Happy Fox/Time Warner New Year

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As the clock ticked past midnight, Fox network continued on Time Warner cable into 2010. Whoopee!!! Happy New Year!!! Whatever …

Folks, it shouldn’t be this way. If there were real competition among programming providers, there shouldn’t be drama.

For me, there was no drama. I watched as midnight, January 1, 2010 came and went. I was ready to switch to digital TV IF I wanted to watch something on Fox. I should note that I have contacted Fox in New York City several times and the designated representative has not called me back regarding the status of the Fox owned and operated station in Austin, KTBC TV although they promised. Further if they were to issue some sort of a news release, they promised that I would be included. There may not have been a news release. The clock just ticked.

So, since the FCC said it would be a bad thing to pull the plug over the holiday weekend, I guess Fox caved……………for now. It’s only “for now”, however. Please plow back to my earlier posts about the impending end of free TV and networks taking their programming to cable.

It’s going to happen.

Yes, there may be a continuing news presence on local stations, but programming may be migrating to the evil cable sooner than you think.

So, with which devil do you do business? Do you do business with the devil you know, Time Warner, the “provider” that is continually at war with networks for retransmission payments? Or, do you decide to try something new? Consumer Reports recently ranked AT&T’s U-verse high nationally while local customers have misgivings. It all depends on how close you are to their originating point. The farther the signal must travel on these copper lines, the less quality or even connectivity you may have from U-verse. Ask a lot of questions.

Quite honestly, satellite—any satellite—is probably the best alternative right now, given the fact that Grande is nowhere close to being a player in Austin. For a “bundle” (Several services such as TV, Internet, and telephone), AT&T could be a good, economical choice if it’s available.

Time Warner (I’m a customer) is good as a telephone and excellent as an Internet provider. They started out as a TV cable company. They suck as a TV cable company. I’m not saying that Fox is right in this squabble. I’m not taking sides. I’m commenting on TW’s diminishing history of delivering affordable television programming to Central Texas residents.

Time Warner wants you to think that they are the “good guys”. There are no good guys in this business.

© Jim McNabb, 2010

Sunset

(Not wanting to let an entire month go by without a post, here's a shot of a picturesque sunset on Mars, one of our favorite photographs of the decade, captured in 2005 by one of the best contemporary landscape photographers, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Texas A&M/Cornell.)

Texas Tech is the real loser here

Disclaimer: Texas Tech could shut down football operations tomorrow and I wouldn't care. I'm neither pro- or anti-Tech in any way.

So Mike Leach is out fired (in part) due to his own ego and the wishes of some very influential check scratchers in Lubbock. As is the case in any story of this type, those that know nothing about the situation are busy making moral judgements while other (more level headed?) writers note that, in today's world, it's the perception of what's been done that matters more than what was actually done.

Oh, and there's the whole matter of being liked by your boss which, obviously Leach wasn't. the fans loved Leach however, which is why the only loser here is going to be Texas Tech. In a big way. After all is said and done people aren't going to remember Craig James, they aren't going to remember Adam James, and they aren't going to remember Gerald Meyers. What's going to stick in the public's memory are two things:

1. Mike Leach put a kid suffering from a concussion into a shed.
2. Tech fans then piled on the kid with pretty much every negative term imaginable.

To Tech fans, they're just protecting their own, the psuedo-pirate captain who's guided their program to the cusp of national prominence, who beat UT-Austin on national television and recieved all of the media attention. As a Michigan fan (Bo Schembechler) I understand a healthy dose of hero worship. What I don't understand is tearing a kid up publically in a no-win situation. With that thought in mind I offer up, free of charge, the following tips to Red Raider fans going forward:


Keep the talk Centered on "Tech Administration vs. Mike Leach" - Don't drag all of this other stuff into it. Calling a kid a wuss or a sissy (or worse) because he was diagnosed with a concussion just isn't cool. I realize that the sports mantra from those who never played sports is to die for your team, but in the real world these young men have bright futures ahead of them. This is football, not war. (Oddly enough some people want more sacrifice on the football field for the ol' Alma Mater than they're willing to give up for their Country) Don't be that school Tech.


Stick to the facts - Nothing makes you look worse than when you say "Craig James has now killed two football programs". It's one thing to be mad at a guy, it's another to invent facts to try and make your argument. The FACT is there was nothing personally attributed to Craig James that led to the downfall of SMU. Yes, he was there at the time and yes, there's the whole "well, everyone did it" angle but, when you're trying to build a fact based argument, it's best to stick to facts and not heresay.


Don't make light of injuries - Nothing says "I've never played competitive sports in my life" quite like slighting someone for being injured. I've had a couple of concussions, they suck. You cracking on Adam James just makes you look like an idiot.


