Sunday, December 28, 2014

Psalm 147, A Song of Praise


Psalm 147

Praise the Lord.[a]
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars
    and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit.
The Lord sustains the humble
    but casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
    make music to our God on the harp.

He covers the sky with clouds;
    he supplies the earth with rain
    and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle
    and for the young ravens when they call.

10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,
    who put their hope in his unfailing love.

12 Extol the Lord, Jerusalem;
    praise your God, Zion.

13 He strengthens the bars of your gates
    and blesses your people within you.
14 He grants peace to your borders
    and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.

15 He sends his command to the earth;
    his word runs swiftly.
16 He spreads the snow like wool
    and scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
    Who can withstand his icy blast?
18 He sends his word and melts them;
    he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.

19 He has revealed his word to Jacob,
    his laws and decrees to Israel.
20 He has done this for no other nation;
    they do not know his laws.[b]

Praise the Lord.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

@ Dump de Blasio---NYPD Cops Turn Their Backs On the Mayor's Eulogy At Executed Cop Ramos's Funeral


TODAY: A WELL DESERVED NON-TRIBUTE TO A THE NY MAYOR COPS DISLIKE INTENSELY AND NO LONGER WANT TO FOLLOW. More here. More again.
 
This has never been a racial  issue.  It's always been a Rule of Law vs anarchy issue.

God bless these brave men and women who put themselves in harms way every day to protect the citizens of our cities, states and nation. They need our continuing prayers and support.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Half-Truth In Movie 'Unbroken'---Why Did Angelina Jolie Leave Out the Pivotal Conversion of Louis Zamperini's Amazing Conversion Story?---Count Me Out of Another Godless Hollywood Half-Life


RELATIVISM AND MAN'S OMNIPOTENCE REIGNS SUPREME WITH JOLIE

BELOW IS A GOOD REVIEW OF THE  CHERRY-PICKED TRUTHS IN ZAMPERINI'S LIFE. 

Angelina  Jolie, a woman clearly at the top of her game, probably didn't tell Lous Zamperini's  real and full story in her movie Unbroken because she doesn't believe it or care to give it any credence.  Jolie wants to give all the credit to Louis and seems to be a woman who knows nothing of faith.

After all, conversion to Jesus Christ ---especially at a Billy Graham crusade for heaven's sake--- isn't politically or spiritually correct these days. So why not leave it out? 

In her world, we're all our own gods who can save and transform ourselves with enough courage and perseverence and no help from above.   No wonder the movie rang only half-true and got such  low ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, however, are more sanguine about the movie, no doubt because of Jolie's star power.

Below, Cal Thomas writes a very worthwhile review:

NEW YORK—I wanted to like the movie because I love the book. Laura Hillenbrand’s bestseller Unbroken is a classic. While I had heard reports that the turning point in the book never made it to film, I attended a pre-release screening with an open mind.

Audiences are told Unbroken is a “true story.”

It is true, as far as it goes, but the story is incomplete.

There have been many World War II stories told in film depicting triumphs of personal courage and survival. The story of Louis Zamperini is one such story, but with an added dimension. Zamperini, who died earlier this year at age 97, came home an angry man. He became addicted to alcohol and cigarettes and verbally abused his young wife as he wrestled with his inner demons.

The skeleton of his story is in the film—the plane crash at sea while on a rescue mission; the 47 days floating on a raft before being picked up by a Japanese ship and thrown into a prison camp; the relentless torture and eventual liberation at the end of the war.

After returning to Los Angeles we see Zamperini hugging his brother and parents, but the story ends there. Director Angelina Jolie attempts to put some flesh on the bones at the end of the film with some still shots and words that tell us that Zamperini’s faith led him to return to Japan on a personal mission of reconciliation.

In media appearances, Jolie has refused to discuss why the most remarkable part of Zamperini’s story was excluded from the film. That would be the night he was converted at the 1949 Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles. As Hillenbrand tells it in her book, Zamperini came home, poured his alcohol down the drain, threw out his cigarettes, was reconciled to his wife, and became a new man because, he said, he had asked Jesus Christ to be his savior.

As stories about faith have made a recent comeback on TV and in movies, attracting high ratings and large ticket sales at the box office, it is puzzling why Jolie, who directed the film, and the Coen brothers, who wrote it, left out the most important part of Zamperini’s story.

Once word gets around that Zamperini’s conversion, which was so faithfully and beautifully chronicled in Hillenbrand’s book, is not in the film, I suspect many who share Zamperini’s faith may not buy tickets.

Apologists for Universal Pictures say people can always read the rest of the story in the book. Yes, they can, but then why should they see a film that highlights only half a life?

Just before he died, Jolie showed Zamperini a rough cut of the film. He professed to like it and said it doesn’t force religion down people’s throats. That’s a cliche, which doesn’t really fit in this instance.

Nothing is “forced” when it is true. The film, Selma, which is scheduled for release on Jan. 9, would be incomplete if it failed to depict Martin Luther King Jr. as a minister whose faith motivated him to be a modern-day Moses.

Fortunately, in addition to Hillenbrand’s book, people can read Zamperini’ story in his own words. His book is titled Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In: Lessons from an Extraordinary Life. The One who preserved his life to the end is more powerful than his Japanese prison camp abuser. In the film Kings Row, Ronald Reagan awakens to learn that a botched operation has resulted in the amputation of his legs. “Where’s the rest of me?” he asks.

Where’s the rest of Zamperini’s story is the question I had after seeing Unbroken. 

Good question, Cal. And thanks for saving me a movie ticket.  But I'll probably buy the book read with true delight.

