Thursday, June 30, 2016

Michael Gove: Choice For New Conservative British Prime Minister?

THERESA MAY THROWS HER HAT INTO THE RING....BUT SHE WAS FOR REMAIN...

 SAYING GOODBYE TO, REMEMBERING PAT SUMMITT, THE GREAT UT WOMAN'S BASKETBALL COACH, ROLE MODEL

 HIGHLIGHTS----WE NEED TO TAKE GREAT BRITAIN OUT OF THE EU AND INTO THE WORLD. Establish parliamentary control over our borders, our taxes and laws while building a much more dynamic economy and a fairer society for those who feel left behind. It's time to heal and unite.

Yes indeed, this certainly seems to be the right man for that job. Michael Gove

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Apres Le Referendum: Nigel Farage Stands Up to the Boos and Tells It Like It Is In Brussels

WHAT BACKBONE AND STANDING ONE'S GROUND.  But Farage does get in a few jabs.  Says he wants a grown-up, realistic and sensible attitude towards Britain's break-up which should happen quickly. Good luck.

Still, how utterly refreshing. And British.

HT: American Digest

THE LISBON TREATY

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Psalm 141, One of My Favorites

A psalm of David.

I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;
    hear me when I call to you.
May my prayer be set before you like incense;
    may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;
    keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil
    so that I take part in wicked deeds
along with those who are evildoers;
    do not let me eat their delicacies.
Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
    let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it,
    for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.
Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
    and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,
    so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”
But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord;
    in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.
Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers,
    from the snares they have laid for me.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
    while I pass by in safety.


COMMENTARY BY TIM KELLER, WITH WIFE KATHY KELLER, IN THE SONGS OF JESUS


David again calls for help, but this time it is for protection from his heart's susceptibility to evil (verse 4).  He asks that good people hold him accountable, 'rebuke' him (verse 5).  This would be a kindness (verse 5). Inviting and listening to criticism is an irreplaceable component of wisdom.  He also asks that God 'set a guard over his mouth'  (verse 3).  Careless words not only harm others, but also fortify the worst parts of our own nature ( James 3:1-12). Our words should be honest,  few, wise, apt and kind.  'Speaking the truth in love'  (Ephesians 4:15) knits this all together---right friends and friends who are willing to confront us.

PRAYER:  Lord, I ask for two things:  Make me a friend who can speak the truth in love.  And give me friends who are willing to do this for me---to exhort me lovingly but candidly, lest I be hardened by the deceitfulness of my own heart  (Hebrews 3:13)  Amen.

Page 352

Friday, June 24, 2016

Jerusalem! God Save the Queen and Western Civilization

ROGER SIMON: HUGE IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. POLITICS
IT'S ONLY THE BEGINNING FOR THE GREAT EUROPEAN REVOLT
 TRUMP APPLAUDS HISTORIC BREXIT VOTE FOR TAKING THE UK BACK  
JERUSALEM HYMN

And did those feet in ancient time Walk upon England's mountain green? And was the holy Lamb of God On England's pleasant pastures seen? And did the countenance divine Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here Among those dark satanic mills? Bring me my bow of burning gold! Bring me my arrows of desire! Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold! Bring me my chariot of fire! I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till we have built Jerusalem In England's green and pleasant land.

By William Blake

What's next

Thursday, June 23, 2016

MEP Daniel Hannan Speaks Brilliantly At Oxford Union Society In Favor of Brexit

 

WHAT CLASS AND  ELOQUENCE. HOW VERY CIVILIZED.

 I agree with everything Hannan says and loved the Tennyson grand finale:
Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are…
FROM POWERLINEBLOG

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Tamny On Brexit Hysteria: Why Both Stay and Exit Need to Chill---Though Exit Is Best

THURSDAY POLLS CLOSE:  NIGEL FARAGE ADMITS DEFEAT AS REMAIN LEADS


 By John Tamny @ RealClearMarkets 

BOTTOM LINE: What should UK voters do on Thursday? They should vote to leave. Anytime voters can reject government amounts to something good. But whatever Thursday's outcome, passionate partisans on both the "leave" and "stay" sides need to relax. No matter what happens on June 23rd, trade, investment and immigration between the UK and EU nations will continue undisturbed, and as though the vote didn't take place. Sadly too, government will remain large on the continent and in the UK. The passions on both sides of the "Brexit" vote are way overdone.