Remember, even though Leach is gone, you're still a Tech alum - I saw a lot of this during the Art Briles/UH days. UH fans showing more loyalty to Briles than UH, siding with the Briles/Stephensville fanatics who ripped apart every UH fan who dared question the great one. Now that Briles has been revealed, the Stephensville folks are gone, and UH Nation is left with a lot of hurt feelings. When all of this blows over, Leach will be gone but your Alma Mater will still be there. Never forget that.

Hope is fleeting Longhorn fan.

OK, so Nebraska dominated Arizona last night in the Holiday Bowl. The score was 33-0 but it wasn't that close. If Bo Pellini had wanted to he really could have piled it on Mike Stoop's boys, "Bear Down" motto or no.

Because of this domination some Longhorn fans are starting to take hope that, in spite of it all, their team might not be the sacrificial lambs many are casting them as against Alabama. That could be. Personally, I don't think Texas has much of a chance but then, I thought USC would handle them in 2005 so what do I know? I just want a good game since all of this is relatively meaningless anyway. (And will remain meaningless until D-1 College football joins the rest of the civilized sports world and conducts a proper playoff.)

All that being said I'd be a little leery, were I pulling for UT-Austin, of getting my dander up over a Big xII pummelling of a PAC-10 team. After all, this is the same conference that's 2-3 for the bowl season with wins over a depleted Boston College team and....Temple. For every encouraging sign however, there's a downer. Georgia's 44-20 shellacking of aTm should remind you that the SEC is a different level of football than is whatever it is they're doing on the West Coast. In the SEC they play defense, let's not forget that.

To date I've seen nothing to convince me that Alabama isn't the better team going into the B(C)S Championship game against the Longhorns. Like any team however they bring with them some questions. The biggest is whether or not their Freshman QB is going to hold up under the media scrutiny that's sure to come after this weekend. One thing he already has going for him is that he's stood up under the glare of St. Tebow, and after beating God's second son what else is there to prove?

Today is a good day for the respective "big" conferences to get an idea where they stand against one another. Oklahoma/Stanford, Minnesota/Iowa State & Va Tech/Tennessee should all be fairly competative games. Like most bowl seasons, today is the day that things really ramp up and the games get interesting. Up until now however I wouldn't read much into what we've seen. We really won't know anything until game-time, and by then it will be too late to make any predictions.

Purity Of Truth at War With Blackness of Lies [Update]

This morning, I picked up John MacArthur's book "The Truth War." I have read the book several times and have previously written two blog posts about it. Here are the links:

Truth Means Nothing Apart From God

Fighting For Certainty in an Age of Deception

This time, I want to list the highlighted points within each chapter of the book and expand upon them; particularly as it relates to what we, as Conservative Biblically-based Christian Americans have seen, faced, and dealt with over the course of this last year under the Obama administration.

Rather than working on one extremely long post, my plan is to write several blog posts over the course of the next few days.

Before I begin with the first chapter, I want to share that the quote by C.H. Spurgeon in the preface of the book has special meaning to me, personally. It kind of sums up my original goal when I created this blog over five years ago.

In 2004, I attended my first blog conference at Biola University. One of the speakers asked members of his class what each of our goals will be in writing Christian-based blog material. I stated that I wanted to write discernment articles that include the gospel of Christ while exposing how politics, culture, education, the media, and apostate churches battle against the Word of God and the message of the gospel. I recall that the professor told me, "that would be an impossible endeavor."

Yet, here I am, five years later including all of the above with the discussions here at Talk Wisdom. I don't quite know why the professor thought that way. Perhaps he thought that I should limit myself to apologetics and not include any criticism of the world around us. Or, maybe he worried that any "politically incorrect" approach might turn individuals away from the Gospel message. (Been there, heard that - MANY TIMES - even by some fellow Christian believers.) Perhaps I should have asked him why he thought such an endeavor was "impossible." I didn't get the chance to ask him. The session ended abruptly because we were out of time and he was surrounded by bloggers asking many questions.

The following is the Spurgeon quote:

The Church of Christ is continually represented under the figure of an army; yet its Captain is the Prince of Peace; its object is the establishment of peace, and its soldiers are men of a peaceful disposition. The spirit of war is at the extremely opposite point to the spirit of the gospel.

Yet nevertheless, the church on earth has, and until the second advent must be, the church militant, the church armed, the church warring, the church conquering. And how is this?

It is the very order of things that so it must be. Truth could not be truth in this world if it were not a warring thing, and we should at once suspect that it were not true if error were friends with it. The spotless purity of truth must always be at war with the blackness of heresy and lies.
- C.H. Spurgeon 1

1. Spurgeon, Charles, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 5 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1879), 41.

As the picture at the top of this post implies - sometimes the truth hurts! However, secular society's love affair for diversity (even at the expense of causing harm) and tolerance (today's code word for never offending anyone!) doesn't WANT to know any kind of truth that may initially hurt anyone (emotionally speaking).