Meanwhile,  more on Brangelina's hip and confusing parenting style with Shiloh.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

The Navitity of Our Lord

Bone Broth for What Ails You


FOR ME, IT'S A BAD CASE OF FLU JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS. But the weather has been so wretched, it's the perfect time to be sick and rest. Really rest.  Actually,  I've felt so bad today, that I am just now getting online for a quick look.  Am drinking lots of water and chicken stock broth rich with minerals and electroytes.  Not ready to dance a jig right  now,  but am able to sit up and read a bit. Meanwhile, wishing you a Merry Christmas in case I don't get back for a day or two.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Obama's Christmas Gift To David Catron's Daughter: Her Brand New Health Insurance Cancellation

UPDATE: EXPERT SAYS THE INTERVIEW WILL DAMAGE KIM JONG INTERNALLY OVER TIME  


THE PIECE BELOW BY DAVID CATRON AT THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR IS WELL-WORTH A READ. It speaks for itself.  Federal healthcare under Obamacare  is a classic example of  government over-reach in attempting to solve one problem while creating ten others.

Government arrogance always purports to find solutions when in fact more often than not it just needs to stop being the problem. Obamacare reminds me of the 50s horror movie, The Thing.

Can anything stop or destroy this monster? What is it?  Where did it come from?  Will it go on eating kids and young people's future?

Catron's story gives a clue.What he doesn't say or acknowledge is that Obamacare was always designed to make healthy pay more and more in order to subsidize the unhealthy who pay less.

My youngest daughter just joined the ever-increasing number of Americans who have lost their health coverage due to Obamacare. She received a letter from her insurance carrier indicating that the individual policy with which she was eminently satisfied, and that she could more or less afford, would no longer be available after the end of the year. In its place, the insurer offered a plan whose premiums will be nearly double what she has been paying for the cancelled policy. Her monthly premium was $127. The premium for the replacement policy, if she can find no alternative, will be $243. 

 Anyone tempted to attribute this to the greed of insurance company executives would do well to remember that the essential benefits mandated by Obamacare rendered millions of existing health policies illegal and led to mass cancellations in 2013. A second wave of cancellations was expected just prior to the recent midterms. In order to avoid the inevitable voter outrage that would cause, President Obama issued an executive order permitting insurers to keep noncompliant plans in place until after the election. Well, the election is over and the cancellations are once again pouring forth. 

 I wasn’t surprised when one of these missives landed in my daughter’s mailbox. I knew her policy didn’t cover all of the 10 health services that the President and his accomplices deem “essential.” Indeed, the fact that her premiums had been relatively reasonable was due to a conscious decision to buy a policy that lacked “benefits” she was never going to need or use. Nonetheless, as I began to help her explore various coverage options, the true perversity of Obamacare came home in a way that was breathtaking even for a longtime critic of the President's “signature domestic achievement.” 

She can’t get coverage through her employer, a large retail chain at which she began working while in still in school. Obamacare requires companies of that size to offer coverage to all full time workers, but has redefined “full time” to mean 30 or more hours per week. These rules have created perverse incentives for large retailers and the way they manage employee benefits. Walmart, for example, will soon stop providing health insurance to employees working fewer than 30 hours a week. Likewise, my daughter’s employer is studiously holding non-management staff like her to 29 hours or less per week. 

Which brings us to those Obamacare exchanges about which we have had so many good reports. She went to Healthcare.gov and discovered that she would have to pay $388 per month for the kind of coverage she had when she was eligible to be included on my plan. That was obviously out of the question, so she looked at the cheapest plans on offer. The lowest priced catastrophic plan offered in our state has a monthly premium of $206 and comes with a deductible of no less than $6,600. This isn’t quite as awful as the plan offered by her current insurer, but it is still $79 per month more than she has been paying. 

Then, in a fit of irrational exuberance, I suggested that her limited income might qualify her for “premium assistance.” This elicited what P.G. Wodehouse would have referred to as a “hollow, mirthless laugh.” It turns out that she doesn’t make enough money to qualify for tax credits or any other subsidy. Her income fails to reach the minimum threshold for “marketplace savings,” which means that her only “coverage” choice isn’t really coverage. Healthcare.gov puts her remaining option thus: “If your yearly income is below $16,105 and your state is expanding Medicaid, you may qualify for Medicaid coverage.” Most of the previously uninsured applicants getting coverage under Obamacare are being dumped into Medicaid. 

This is a cruel bait and switch. 

The payment rates associated with that program are so low that primary care physicians can’t afford to treat the people it “covers.” Consequently, most of the care these patients receive is delivered in the nation’s overcrowded emergency rooms. Moreover, as I pointed out in this space last January, long-term medical outcomes for Medicaid patients have been shown to be no better than the outcomes enjoyed by people who have no insurance coverage at all. 

 In reality, the “Affordable Care Act” has rendered health coverage unaffordable for my daughter.

Were I her age, I would go without coverage and pay the penalty. She’s young and healthy, so she could probably get away with that until she finds a full time job that offers a decent health plan. But I won’t let her do that. She’ll sign up for the catastrophic plan through Healthcare.gov and pay the full monthly premium of $206. That will cover three primary care visits and pay the costs of a serious illness after eating up $6,600 for the deductible. Under that plan she will no doubt apply for the “Dad subsidy.” 

The one choice she does not have is to keep the coverage that she likes. President Obama and his congressional accomplices, despite their oft-repeated lies, have made sure of that.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Winter Solstice Sunday---Death of the Sun Followed By Its Rebirth Three Days Later Starting On December 25

PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYING FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE SLAIN COPS IN NYC ON THE WORST DAY OF THEIR LIVES TODAY IS THE SUNDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS. It's also the the shortest, darkest day of the year or the winter solstice---here in the northern hemisphere.

I'm sure we all notice how the next three, shortest of days in the year can often contribute to additional stress, intensity, risky behaviors of all kinds, suicides and, more pervasively, a less than sanguine, if not bleak perspective in all areas of our lives. The stress and darkness contribute to Christmas Day and December 26th being the leading days for heart attacks (dubbed the Christmas cardiac) in the entire year.

