you Lord for your magnificent creation and for graciously letting me roam around in it!

The Forgotten Man

JON MCNAUGHTON'S  POLITICALLY-CHARGED PAINTING sadly says it all for conservative voters and many people of  (Judeo/Christian/Catholic) faith as our freedoms of association and conscience as elaborated in the United States Constitution are ignored and rewritten by executive fiat, corporate bailouts and post-modern interpretations and 'en-grandments' of federal laws-gone-monstrously wrong like the Commerce clause.

In the process, the little man---who votes and pays taxes---is forgotten, as if  limited government no longer exists for his and her benefit but rather government's long and growing arm exists for itself and its own aggrandizement.

Read more of the artist and his painting released several years ago here.

Edict of the Pope-A-Dope of the United States

OBAMA VS. CATHOLICS NOW BEING FOUGHT IN THE MILITARY

MESSAGE FROM POPE-A-DOTUS:

HELLO AMERICAN CATHOLICS AND CHRISTIANS EVERYWHERE! You may no longer make decisions based on your conscience or religious beliefs at work or at home. In fact you're no longer allowed to have a conscience. I've arranged for the words conscience, discrimination, accountability, right and wrong to be expunged from all dictionaries everywhere. This will be done during the next Congressional recess and will not be subject to reversal. You are wise to remember, it's either MY WAY or the HIGHWAY. I rule by presidential and administrative fiat and don't you forget it!  I don't care about your silly outrage either. It's time to forget your conscience.

********

FROM HERITAGE'S MEMBER BRIEFING TODAY:

Religious employers should be exempt from having to provide health care coverage for contraception, abortifacients and sterilization out of respect for the religious freedom protected by the First Amendment, Heritage Foundation Vice President David Addington says,

“The Obama Administration should immediately exempt such religious employers from the contraception mandate,” he writes on Heritage’s blog, The Foundry, “The Administration’s trampling upon religious liberty with the contraception mandate illustrates yet again the need to repeal the Obamacare statute.”

Under Obamacare, religiously-based institutions are mandated to provide coverage for these services even if their religious beliefs forbid it.

The First Amendment of the Constitution clearly states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

But the Obama administration has glossed over this fundamental freedom and has imposed an obligation upon those institutions wishing to exercise this right.


I simply cannot believe such a mandate is constitutional. I just can't.

Running Away From Home To the Mountains of East Tennessee

WSJ:  NO NEED TO PANIC ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
POLITICO: WHY OBAMA SHOULD BE WORRIED

IT'S BEEN A VERY MILD WINTER HERE IN TENNESSEE as in much of the country.  So I decided while the weather holds, it's a good time to get a little hike in with some of East Tennessee's regular, veteran hikers. So I've run over to the Eastern time zone in time to fall into bed and get up at the crack of dawn Friday to meet other hikers.

It's beautiful here in every season and I can't wait to get a good uphill climb in. Forecast calls for sun all day, then clouds and rain Friday night.

Letter To My Old Master (Circa 1865)

JOSH BROWN AND THE NEW DENIAL: NO ONE IS EVER WRONG ANYMORE OR APOLOGIZES

A FORMER SLAVE WROTE FROM OHIO TO HIS FORMER MASTER IN TENNESSEE---who had written his servant asking him to come back South and work for him--- replying with (understandably) mixed emotions and mixed hostility.. The black man named Jourdan Anderson started by asking his former master of 52 years for combined back pay for him and his wife before they would consider going back to Tennessee to work as a free man and woman. His letter began:


“I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house.

“Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living."

The former slave said his wife, Mandy, wanted a show of good faith before they would leave Ohio for Tennessee: Back pay for their 52 years of combined service.

“If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future,” he wrote. “We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense.

“Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me."

This stunning letter, which should be read in full, was featured this week at Letters of Note.

H/T New York Daily News

The Latest Gallup Poll Map---Our Country's Going Red

12 WAYS OBAMA COULD LOSE

WHILE THIS MAP is very encouraging, it's nothing to get smug about. If we do take the White House and Senate and hold the House, there are so many jobs to do. And Republicans have historically dropped many elelction balls once they're elected and catch the dreaded Potomac fever.