However, common sense tells us to grab the arm of a child and pull it hard to prevent that child from running in the street in front of a speeding bus! The truth of the need for rescue may hurt the child physically at that moment in time, but the lie of freedom to do what would harm him/her if he/she ran in front of the bus can end up killing the child!

Such an illustration is even important when considering spiritual truth. These days, telling someone that their religion is not truth may hurt a person's feelings (at first), but the end result of them finding Jesus Christ and becoming a child of God through the biblical Gospel message brings eternal life that they would not have had without Him!

Spurgeon's ending line is quite the keeper! It sums it all up in one brilliant sentence!


The spotless purity of truth must always be at war with the blackness of heresy and lies.


Readers, please feel free to share any thoughts, questions, comments, opinions, criticisms, or compliments in the comment section!

1/3/10 Update:

I just discovered that American Prophet has included this post in that website's "News" items!

American Prophet.org/News

Comment there:

Note This is an award winning site and one of our best choices as well.

Of course, the excellent quotes from John MacArthur's book made the post possible! I am truly humbled and honored to have that post recognized by American Prophet - one of the best Christian sites on the web!

Thank you Rev. Michael Bresciani!

Obama's Foolish Statement: "Isolated Extremist??"

Do we even know why Obama waited three days before commenting on the airline terrorist attack? From what he said, it certainly didn't sound like he (or his cohorts) put much thought into his teleprompter statement yesterday. Can you believe that he had the gall to call this latest terrorist an "isolated extremist?" Is this guy just absolutely clueless, incompetent or both?

Last night, I decided to switch over to some other cable stations to see what was being reported about the attempted airline terrorist attack on Christmas Day. At the time I tuned in (9:00 or 10:00 p.m. PT), Keith Olberdummy's show was re-broadcasting his hate filled rhetoric against Sarah Palin and other conservatives. No surprise there. However, Anderson Cooper 360 had a female host subbing in and the show was very informative.

In one segment, three passengers described what they saw and experienced on the plane. I hope that I can find the video.

You can read details about the first couple interviewed at this link.

Apparently, they were seated on the floor right next to the ticket taker and witnessed the young Nigerian man and a "well-dressed" older (50-ish) Indian man speaking about a lack of a passport for the soon-to-be-terrorist attempted-bomber. They heard the entire conversation and watched as they were taken to see a superior at the airport. The next time the couple saw the Nigerian was when he tried to ignite his underwear bomb to blow up the plane.

Next, another woman described her experience on the plane and gave an additional detail that I had not heard before. She claimed that someone stood up and video-taped the capture of the terrorist.

Question. Where is this video? Is the person possibly holding out for the highest bidder?

What is intriguing about this incident is that if all went according to the evil plan, there would have been no eye-witnesses to attest to what really happened because they all would have been dead. Will the Indian, well-dressed man be tracked down?

Another question. Why did the young terrorist spill his guts about everything so willingly to the FBI? Was this a dry-run? A test run?

So many questions that need to be answered. I hope that the eye witness accounts aren't just swept under the rug. This administration has a bad habit of doing just that! How many corrupt and dangerous events have not been followed up on? Plenty! Go and view Glenn Beck program videos and count the unanswered questions!

Must reads:

All the posts at The Obama File

Another question. If Sarah Palin had been caught going to the beach after such an incident, do you think that the media would have made excuses for her as they did for Obama?

Answer: I doubt that she would have been spending $4,000 a night at a hotel during such a terrible economic time for the American people! She would have been in Washington doing her job!

Why does Obama always get a pass?

Here's The Obama File's answer:

ObamaMedia Provides Coverage And Excuses

TakingSides.com notes that Obama finally made a public statement about the terrorist attack on Flight 253 that occurred on Christmas Day. It was not remarkable in its content including statements such as "This was a serious reminder of the dangers that we face and the nature of those who threaten our homeland," and "We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable." What was interesting was the timing of the statement coming three days after the actual event and only after much criticism of Obama's silence on the matter. Perhaps most interesting of all was the way some in the liberal media combined objective news reporting with custom made excuses for Obama's latest misstep.

According to an article in The New York Times, "Mr. Obama’s remarks to reporters were the first public comments he has made since arriving here Thursday and the first since a Nigerian man tried to set off explosives aboard a flight approaching Detroit on Friday" -- completely factual and objectively stated.

Yet several lines later the same article states: "Until now, Mr. Obama had tried to strike a balance between signaling that he is on top of the situation and not drawing more attention to it than it already was generating. Each day since Friday, his staff accompanying him here in his home state put out statements indicating that the president was holding conference calls and requesting action of government agencies. But he declined for three days to address it in public himself, cognizant perhaps of warnings by some terrorism experts against elevating such incidents and by extension their authors."

How do these supposed journalists know that the president was attempting to strike such a balance? Not even the usual "sources requesting anonymity" are cited for this information. And is it a journalist's job to speculate what a world leader might "perhaps" be cognizant of?