 The winter solstice is also symbolic for the darkness and depravity in the world before the advent of God's Only Son Jesus Christ arrives as our only true Light, Lord and Savior.

Coming soon again is the Hope of the World at this darkest time in the year to overcome darkness and evil, and finally death. One day He will make all things right, as well as dry all---ALL--tears of His followers. It's the greatest news the world has ever known for anyone who will accept this gift and believe.

This is a time to hang in there and remember the sun and the Son of God are real no matter how dark it might momentarily seem.
Pastor Mike Atkins at River Crossing in Jackson Hole gives a heartening Advent sermon on Seeking First God and First Principles:

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Sony Hack Over Tasteless Film: Cyber Warfare On 1st Amendment Will Beget New Forms of Movie Releases (BitTorrent), Layered Cyber Security, XXX-Rated Parodies and New Love of Free Speech

HUSTLER'S LARRY FLYNT TO MAKE PARODY, SAYING NORKOR AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN YET

ROGER SIMON UPDATE: IT'S OFFICIAL--THE JEWS NO LONGER CONTROL HOLLYWOOD

WITHOUT  DOUBT, THE SONY HACK IS THE BUSINESS/ POLITICAL STORY OF THE YEAR. 

It's useless to waste much time on  handwringing over new diplomatic ties with the pathetic country of Cuba by our truly feckless boy president,  mass shootings, ISIS beheadings and the aging Hillary Clinton's exhausted run for president. This hack attack of Sony by the 'GOP' is the story with the broadest and longest term implications and repercussions for each and everyone of us, in every walk of our lives.

It's an international sensation which will change the course of society, communications, banking and doing business forever.

A good overview that's well-worth a read of how these rogue hackers got  into the lax Sony system from the inside is at Business Insider.

Will Sony ever release its 3rd-rate, ill-conceived film, The Interview? Of course it will, in time. That's where and when a new and dazzling business BitTorrent enters the picture. We can all count on the fact that many more people will end up seeing the movie then, than would every have seen it to begin with. I certainly will. Below watch Sony's CEO Michael Lynton:

Meanwhile, you can also count on this hack attack making some of Hollywood entitled super-liberals into neo-conservatives---sooner rather than later. Oh yes it will. Right Mr. Clooney et al?

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

A Little Light Non-Christmas Music....So Let's Hear It For Cole Porter


I'M GETTING A LITTLE TIRED OF CRYING IN THE CAR EVERY TIME I HEAR I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS on the radio, which reminds me of the night before my dear Daddy died on Christmas Day some years back. I get eye-liner and lipgloss all over the steering wheel and my best outfit. Then I'm a mess by the time I get to the luncheon or wherever I'm going.

So, here without further ado is a little light music dedicated without additional comment. Take it away, Cole Porter...

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Mr. Turner, Mr. Turner, Mr. Turner!


CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THIS FILM.

I remember landing in London for the first time as a younger woman, jet-lagged and truly ready to drop. Yet all I could think about, dream of, was getting to the Tate Museum as soon as possible to see the Turner Collection. Had looked, spellbound, at his paintings in books for years and fallen in love with his work long since in some kind of mystical way. Now all  that the stood in the way of my seeing his masterpieces in person was a good night's sleep.

My fondness for the irascible, brilliant Mr. Turner has only grown with the years.

 Incidentally, after immersing myself for a day at the Tate, my next favorite stop outside London was Kew Gardens. It was an unusually warm early February day (and winter) with pansies growing everywhere and some of the exhibits I saw there---like the botanist Marianne North----were also life-changing....

 But back to Mr. Turner.....

 

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Advent Calendar

GROWING MOVEMENT: MORE GAY CHRISTIANS CHOOSING CELIBACY

 IS ANYTHING MORE FUN THAN A GREAT ADVENT CALENDAR? Especially an interactive one that has  colorful little bookettes which a child, or child at heart, can open and read each day of Advent.

Oh the wonder of it all !Today's bookette is entitled "The Faithful Servant."

 Suddenly a voice boomed out, 'What traitor dares to insult the great King Herod?' shouted a well-dressed man who was Herod's high priest....A silence fell over the frightened crowd....'There can be but one king in Jerusalem,' thundered Herod's faithful servant....Then the wise men told him about the new star that had appeared---a sign that a great king would be born soon.... 

Will be away from the computer for the remainder of this weekend. Thanks for coming by.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

19 Secrets of UPS Drivers

SINCE UPS DRIVERS ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CHRISTMAS MAYHEM, it's good to know how the company and its drivers survive and thrive at warp speed.

Here's a list of top DOs and DON'Ts.  Some of them---like right-hand turn routes only----are great advice for all of us regular drivers.  Indeed,  I do try to schedule all my in-town road swings with right-hand turns only.


The full list of UPS secrets is here.  SOURCE: Challies
 

 BTW,  my UPS driver, Mark, is one of the great guys of the world. He's always on the top of my gift list.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Two Things A Mother Fears

UPDATE:  LEAKED SONY EMAILS CALL JOLIE MINIMALLY TALENTED SPOILED BRAT

FIRST, HAVING A SON DATING THE LIKES OF MILEY CYRUS. Just ask Maria Shriver.


SECOND,  having a son marry a role model like Angelina Jolie who says her kids all want tattoos like hers which number about 17.   No doubt they will also want to start smoking soon too, if they haven't already.  I know the culture has mercifully and long-since left me behind; however,  I think Jolie is a trashy-looking woman.  What about all this body art is beautiful?  Nothing in my book.