FULL ARICLE



Monday, June 20, 2016

The Waning of Trump, Hillary's Warren Conundrum and What's Next With Brexit?

IT'S MONDAY MORNING and the stock market is rocking big time on an otherwise slow news day. What's behind all this stock optimism?

First, the Brexit vote seems to be tilting towards Britain remaining in the doomed EU after MP Jo Cox's horrific murder last week. Markets like things to stay the way they are, however bad they may remain in the long run.

Second factor is the recent abysmal presidential poll numbers indicating Trump's falling behind in the voting public's perception. At least for now, the love affair with Trump is ebbing again. On top of that, Trump has fired his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski over the weekend perhaps to begin a new chapter in his chaotic campaign for the White House.

I hate to say it, but I now think for the 50th time that Trump won't be president this go-round. I also hate to say that while I'm in favor of Brexit, I think the fraddy cats in the UK will last-minute vote to stay in the bosom of the behemoth and ultimately doomed European Union...at least for now.

One wild card that can change everything is if Hillary chooses Senator Elizabeth Warren to be her running mate at the Democratic convention. Markets will have an absolute tantrum and there's no telling where the election will go from there. No one I know likes Hillary. But Warren is universally despised.

While anything can still happen from here,  it doesn't look good for Trump or Brexit from my vantage point. As usual,  I hope I'm really, really wrong.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Pastor John Piper Talks On Psalm 100

PSALM 100 King James Version (KJV) 100

1 MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE UNTO THE LORD, ALL YE LANDS. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

On Top Of My Summer Reading List---Miss Prim

THERE'S FAR TOO MUCH MAYHEM GOING ON IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.

And since it's summer, isn't it time to take a break from it all,  chill a bit and refresh our exhausted,  over-worked adrenals? If compassion fatigue has set in, maybe it's time to take a powder and grab a delightful, yet deeply worthwhile book.

To wit: The Awakening of Miss Prim promises to fill the bill and deliver refreshment to the heart, mind and soul. I need it desperately.

Trevin Wax, managing editor at The Gospel Coalition, writes the book review:

The Awakening of Miss Prim, the debut novel from Spanish journalist Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera has become an international bestseller – which surprises me, but only slightly. Critics are saying it is beautifully written, distinctive and inspiring. The Huffington Post describes it as “an ode to the simple joys of life.” 

 The book merits such praise, but Fenollera’s work is much more profound. With a generous serving of tea and cake, The Awakening of Miss Prim subverts the secular worldview and challenges contemporary orthodoxy regarding marriage, the economy, the place of religion, what constitutes progress, and the definition of feminism. 

Fenollera’s tender treatment charms the reader into wanting the main character (Miss Prim) to give up her stubborn, secular ways and give in to the dazzling mystery of the Christian faith. 

A Brief Summary 

A well-educated woman (Prudencia Prim) moves to the village of San Ireneo de Arnois and takes a job as the private librarian for an eccentric man (think, C. S. Lewis), a master of languages who carefully tends to the education of multiple children. He is also a practicing Catholic with a deep appreciation for gifts inherited from Western civilization. As Miss Prim gets to know her boss, the children, and the people who make their homes in this village, she finds herself drawn to different belief system and new way of life. A good premise. A Spanish setting. Good characters. Fenollera delivers these and more. 

The beauty of this book is its portrait of Christianity as a life-giving vision of the world. Awakening won’t let the reader reduce the convictions of the religious townspeople to merely a private, individualized assent to doctrine. Because the convictions at the heart of this world are good, true, and beautiful, the surrounding community (including the skeptics and agnostics) are drawn to its light.

There is plenty of logic and reasoning in Miss Prim, but it’s mystery that draws the reader in. 

Following the threads and the hints and clues make you wonder how a little village like this can exist, until you arrive at the fountain – the source of inspiration for Western culture.

Some will categorize the story as a romance. Perhaps. But it’s more like a detective story in which the protagonist is falling in love, not just with a man, but with the Author who has written the story of our world.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think you will, too.
Great review Trevin, just ordered my copy from Amazon yesterday and it's on its way to me here in Jackson Hole. If you wonder where I've gone, worry no further...it's to The Awakening of Miss Prim, and also to Carolyn Weber's fabulous novel, Surprised By Oxford. But more on that  later.