As Obama proves time and again that he and his cronies are not up to the challenges they face, the media outlets that worked so hard to help get him elected are twisting their professional ethics beyond recognition in a desperate attempt to defend his missteps, mistakes and miscalculations. They are delivering not just the news but built-in excuses for those who are making that news.

Be sure not to miss The Obama File's post where Obama is quoted as STUPIDLY SAYING that the terrorist was an Isolated Extremist !

Joel Rosenberg's blog asks the important question: A DECADE OF RADICAL ISLAM: Will the West wake up to the threat in time?

If that isn't enough to put a chill up your spine, read this:

Al-Qaeda Press Release

The "Al Falojah" terrorist forum just posted a press release from "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," (Yemen and Saudi Arabia), taking responsibility for the terrorist attempt on the Northwest flight to Detroit.

Beginning of the translation by FReeper J Veritas:

The Operation by Brother Moujahed Omar Al Farouq Al Nigiree As A Retaliation Against the American Aggression Against Yemen

By the grace of Allah the brother and Moujahed hero Omar Al Farouq performed a quality act on the board of an American plane, taking off from the city of the Dutch city of Amsterdam to American city of Detroit, during the celebrations of "Christmas" holidays on Friday, December 25, 2009. He overcame all their advanced technological devices and security barriers installed in world airports and he did it with courage, bravery, and no fear of death, relying on Allah, destroying the great myth of U.S. and international intelligence, showing its fragility, forcing its nose in the dirt, making what they spent in the development of security techniques grief to them.

The unity of faith and Islamic brotherhood prompted this young rich man from Nigerian roots, brother Moujahedd Omar Al Farouq to retaliate directly against the oppressive American aggression against the Arabian Peninsula, and by the grace of Allah through direct coordination with the moujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula after the brutal bombing using cluster bombs and cruise missiles launched from U.S. ships territories which occupy the Gulf of Aden against the proud Yemeni tribes in Abeen, Arhabm and finally in Shibuwa, and killing dozens of Muslim women and children and where entire families were killed, and these operations were a Yemeni-US-Saudi coordination as well as coordination with a number of neighboring countries.

The brothers Moujahideen in the manufacturing department were able to manufacture by the grace of Allah an explosive device with advanced technology that has been tested and proven effective and has been able to overcome detectors. Brother Umar was able to reach his target by the grace of Allah, but by Allah will technical error prevented a full explosion but we will continue the way Allah willing until we get what we want, and religion is all for Allah.

We call on every Muslim who are zealots for their religion and dogma to remove the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula, by killing all the crusader working in the embassies and other places, and declare it a total war against each crusader on the island of Muhammad in the land, sea and air.

We call on every soldier working in the crusader armies and puppet governments to repent to Allah and follow the example of the hero Moujahid brother Nidal Hassan, and kill with all available tools every crusader to bring victory to religion of Allah and to keep his word in the land.

Therefore, we say to the American people that because you support your leaders and are standing behind them to kill our women and children then be ready for the worst we came to slaughter you and we prepared for you men love death as you love life, and Allah willing we will bring what you have not seen before, just as you kill you will be killed but tomorrow is very near. Oh Allah strengthen brother Moujahed Omar Al Farouq to be on the side of the truth, and give him serenity and patience and persistence many folds of the suffering that fell upon him , Oh Allah take his worry and agony, and give him an relief soon.

Oh Allah free him and the other Muslim prisoners from East to West, Oh Allah give victory to your moujahideen in every place and defeat the people of polytheism, and a prayer to thank Allah the lord of the universe.

Al Qaeda in The Arabian Peninsula

Saturday 9 Mouhrarem 1431 Hijra (Saturday December 26 2009)

End of the Translation

*******

Hat Tips to all links.

Sports Shorts (12/29/09)

"To the Shed with you!" - A possible quote from pseudo Pirate Captain Mike Leach


Why don't we just put Craig James and Mike Leach in a cage and let them duke it out? This would be far more fun than listening to Houston sports radio where Aggies are piling on (Uh-huh, because the Corps have NEVER hazed anyone) and Tech fans conjuring up conspiracy theories involving Sonny Dykes and Gerald Meyers drinking iced tea in the back of a pick-up truck gazing thoughtfully into each others eyes. You'd think, by now, Tech would be used to a certain amount of idiocy from Mike Leach. After all the guy's possibly the most anti-social man in college football. He's also the best coach Tech has employed since well....ever.


Ouch Georgia 44 aTm 20 In a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated aTm fans learned just how far their program had fallen under the recruiting prowess of Coach Fran. I'm sure there are a LOT of angry Aggies out there this morning but consider this: Your team is young, has some good front-line talent, and one of the better young quarterbacks in College Football. When you add the youth factor to an SEC defense however the final result was inevitable. (Remember Arkansas?) So far this season, with the exception of OSU, the Big xII hasn't held up well against superior athletes and defensive schemes frequently seen in the SEC. Don't feel bad aTm, the future is looking a LOT brighter than the immediate past.