Having children fall under the spell of bad influences / dark 'role models' like these can only be addressed by getting down on our knees and praying without ceasing for prevention as well as deliverance. But by the Grace of God go any of us.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Sunday---Saying No When Someone Asks You to Pray For Them

LON SOLOMON FIRST OF THREE SERMONS ON ADVENT: MAKE ROOM FOR THE LORD ED MORRISSEY ON MARK 1:1-8: PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD

THIS PAST WEEK HAS BEEN CRAZY BUSY.  When I did make time to do a little browsing,  I found this piece by Tim Challies to be one of the most interesting and thought-provoking I've read in a long while.  Saying No, I won't pray for you is something I've never said though it's crossed my mind.  Most importantly,  it's a matter of priorities as to how much I can devote to praying for others, especially strangers. 

I do try to be diligent and pray for someone I know or love in need, especially when they or someone close to them asks.  Sometimes God puts someone or a situation on my heart which I pray for even without being asked.  Still I'm not sure I have ever been in the position of being asked to pray for someone and then saying No.  

Anyway,  hope you're challenged by Tim's piece as I am.  I'll be back as I can later tonight and this week.

**********

Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk broadcasts Christopher Yuan's talk on his incredible journey to God from the homosexual drug scene and lostness he was living in. This is one of the most amazing stories of transformation I've ever heard or read about.  Sobering.  Humbling.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke (A Black Professional) Unloads On Race Baiting/Politically Expedient Vultures Who Descended On Ferguson

FORMER NBA HALL OF FAMER CHARLES BARKLEY DEFENDS POLICE: Ghettos would be like the wild west without them.
SHERIFF CLARKE: KNOWN FOR HIS OUTSPOKENNESS SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER WITH GUTS.

And calls out Missouri Dem Governor Jay Nixon, US Sen. Claire McCaskill (Dem MO) and US Attorney General Eric Holder for being politically motivated for self-serving purposes in their reactions to Ferguson.

 HT: Vanderleun

From Wikipedia: As Sheriff, Clarke has been known for his outspokenness. Clarke frequently appears at public events on horseback wearing a cowboy hat. Among his controversial remarks were his assertions that Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele had “penis envy” and must have been on heroin when crafting the county budget.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

True Thanks @ River Crossing

 

THIS IS A WONDERFUL SERMON ON TRUE THANKSGIVING THAT FLOWS AND FLOWS NATURALLY OUT OF OUR HEARTS. But how do we get this amazing authentic gratitude?

 2 Corinthians 4:5-18

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Being Six And Four-and-A-Half

STUART SCHNEIDERMAN ON THE MANY BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE SO MUCH TO BE GRATEFUL FOR, so little time to count our many blessings. Wishing you a blessed, healthy and peaceful Thanksgiving. Thank you for coming by...  

STILL CUTE BUT VERY ROWDY......TILL THEY COMPLETELY WEAR THEMSELVES OUT. 

Reporting briefly, gratefully from Houston, Texas this Thanksgiving......Wishing you the best of this special day of gratitude.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Officer Darren Wilson Not Charged---The Rule of Law Prevails For the Moment


More ABC US news | ABC World News

 Prosecutor Bob McCullough is a class act and voice of reason in the wilderness of high emotional theater. President Obama is a voice of inappropriately inserting himself in something that normally should be none of a US president's business. The media, including Fox News is a voice of making a ridiculous, over-reacting spectacle of itself.

Still, the Rule of Law lives for now in spite of massive political pressure, a black president, black AG, social unrest and much evidence that this the only right decision.

None of it is to diminish the pain and suffering of the Brown family for the loss of their son, or the sufferings of the victims of sexual impropriety at the hands of Bill Cosby.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

John Piper Talks on What It Means to Be Gospel-Centered

IN OTHER WORDS, SERVING THE KING AND HAVING A SERVANT ATTITUDE WITH OTHERS. It's much easier said than done and only possible with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Friday, November 21, 2014

A Few Words About the Myriad Rape Claims On Bill Cosby's Casting Couch

RELATED

THERE IS FAR TOO MUCH SMOKE FOR THERE NOT TO BE SOME FIERY TRUTH TO ALL THESE TERRIBLE SEXUAL ALLEGATIONS.....FAR TOO MUCH.

In fact, Cosby's pants have got to be on fire for decades now.

So yes, I believe Bill Cosby---like Bob Hope---is/was a major sexual predator---whether it's ever proven---or whether he continues to get by without making a statement addressing these claims. Whether his enabling wife continues to stand by her man and enjoy the good life he's providing.

As far as I'm concerned, he's toast as a role model and American icon of bootstraps success. I find the entire subject sickening and very sad, to be honest, and can't even stand to look, or post, a photo or video of him here at Webutante.

 But there's a little more I want to say about this too: Wherever there's a predator, there's always a person---usually a woman---who wittingly or unwittingly is willing to be a target to be preyed on.  That part of the story is rarely addressed in our post-personal responsible, politically/culturally correct world.  A man may sense her  ambitious vanity, pride, desire to be rich and famous or her poverty and loneliness and act on it.   It's wrong and despicable,  but it still happens all the time.

I mean what smart woman in any private or public setting who's in her right mind would let a man hand her a little white pill or two with a glass or water or wine and take it--- and bottoms up it---without questioning what it was and why it was being offered?

What woman or even teenager would go to a man's hotel room or home unaccompanied, or let him come to hers without at least thinking there might, just might, be an ulterior sexual motive?   Especially if she's in seductive mode herself...with a low cut outfit on with full cleavage exposed?

I mean where do all these women get off without taking any responsibility, ANY, for putting themselves in harms way of a man whose basic instincts are always going to run to his lower limbic brain in times of such titillation and expectation?   Do we really think political correctness will overcome the basic laws of nature?  If so, we've lost our collective mind.

I mean, when I look at photos of  so called 'supermodel' Janice Dickinson,  in the past as well as today,  I see a sexual opportunist who shamelessly flaunts her body.   A predator like Cosby sees her as a target of prey and says to himself---Bulls Eye! Afterwards she wants sympathy for her encounter with him years ago without taking even a tad of personal responsibility?