I will be along here  sporadically this summer cause I need to fill my tank with lots of light and utter simplicity.

MP Jo Cox, Victim of Political Violence and Mental Derangement In U.K.

  SAD BEYOND MEASURE FOR CIVILIZED POLITICAL DISCOURSE AND THE RULE OF LAW.  We're on a horrific downhill slippery slope at warp speed no matter what your political  or religious persuasion.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Reason TV: Real Threat to Free Speech Today

DON'T AGREE WITH EVERYTHING HE SAYS, BUT MUCH IS THOUGHT PROVOKING....

Monday, June 13, 2016

Trump's Dynamite Speech June 13, 2016 In New Hampshire: The Growing Threat of Terroism Within Our Borders

   

TRUMP'S SPEECH BEGINS AT MINUTE 11.

This horror is beyond description. If Trump capitalizes on this catastrophe and the inexcusable political correctness which exacerbates Islamic terrorism, he will win the election.

 Trump is right on everything he's says. Radical Islam is anti-woman, anti-gay and anti-American (and anti-Jew and Christian). I endorse and will absolutely vote for Trump in November.

 

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Last Text of a Son---Eddie Justice---to His Mother---Before He Was Murdered

HEARTBREAKING UPDATE

WHAT EXTREME PATHOS AND HORROR.  

As of now, we don't know what happened to this young man named Eddie Justice.  Please pray for all the victims of this terrible mass murder. Source NYPost

May God have mercy on us all.

SURBER:  Trumping the Donor Class

Psalm 126, A Song of Ascents and Promise of Future Laughter (At A Time of National Mourning)

Psalm 126

A song of ascents.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of[a] Zion,
    we were like those who dreamed.[b]
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
    our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes,[c] Lord,
    like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow with tears
    will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
   carrying sheaves with them.


From Rod Dreher:

UPDATE.2: The Washington Post tracked down Mateen’s ex-wife and interviewed her. She ID’d the Myspace photo making the rounds as a shot of him, which is why the Post is now using it, and why I am using it. From the Post article:

“He seemed like a normal human being,” she said, adding that he wasn’t very religious and worked out at the gym often. She said in the few months they were married he gave no signs of having fallen under the sway of radical Islam. She said he owned a small-caliber handgun and worked as a guard at a nearby facility for juvenile delinquents.
“He was a very private person,” she said.
The ex-wife said her parents intervened when they learned Mateen had assaulted her. Her father confirmed the account and said that the marriage lasted only a few months.
He was also a wife-beater, the ex-wife said....


DON SURBER: The real atrocity in Orlando

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Sunday---Jazz Version: Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down

PURSUING HEALTH IN AN ANXIOUS AGE

TAKE IT AWAY, RHYTHM JUNKIES. Just too good not to share again and again.

Friday, June 10, 2016

Don't Follow Your Passion

ROGER SIMON: TO WIN, TRUMP MUST 'DEFEAT' OBAMA'S MISERABLE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND FOCUS ON SPECIFICS FOR CREATING JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

 GREAT ADVICE FOR THOSE WHO DON'T GET IT YET. But you can bring it along with you in your purse....

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Chuck Norris On Gender Confusion


Thanks JJ$ for sending me this classic, wonderful says-it-all politically incorrect statement.

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Sunday---The Bible Project On the Wisdom of Proverbs

WISE GUIDANCE BASED ON THE FEAR OF THE LORD.

National Trails Day---Climbing Mt. Sanitas

PLAY HARD @ The Gospel Coalition
AFTER THE BUSIEST EVER, NON-STOP SPRING,  I'VE LEFT THE GRAVITATION PULL OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE and landed temporarily in Boulder, Colorado on my way to Laramie, then Jackson, Wyoming soon.

What better way to start getting acclimatized to the higher elevations of the Rockies than to climb one of the steepest mountains near Boulder---Sanitas which means health.  It was far too crowded early today for my tastes, but a great climb---albeit a hard one coming from a much lower altitude-- nonetheless, and even greater descent. While going up is challenges muscles, heart and lungs, coming down with all the very slippery sandy scree on much of the very dry trail challenges hikers to keep from slipping and falling. I did slip twice but fortunately had  soft landings both times on me buns!