If Case Keenum leaves, UH fans riot.


Thus endeth the error of McGrady. - The funniest thing about all of this are the sports-talk radio callers waxing angry about how McGrady was given the short-shrift. What? Here's an athlete who was given every chance to show up big in big games, take the team on his back and carry them to a championship. (or, at least, to win a playoff series) You can't doubt the wisdom of the trade at the time, judgement on a trade in hindsight is too easy, but to say McGrady wasn't given a fair shake with the Rockets is revisionist history. Good luck to him, but good riddance as well.


How far have NFL expectations fallen in Houston? We've gone from "kicking down the door" to "Gosh I hope the other team doesn't field their starters and that two of three other teams lose in games they shouldn't." I realize this is heresy in a World Class city like Houston, but I'm going to say it anyway: I miss the days when Houston didn't have an NFL team and we got the best games every week on TV.


I like Manny Pacquiao, I really do. His aversion to drug tests is ringing false to me however. Especially when you consider that he gave blood within two weeks of his fight with Ricky Hatton. I realize that most all of this is pre-fight hype, but hype over drug testing is not the type of hype you want to have.


Just a reminder: There are 45 days until NBC ruins the Winter Olympics by broadcasting nothing but people on ice in bad costumes. Seriously, is there anything more mind-numbingly boring than ice dancing? I can deal with ice skating, at least there's an element of risk there when some effeminate man goes for a quadruple axle and runs the risk of spearing one of the small kids whose job it is to pick up the flowers. Couples skating is OK as well. But Ice dancing? If NBC were really serious about upping ratings they'd show skeleton, and luge and bobsled. Not to mention more skiing. The thing that I like about the Winter Olympics is getting to see sports that we never see in Houston. Oh, and curling. I want to start a Houston Curling team in the worst way.

Your Houston Texans (Such as they are)

You know you're NFL team is not the powerhouse you envisioned it to be when the crux of the week's conversation is going to focus on the fact that next week's opponent has nothing to play for giving them a chance to secure the best season in franchise history.

What this means is that your team wouldn't be expected to beat said real powerhouse had they something to play for and weren't secretly doing what the best team in the conference did in an obvious manner against the Jets. (Who are now favored to win the playoff spot you covet FWIW) The taboo in the NFL is not throwing the game, it's looking for all the world that you're throwing the game. Those left out (The Texans) will have sports talkers and writers who will raise hell on the issue of the integrity of the playoff system etc. for the entiretly of the off-season. Fortunately for those of us who listen to sports talk radio, there are other choices. (Unfortunately none of them are really any good, but that's another post for another time.)

The important bit to take out of this is that, despite breathless proclamations to the contrary, this Texans team just isn't all that good. Yes, they have a shot at the "best record in franchise history" on Sunday, but that record is only 9-7, something teams such as New England, Indianapolis and (Yes) Dallas would consider a down year. That the Texans' pinnacle equals the trough for most playoff teams speaks volumes. Even in victory the Texans are uninspiring. As was the case Sunday, they have the ability to look like world-beaters for one half, and then coaching kicks in and they flounder around like fish out of water for the next.

How else do you explain a team going into halftime with a 27-3 lead only to watch it all but evaporate in the second half? It's coaching plain and simple. To be specific: bad coaching. Outside of sub-par talent in the defensive backfield bad coaching is the one thing the Texans have most. With all that being said, I think that 8-8 (or 9-7) is going to be more than enough to bring Kubiak & Co back for, at lest, one more year. Because of this, something has to be done to ensure these coaching mistakes aren't replicated in 2010, I'm not sure the City's psyche could take it.

My humble suggestion is this: Last night, during the Music City Bowl the cameras cut away to a kid sitting on the Clemson bench charting something. It turns out that he was coach Dabo Swinney's son. His job, easy enough, was to chart the number of times C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford touched the ball. If they fell behind a number that was part of a schedule, then the kid would go up and tap good ol' dad on the leg as a reminder to get the ball into the hands of the playmakers. This is a brilliant idea. One that the Texans should copy, and improve on.

It's often said that, in the NFL, things are taken to "a higher level" versus the College game. The athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, and the coaching expertise is superior. Because of all that I don't think that a simple tug on the trousers is a strong enough reminder. What needs to happen is that Kubiak's son be given a wiffle-ball bat and instructions to 'swing away' should Andre Johnson not see the ball say...three times per quarter. On the defensive side of the ball the Texans could raise revenue by offering one fan ticket per week to fill the role of 'gentle reminder'. If, should he return to the team, Dunta Robinson is allowed to single-cover the oppositions best receiver more than two times per game, then the fan gets to walk over to Rick Smith and put the 8-ball in the corner pocket so-to-speak.