If women completely get off the hook for their part in such unbecoming liaisons, then we infantilize them and society is really done for.

Bill Cosby is a powerful, influential and wealthy depraved man and I'm sure many women  have vied for his attentions and favors in various ways over the decades.  When Bill senses their  invitations and provocations,  they cannot cry that they had no part whatsoever in the sexual violence and power domination that ensues

Every sexual victimizer like Cosby needs a victim to perpetrate his depraved folly.  Bill Cosby has evidently had more than his share of women willing to swallow those little white pills near a casting couch or opulent boudoir. Both Cosby and his ladies were in the wrong big time.... It happens all the time in Hollywood, Washington and everywhere in between.....and the rest is cloudy, drug/booze-fueled history.

This Cosby fellow is done for, ancient history.  But there are thousands more from where he comes from.

And that's all I shall have to say about that----ever.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Truly Funny---Men At Malls---But Are They Really 'Miserable'?



NO WAY! THESE GUYS ARE HAPPY DOIN THEIR THING...

DON'T USUALLY LINK TO ANY OF THE MASS-PRODUCED STUFF ON AOL BUT TODAY I MAKE AN EXCEPTION. I actually think this little slide show is falling-down-funny....and I'm sure many shoppers will see lots more of this over the next few weeks.... The only thing I take issue with is that these guys are actually miserable. I'd say they are happy to have a break and enjoy a siesta wherever they can..... especially after loading up on all that sugar and starch at the food courts. Take a look at the slide show, and see for yourself the entrepreneur spirit of how men take a breaks at malls, no matter how challenging....the best sleep aid seems to be a public place with a small soft seat...... or not..
 And here's a guy napping in our own backyard with all engines revving..... he didn't even try to wait to get to the mall to nap.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Sunday, A Reading From Hebrews

RT KENDALL EXPOUNDS ---I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED TO SEE ARAFAT IN HEAVEN WITH VIDEO.... 
ESSENTIAL PHRASES FOR TALKING TO YOUTH ABOUT CHRISTIANITY
HEBREWS 12 New International Version (NIV) 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a] 

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. 

Warning and Encouragement 

14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
Is there anything more beautiful to read, pray and meditate on than this passage?  We are reading in Hebrews this week at OneYearBible blog which I link to at the top of my link list.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Stay Vigilent America: Ditch the Rule---Say No To the EPA's Omnipotent Land Use Power Grab



 SEEMS UTTERLY RIDICULOUS THAT A LITTLE PROPOSED WATER RULE COULD PUT EVERY AMERICANS' PROPERTY RIGHTS AT JEOPARDY....RIGHT?

 Wrong.

Ron Arnold writing at The Daily Signal explains why we all need to be vigilant of EPA's expansion and over-reach of the Clean Water Act:

 It seems incredible, but a single missing word could turn a water law into a government land grab so horrendous even a U.S. Supreme Court justice warned it would “put the property rights of every American entirely at the mercy of Environmental Protection Agency employees.” The missing word is “navigable.” The Obama administration is proposing a rule titled “Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ Under the Clean Water Act,” which would strike “navigable” from American water law and redefine any piece of land that is wet at least part of the year, no matter how remote or isolated it may be from truly navigable waters, as “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS. The proposed rule would provide EPA and the Corps of Engineers (as well as litigious environmental groups) with the power to dictate the land-use decisions of homeowners, small businesses and local communities throughout the United States. There would be virtually no limit to the federal government’s authority over private property.  

 Like so many of federal laws, the government counts on its citizenry to be asleep at the switch not knowing until after the fact what's in the bill as well as its draconian implications. Wake up, America.  Say No to the Rule and omission of the word navigable. 

Do we really want  Obamawaaa?

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Feisty Kid Elephant Fends Off Attack By Pack of Lions

YOU GOT TO SEE THIS! SOURCE

Thank You, Fellows, And Thank You Again...



...... AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN....Such courage and bravery in an increasingly ungrateful, entitled world. Your work and sacrifices are never easy.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Sunday, After Church.....

GIRLY-G AND G-BOY PICKING UP GINKGO LEAVES OUTSIDE SAINT GEORGES---OR WHAT DEFINES A CHILD IS FASCINATION AND DELIGHT IN SMALLEST THINGS...

 BUSY, FULL WEEK/WEEKEND with children, grandchildren, lots of cooking, a family business meeting in the forest and lots more.

Truly my cup runneth over, by the Grace of a merciful and generous God.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Sniper-Bound----Former Navy SEAL Robert O'Neill Comes Forward As Soldier Who Killed Bin Laden

10 HAPPIEST/UNHAPPIEST CITIES IN US
MORE @ BUSINESS INSIDER

SOUNDS LIKE A SCOTS-IRISH FIGHTER TO ME

SEVENTEEN YEAR VETERAN, AND MONTANA NATIVE,  NAVY SEAL TALKS.  Don't miss this terrific video which I'm not able to embed.

I know this  man's coming forward is controversial, especially with other SEALs.  However,  in this era of total transparency,  it was bound to happen, and I for one have no problem with it at this point.

I do not deny the Navy's strong  argument that it took a lot of men other than the man who pulled the trigger.   Still,  he did pull the trigger and has life lessons to share that we shouldn't ignore. The rivalry will continue.

There's a good story in today's NYPost on why O'Neill is revealing his identity at this point:

The Navy SEAL who shot Osama Bin Laden dead decided to go public after comforting the families of WTC terror victims at the 9/11 Museum in lower Manhattan, a new ­report says.
 
Robert O’Neill spoke to the families while visiting the museum in September to donate the shirt he wore during the nighttime raid on the terror leader’s lair in Pakistan in May 2011. 