Since none of this is likely to happen any time soon, I'm tempted to go out on a limb and predict 8-8 or 9-7 AGAIN next year. That's the current ceiling for this NFL franchise.

"Overseas Contingency Operation" MUSLIM Terrorist Plot FAILED

We can thank God (and the man on the plane whose quick response put out the fire) for preventing hundreds of deaths in what the White House would call an "Overseas Contingency Operation extremist plan thwarted." Have you noticed that the religion of this "radicalized extremist" is being avoided by many in the press? When was the last time "radical Islam" has been mentioned during a terrorist attack? We shall see how many start using the term terrorist again. More accurately, the perpetrator should be called exactly what he is - a Muslim terrorist or Islamic terrorist!

Personally, I'm glad that I didn't find out about the latest terrorist attack attempt until this morning. My family and I were able to enjoy a wonderful Christmas Day celebration. We kept the news programs off for most of the day! Watched the Chargers win again (yay!).

There are plenty of blogs, (like Jammie Wearing Fool Blog) to read about the details of the attempted terrorist attack. Will list a few at the end of this post.

A news anchor at Fox News recently stated that he hoped that this would be a wake-up call for this administration. The guest he was interviewing said that we have had PLENTY of wake-up calls already!

I wonder. Will we still be labeling the War On Terror with such naive terminology as "Overseas Contingency Operation?" Will we still label people like this radicalized MUSLIM 23-year-old, Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, attempted murder suspect as just a "man made disaster?"

More blog post links:

Gateway Pundit: Nigerian & Former London Student Arrested in Foiled Terror Attack

Free Republic: Umaru Mutallab's Son Identified as Delta Airline Bomber

Big Government: Breaking: Attempted Christmas Terror Attack Tied to al-Qaida

Citizen Wells

The Fairness Doctrine?

It Isn’t Fair



Editor's note: What follows started out as a reply to a comment to newsmcnabb. Since I’ve already written more than 300 words, it seemed obvious that it was more than a comment. Reflecting on my previous post, “There is Still Hope”, the writer raised the possibility of reinstating the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” repealed by President Ronald Reagan. It basically required broadcasters to provide equal time to opposing views.

Another reader posted an opposing view of the Fairness Doctrine. “I don't care for the idea of a reinstatement of the "Fairness Doctrine", per se... but I am worried that broadcasting has lowered itself to appealing to its viewers/listeners guttural feelings.”

OK. Here’s my take: I am not interested in the Fairness Doctrine at all. I am opposed to government telling the independent media what it can and cannot do. I'm not sure how it ever got on the books in the first place as, to me, it was unconstitutional on its face.

Newspapers are not subject to a "fairness doctrine"--never have been.

In the market place of ideas, the truth should rise to the top. Nowadays, however, one must question what another calls truth. As I said in the most recent post, sometimes I wish I could grab some of these politicians and pundits by the face and force them to look at the truth, and it seeing the truth, require them write and/or tell the truth.

Politics has returned to the strategy of "the big lie" often aided and abetted by the media, unfortunately. Our elected members of Congress will stand in front of the colleagues and cameras and proclaim outlandish lies. Yes, lies, or perhaps half truths which can be even more hurtful sometimes. If someone challenges the liar, the changer is open to a personal attack. This kind of posturing has been going on since Congress was created. What is different now is that we have a multiplicity of means of acquiring information, and the viewing, listening, reading, consuming public can pick and choose their “truth”. Polarization widens.

The American people, beset by these big lies, misinformation, and disinformation, often don't know who to believe. A Rasmussen poll released December 26, 2009 said that only 30-percent believed that the economic stimulus helped while 38-percent did not believe it.

I'm no economist. As a journalist, however, I see that housing sales are up, the economy is growing at around two-percent, and people are making guardedly optimistic statements about a turnaround in the economy.

"The independent panel that oversees the government’s financial bailout program [TARP] concluded in a year-end review that, despite flaws and lingering problems, the program “can be credited with stopping an economic panic,” The New York Times reported December 9, 2009. If you don’t believe the Times because that newspaper is perceived as too “liberal” or whatever, believe the economists who oversaw program. The assessment was based an audit by the panel, chaired by Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, who by all accounts has been even-handed and effective in the job.

It worked, they said. It's the truth, they said. Can you handle it?

Well, that “truth” is then filtered through talk show hosts, bloggers, columnists, comics, and pundits. Then, we, the citizens must cipher the “real truth”. In this age it is the responsibility of the citizenry to read, watch, and listen to all of them to arrive at the truth. I’ve always said that more information is better than less. So, watch more than one newscast. Read more than one newspaper. Listen to more than one columnist. Read more than one blogger. We have the technology.

And, in this technological age, the Fairness Doctrine is an anachronism. It would not work, if it ever did.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

The True Meaning of Christmas

What an awesome Christmas Eve service at The Rock Church last evening! I just loved singing so many traditional Christmas songs (about Jesus!!) along with the chorus. The message by Pastor Miles McPherson that followed made it one of the best Christmas services I have ever attended!

Later in the day, the video of the entire service should be posted here at the church's message page. I don't want to give anything away, but there was quite a surprise at the beginning of the service message!

Just as I was about to type this next sentence, my son reminded me that Pastor Miles McPherson is on Good Morning America this morning. In fact, he's on right now (7:00 a.m. PT)! I stopped to watch it.

The discussion panel included four people; a priest, two Christian pastors (Pastor Miles and Max Lucado who are also authors), and a female Christian author. What was said was very good, but you could tell that the panel discussion was chopped up in only small segments of what each person said and wanted to share with the T.V. audience! How sad is that?? My son commented about how that show is three hours long and they only gave five minutes to religion?! What a disappointment. My son commented that the same thing happened last year, when Miles appeared on the show at that time. I had forgotten about that.

When the hostess of the show asked the question, "what message do you want to give to people this Christmas?" each person's answer was way to brief to really get out what they truly wanted to share! I know Pastor Miles! I'm sure that he shared much more than they allowed to be broadcast in the brief segment.

Ahhhh!! I didn't mean to be negative on this joyous day of our Christmas celebration - the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior - but I needed to report what just happened.

To me, it is a clear sign of what a low priority faith is to most of the mainstream media. It's the "cut it short - can't get into too much detail because someone might be offended" politically "correct" (more accurately, INCORRECT!) attitude that permeates most of the media today.

What a shame.

So much could have been shared to help those who needed to hear the true meaning of the Christmas season! A billboard near the Rock Church clearly states the truth: "Jesus is the ONLY reason for the season!"

Anyway, I sincerely hope that you will make some time to view the video message when it is up at the link I provided. You can also view Part One of The Promise message from last Sunday, since the Christmas Eve message was Part Two of The Promise message series.

Enjoy your Christmas celebrations with friends and family! Thank God for your loved ones, for they are really what matters most in our earthly lives. And thank God for His love, and the unfathomable gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, without whom we could never be forgiven for our sins and reconciled back unto God.

Have a blessed Christmas Day!

In Christ's service,

Christine

Merry Christmas! God bless us, everyone!

Merry Christmas Everyone,

Okay, I was fooling myself if I thought I was going to get all of the posts up for Christmas. I still have a lot to do, but I don't think I'll get it done by tomorrow! (December 25) For that reason, I want to wish you a wonderful day with you family and friends. I will be spending the day with my family. But before I go, I wanted to share this website with you. It explores the miracles that can happen over Christmas if you just believe.

http://oregonfaithreport.com/2009/12/real-life-christmas-miracles-bring-inspiration/

Wishing you a blessed Christmas, Debbie

The Joy of Celebration Begins!

Last evening, I arrived home at around 7:00 p.m. after purchasing a few last minute gifts for my family. I left the house at 11:00 a.m., with every intention of getting home much earlier in the day. But as it turned out, I was gone for 8 hours! Eight precious hours that should have been spent more wisely. Oh well, at least I got the chance to meet my daughter and share lunch out at a restaurant with her. It was probably the first real meal that she has eaten since getting her wisdom teeth extracted on Thursday. My advice? Don't have anyone in your family get their wisdom teeth out around any holiday season! I lost four days of decorating, shopping, and preparing for Christmas Day as I helped nurse my daughter and watch movies with her. After all, caring for her at this time was more important. No need to go into the details of her pain and suffering. Due to the office being closed, we had difficulty reaching her surgeon by phone until yesterday to get some answers to several questions we had about her recovery. Though we felt guilty about doing so, we finally called the emergency number provided by the answering service. However, the surgeon was kind enough to call during his trip to Disneyland with his kids!

My daughter is much better now and improving each and every day. Thank God!

When I looked around our house last night I realized that all we had on our Christmas tree were the lights. There was one Nativity scene set up, but no Christmas village. My favorite Nativity set was still in one of the boxes that line our hallway. I haven't even found the stockings which are to be placed above our fireplace! I mentioned to my husband that we must be one of the most dysfunctional Christmas decorating families ever this year! No outdoor lights were put up at our house while most of the rest of our block have gorgeous lighting arrangements neatly in place. At least I put the wreaths on our two front doors!

Today will be spent finishing some of the decorating and wrapping gifts. It won't be the usual amount of holiday decorations, but the most important ones will finally be set up.

Just before turning the multi-colored lights off of our tree last night, I thought that despite our lack of decorations around the house this year, our love for the Lord and our celebration of His birth will not be minimized. After all, He is the Light of the world and the focal point of tomorrow's celebrations. Despite what the secular world wants people to think, Jesus is the reason for the season!