“The families told me it helped bring them some closure,” O’Neill told The Washington Post.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), who set up the talk with 9/11 victims, said the meeting was dramatic.
“We came in and had the quiet ceremony and it meant a lot,” Maloney told Business Insider. “People were in tears and the room was not that big.”

When asked about the ­heroic raid on bin Laden’s compound, O’Neill said, “I didn’t think I would survive.”


Apparently O'Neill is now a motivational speaker (soon-to-be-author?) on leadership and preparedness.  I for one would love to hear him speak in person.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Worth Noting---Jon Stewart, Comedian Who Makes A Huge Living Bashing the 1% and Conservatives to Gullible Liberals, Stealthly Sells His Tribeca Duplex For $17.5 Million

DEMOCRAT REP STEVE ISRAEL QUITS, REFUSES PELOSI'S OFFER
HYPOCRISY ON THE ORDER OF AL GORE'S TINY CARBON FOOTPRINT  

JUST SAYING. Also, worth nothing---Stewart hid his ownership in his primary residence on Hudson Street from both fans' and detractors' prying eyes in an LLC:  

"The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart may mock the 1 percent, but he is one of them — and now he’s even richer, thanks to a Tribeca real-estate sale. The political funny­man and social critic just sold his sprawling downtown duplex penthouse at 161 Hudson St., on the eighth and ninth floors, in what appears to be an off-market deal for $17.5 million. The nine-story, prewar boutique building has just 24 units. It was converted to condos in 2004. Actor Jeremy Piven also owns a chi-chi unit in the building. Like other members of America’s super-rich, Stewart hid his ownership of the penthouse behind an LLC, according to public records. He bought the 6,000-square-foot apartment for $4.5 million in 2005.

Please note, I have nothing against anyone buying and selling high-priced real estate. Or making huge  lawful profits from investments. What I do object to is Jon Stewart's hypocritical narrative and silly false politics of envy meme and acting like he's just a working man floundering somewhere deep in the 99%.  Hogwash.

POT.  BLACK.  KETTLE.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Adorable---The Softer Side of Construction: Abe's Garden Workers Do Yoga/Stretches On the Roof Outside My Window At 6:30 AM


DOES IT GET ANY CUTER THAN THIS? I ASK YOU. I tell you, Manny and Mikey think of everything! Or is this Jeff's doing?  What's next,  ballet?  Or  perhaps a symphony performance  under strobe lights in the  middle of the night---Concerto Con Concrete---for the fellows?


An Historic Opportunity Like No Other With Not Even A Second to Lose---We Must Hold New GOP Congress' Feet to the Fire

STOCK MARKET FUTURES WEIGH IN

AS PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL SOON LASH OUT WITH HIS DEFIANT AGENDA
    
DON'T CARE WHAT YOU CALL LAST NIGHT'S ASTOUNDING GOP VICTORY---A WAVE? PARTICLE? LANDSLIDE? ROUT? SWEEP?---it presents an historic opportunity to change the country's hopeless direction and frightening agenda with its tired PC narratives  that were quickly taking us over a cliff.

Celebrations need to be quickly tempered and replaced by action and hard work based on sound  conservative principles. We all need to work overtime, in overdrive.  It's a huge responsibility that's been put on the newly elected. We also need to immediately start recruiting fresh, right candidates for 2016.

I couldn't agree more with Roger Simon writing last night at PJMedia  Hooray for the Wave, Now  Forget It. But I would add, emphatically it will take ALL of us voters participation in righting these wrongs, rather than us walking  away and leaving  Congress to do its thing on Capitol Hill.

Haven't we suffered enough by doing it the other way and giving politicians the benign neglect treatment?

Here are two encouraging signs we should all rejoice in: Rising  GOP star Elise Stefanik goes to the House and  black candidate Tim Scott is  duly elected in South Carolina to go back to the Senate after being appointed to take Jim DeMint's seat by Gov. Nikki Haley in 2013.   So much for the ridiculous war on women and war on blacks false narratives that tired, old Hillary (useless in Arkansas?) continues to exhaust us with.

Everything I voted for in Tennessee, including curtailing Tennessee's being a destination resort for out-of-state abortion seekers and wine in grocery stores, won.  I give thanks that I live in a Red State--though not a red city---and do not take it for granted for one minute.

Meanwhile, back in the country outside Nashville,  my lil  kitten, Snickers,  celebrated quietly with her favorite ball of aqua yarn.


Monday, November 3, 2014

Pssst....Wanna See Something Cute? Nina Reunites With Bentley

OBAMA'S TOP 10 BLUNDERS @ THE HILL

 HAPPY NEWS IN A WORLD awash with everything else. Full story.

Brilliant! How to Open A Bottle of Wine Without A Corkscrew

TRULY AMAZINGLY SIMPLE. And the last thing you need to know on a Monday morning. That's why I'm posting it. Bottle of wine, one shoe, a wall and Voila!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Sunday---John Piper Writes the Christian Response to Brittany Maynard On God and Death By Physician Assisted Suicide, Saying We Are Not Our Own

MONDAY UPDATE: BRITTANY SAYS GOODBYE AND TAKES HER OWN LIFE IN OREGON

I HAVE TWO GOOD FRIENDS, BOTH MY DEVOUT SISTERS IN CHRIST, WHO ARE BATTLING METASTASIZED CANCER RIGHT NOW.  I saw one friend this afternoon, and spoke with the other in Illinois on the phone today.

Both these ladies are courageous and bravely bearing  the suffering God has put on them.  Each is carrying on with lightness, laughter and a hope that's real. The best part is my friends have an eternal perspective in the midst of their trials that gives meaning and depth to their suffering and a fresh poignancy to each new day.  The longer they live, the greater their appreciation for the smallest things in life.

One friend reiterated this afternoon Paul's famous phrase from Phillipians 1:21---For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 

 Which brings me to John Piper and his eloquent response to Brittany Maynard and anyone who is suffering and planning physician-assisted suicide to end their ordeal on their own timing. It's a wonderful read that covers terminal illness, suffering and death from a godly perspective of letting God be in charge and submitting to His timing in all things.

I'm sure many Christians as well as others are very happy Brittany has relented and postponed her November 1 departure. Am also sure, many of us pray that she will live her life until God has fulfilled His purpose for her.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Halloween Delights

BRRRRR---IT'S COLD HERE! WHICH TV HOST WINS THE HALLOWEEN AMAL CLOONEY LOOKALIKE CONTEST?
I ASK YOU, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE YOUR WITCH STRAIGHT UP OR ON THE ROCKS WITH A TWIST OF HUMOR?

I rest my case.


Yes,  rumor has it,  I  have a bewitchy little sister Maybe I do and maybe I don't.

But I was Daddy's favorite.....

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Entire City of Nashville Is Called 'Endangered'---From Developments Far and Wide Here, Including Those Such Abe's Garden In My Neighborhood


THE ENTIRE CITY OF NASHVILLE tops a new list of endangered historic places announced today by the Tennessee Preservation Trust.

By being named to the "Ten from Tenn" list, the sites across the state will get more attention this year, and perhaps new protections, as preservationists deal with the kinds of tensions familiar in Nashville.

"Growth brings a lot of opportunities around every corner," said Tim Walker, head of the Metro Historic Zoning Commission. "Preservation and development can go hand-in-hand, but we need to make some tough decisions. And do we want to allow everything to be demolished? Its sense of place? If you lose that unique architecture to our city, you don't know where you are, and you're kind of faceless."

An iconic landmark of the civil rights movement, historic schools, mansions and mills, and a well-known hotel and railroad station, are also on this year's list.

Nominated by preservationists across the state, the chosen list identifies properties that the trust will try to protect in the coming year, including by pursuing grants or protective ordinances.
"When the economy turned around, and dollars started to flow, that can be a boon to historic resources, and other times that can be a threat," said David Currey, trust executive director.
Currey said a string of high-profile disputes over historic Nashville sites — Studio A, Printer's Alley and the Cordell Hull building among them — prompted the trust to make its declaration.
He said the city has an inconsistent "preservation ethic," leaving a spotty track record. The trust also cited deterioration, development, the push for a denser urban core and too few protective measures as threats.

Related: Nashville Nine endangered list announced

City officials countered that Nashville has twice as many protected properties as other large cities in Tennessee, and a capable historical commission.

"As Nashville faces pressures that come with the unprecedented population and job growth it is experiencing today, we will continue to improve public land use policies to provide a balance between historic preservation, sustainable development, walkable communities, transportation needs, economic growth and affordable living," said Doug Sloan, deputy planning commission director.
Last year, the trust brought national attention to some of its endangered sites, including the Cordell Hull state building and the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg. The 1878 Moye-Green home in Portland, Tenn., benefited from a state grant
.
In 2012, more than half of the listed properties got rehabilitation grants totaling about $5 million.
Reach Tony Gonzalez at 615-259-8089 and on Twitter @tgonzalez.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

At the Ballot Box Today--- Still Consider Voting An Enormous Privilege, Responsibility and Thrill, Now More Than Ever

WITH ALL OUR COUNTRY'S DEEP PROBLEMS AND POLITICAL POLARIZATION,  VOTING IS OUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE AND MOST IMPORTANT RECOURSE.

Let's hope this country can survive the final two years of Mr. Obama's feckless ruling-by-executive fiat by electing a Republican majority in both Houses. 

Wednesday Morning, From My Bedroom Window....Zero Privacy, Maximum, Constant Noise From Abe's Garden After Destroying Our Beautiful Boundary Trees And Continuing To Trespass on Our Land

THESE GUYS ARE NOW AT EYE-EAR-NOSE-LUNG LEVEL TO US NOW,  less than 40' away and working away on some of our disputed property.  The constant noise is deafening. We have no quiet enjoyment or quality-of-life at this point.


This is what  happens when far too much development is allowed on a half-postage stamp of land in a dense residential neighborhood, with no  real accountability from Metro, the Metro Planning Commission or Metro Council. Abe's Garden is like the over-zealous step-sisters in Cinderella who try, try, try to fit their big feet into Cinderella's dainty Glass Slipper.

Our day in court is coming however.

Not Good----Dr. Craig Spencer, NYC's First Ebola Patient, Initially Lied to Authorities About His Travels Around the City After Returning From W. Africa

FIRST BOOK EVER ORDERED ON AMAZON BY CUSTOMER

BUT HE GOT CAUGHT AS HIS NOSE STARTED GROWING LONGER AND LONGER.....

THIS IS WHY VOLUNTARY SELF-QUARANTINE DOESN'T WORK. No one who's been exposed to Ebola patients should be allowed to ride public transportation after returning to the US for a specified length of time.

Dr. Spencer initially lied about staying home until the police cornered him with his fabrications by checking his METRO and credit cards:  

The city’s first Ebola patient initially lied to authorities about his travels around the city following his return from treating disease victims in Africa, law-enforcement sources said. Dr. Craig Spencer at first told officials that he isolated himself in his Harlem apartment — and didn’t admit he rode the subways, dined out and went bowling until cops looked at his MetroCard the sources said. “He told the authorities that he self-quarantined. 

Detectives then reviewed his credit-card statement and MetroCard and found that he went over here, over there, up and down and all around,” a source said. Spencer finally ’fessed up when a cop “got on the phone and had to relay questions to him through the Health Department,” a source said. Officials then retraced Spencer’s steps, which included dining at The Meatball Shop in Greenwich Village and bowling at The Gutter in Brooklyn.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Another Billion Bites the Dust----Unmanned Rocket With 5,000 Pounds of Cargo Explodes On Liftoff

FORTUNATELY,  NO FATALITIES.  Going to the spacestation (ISS).


Story.

Metro Nashville--Recent History Of Massive Flooding And Abe's Garden With Its SP Zoning And Subsequent Massive Environmental Degradation

BELOW---THE WAY WE WERE IN 2013---OLD-GROWTH BOUNDARY TREES FOR QUALITY-OF-LIFE, PRIVACY, FLOOD CONTROL, AIR AND NOISE POLLUTION BUFFERS, AND  PROPERTY VALUES
 

(ABOVE)EVEN WITH BEAUTIFUL BOUNDARY TREES 75-100' TALL AND  50-75 YEARS OLD, ON MAY 1, 2010  OUR  RICHLAND CREEK WATERSHED---AND ALL OF NASHVILLE---suffered the worst flood in our city's history.

Below is a photo which I personally took on that fateful Sunday of massive flooding just down from our condos on Harding Road and the new environmental development next to us called Abe's Garden.

At the time of this huge 500-year flood, Abe's Garden had already obtained an SP Zoning from the Metro Planning Commission in 2008 but had yet to act on it.  Interesting thing about a Metro Nashville SP zoning is that once it's granted, there is no accountability----ever---no matter how many changes a developer makes, no matter how long it takes to build. An SP zoning is like giving a developer a free pass FOREVER to a fox in a henhouse.



 Fast forward several years to the spring of 2014 when Abe's Garden with its long ago-granted SP zoning comes blazing into our neighborhood with a free pass to do whatever it wants and put far, far too much development on a half-postage stamp of land (most of which is riparian or flood plain/ underdevelopable land. They are like Cinderella's step sisters trying to fit their big feet into the glass slipper. From the start, we have had a boundary dispute with Abe's Garden which is going to court in early January, 2015. We think we have a good chance of prevailing. Still we decided not to try to stop Abe's Garden from going on with its humongous development. They came in and cut down our boundary trees and then excavated our disputed property, not paying even a modicum of attention to our lawsuit.

But getting back to our flood control issues,  overnight, our beautiful boundary trees were mowed down into mulch---all in the name of creating a garden for Alzheimers treatment.  After all, they had the blessing of some big donors including Martha Ingram, various city officials---including former mayor and influence peddler Bill Purcel who wants to put his ailing mother in the development when it's finished.  So with all these people behind them, what possible difference does it make to take our property and mow down all the beautiful trees?

Below,  Abe's Garden plays god in West Nashville with its SP zoning and says it knows what's best for the neighborhood in spite of the protests. It says it's followed everything to the letter of the law and is happy to plant its neighbors a few ornamental trees---at great expense to them.

Gee, thanks to architect Maneul Zeitlin and owner Mike Shmerling.  Can't wait to see what happens next.... Meanwhile, our trial begins in early January, 2015. We believe we have a good chance of prevailing, only time will tell.

Below, Abe's Garden decides to mulch the neighborhood greenway and flood runoff protection to make room for its idea of a 'garden'.




Meanwhile, our quality of life, privacy, wind, water, noise breaks, our soil quality and our property values have been shattered and for now there's nothing we can do. As far as flood control: since Abe's Garden mowed down the neighborhood's best flood control and soil stabilizer when it destroyed our big trees, we can only hope we don't have another gargantuan flood anytime soon. Somehow, I don't think Abe's tinkering with flooding and water runoff mitigation will make any of us in West Nashville feel secure with its superficial fixes that they can tell their big donors about.

Below, Abe's flood mitigation down by the creek in the riparian zone...flood control?  Cut down all established trees then put in a large concrete culverts and some plastic signs saying Do Not Disturb! That should do it.

 

This storm sewer with the pond Abe's promises to build will only make flooding faster and more furious into the Richland Creek watershed  a few feet below the drain. The flooding  and run off will only be worse, and much faster.

Truth is, we will ultimately solve our boundary dispute in the next few months and plant large trees to begin to repair the horrific damage to our neighborhood. But in truth, the larger city of Nashville and its quality of life is the biggest loser when developers like Abe's Garden and Mike Shmerling have its way with us.

Below, instead of trees, we now have a sign which is supposed to make us feel better.  What a joke.
Do not disturb?!  There's nothing left to disturb after Abe's has destroyed the natural environment we have enjoyed here for 30-50 years.

This is what happens when there's no accountability for developers when an SP zoning permit is granted by the Metro Planning Commission and kept in place by the likes of influence peddlers like Bill Purcel.

 

God willing, I and my neighbors will recover from this horrific environmental disaster that has been inflicted on our neighborhood by Abe's Garden. But Nashville may not with developers like Abe's having its way with lax SP zoning permits and zero accountability after they're permitted. Shame on the light-weight city of Nashville and Metro Planning Commission.

But take heart,  at least one other environmental disaster  and waste of taxpayers' monies has been averted for now in Nashville.... Praise God! And thank you Lee Beaman...who is the de facto leading conservative in this city.  When Lee is against something,  it's not likely to succeed, and Lee was majorly again the AMP boondoggle.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Sunday, Lord I Need You With Matt Maher

ED MORRISSEY @ HOT AIR ON MATTHEW 22:34-40  

ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SONGS ON OUR NEED FOR GOD AND HIS GRACE EVER WRITTEN

WE ALL NEED JESUS CHRIST IN OUR LIVES. ALL. Blessed is the man or woman who knows this. We're all sinners in need of a Savior. All of us are sinners. All. Blessed is the one who knows this and lives with Jesus Christ as the Center of his or her life.  Salvation is a free gift and the only place any of us can ever be truly free or can find any deep rest. This is the essence of the Good News, the Gospel.  It is all. It is everything.

Amen and amen.

Romans 3:9-20:

Romans 3:9-20English Standard Version (ESV)

No One Is Righteous

What then? Are we Jews[a] any better off?[b] No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being[c] will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.