I have a decorated hand painted sign up that reads, "Keep Christ in Christmas." It is a constant reminder to us about what is truly important during this holiday season.

The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ changed history forever. His birth, life, ministry, death on the cross and bodily resurrection to life is the true hope that we have in this world filled with turmoil. Faith in Him and the realization that He keeps his promises demonstrates to us that we can place our full trust in him! He will never leave nor forsake us! All that had been prophesied about him in the Bible before his first coming has been fulfilled! We now await for him to return and take us unto himself at the Rapture - which will occur in the blink of an eye!

As born-again Christians, there is nothing to fear about what man will do to any one of us. Though we are mocked, disparaged, hated, cursed, discriminated against, persecuted, and even killed for our belief in Jesus Christ, NOTHING can take us away from his eternal protection for our souls. When we die (or are killed), it is a fact that Jesus has taken each of us away from evil. The world is filled with evil, but we are to have no fear of those who would kill the body. Our eternal souls are in the caring arms of Jesus Christ - FOREVER!

While driving home last night, I heard a portion of a repeat broadcast of an interview between Sean Hannity and Anne Graham Lotz. The subject of death came up and Sean mentioned that "he's not ready to go just yet." He wants to see his children grow up, marry and have their own children. He's not done with all he needs to do and wants to do on this earth. Many people feel the same way, of course. But we don't know how many days the Lord has given to each of us. Any one of us could die tomorrow. Or, perhaps we will live to age 90! We just don't know. However, if you (and I) would live each day as though it was our last, what would you be doing? That's a great question to answer!

Anne Graham Lotz mentioned the Scripture verse that tells us how beautiful heaven will be. She compared our lives here on earth like being in the foyer of a great cathedral. Compared to the awesomeness of the cathedral, the "waiting area" before entry into the beauty of that place can't compare. It is a good analogy as to what it might be like entering into eternity.

But no matter how beautiful we could imagine heaven will be, seeing Jesus Christ and being with Him forever will make the "place" pale in comparison. After all a house is not a home without the people whom you love - and who live in it - sharing that home with you...Amen?

It is Christmas Eve! The joy of celebration begins! God bless!

There Is Still Hope

Toward 2010

Another talented, top-notch friend is leaving the broadcast news business at the end of the year for a more secure, and possibly a more fulfilling, position in academia. I suppose that means that there may be a job opening at a Texas TV station for somebody else, and that may also be good news. That in a nutshell sort of characterizes 2009 in communications.

Media is in flux. That’s the answer I gave in a discussion during Mass Communications Week at Texas State this fall. Media—all media—are in a state of flux. That’s good and bad news at the same time. For example: NBC’s decision to let Jay Leno have a one-hour show, five days a week right before local news is bad news for local NBC affiliates. It’s good news for other stations in the market, such as KEYE TV (CBS) because, the move forced people to sample other news at 10 O’clock. It also gave viewers an hour to watch programs that had recorded. As I said recently, however, I think that Jay is also in flux. Affiliates won’t put up with this for long.

That leads to another, larger issue. If the NBC Universal/Comcast goes through, it will be the next big step in the migration of network programming away from local TV stations. Lots of programming is already available on NBC.com and Hulu.com. It could also be the beginning of a rebirth of quality programs.

Of course, Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, isn’t operating in the Austin area. Instead, we get the second largest cable company, Time Warner. It will be interesting to see if TW will work out its retransmission deal with Fox or if Fox will disappear from Time Warner January 1, 2010. Time Warner spun-away AOL this year, making their bottom line even better. Will that translate into TW being a better cable company? I doubt it.

Meantime, satellite providers Dish and Direct TV reap the benefits while AT&T’s U-Verse and Grande Cable keep building out their coverage neighborhood by neighborhood. Further, Apple wants to start up subscription TV programming over the Internet. Apple’s idea won’t replace live broadcasts like football games yet, however.

Further, the so-called “digital revolution” may actually benefit viewers more and more in the year to come if networks and cable companies continue feuding. Some stations, such as KXAN TV (NBC) still haven’t made full use of their side channel. Further, LIN TV’s KBVO TV, formerly KXAM TV in the Hill Country still cannot be seen by most in the Austin area. Until KBVO is available in Austin, the move to make it a separate station, no longer rebroadcasting KXAN, will continue to confound me.

Where radio is concerned, KGSR FM (Emmis) switched frequencies to 93.3 from 107.1. Now, the station is attempting to enhance its coverage area in Austin and improve its numbers while 107.1 has become Spanish language broadcasting.

Recognition of the growing Spanish speaking audience and culture in Austin is another change that will only expand in 2010. Many of the TV digital side channels are now devoted to Spanish programming. KEYE .2 and is also doing local news in Spanish with Fred Cantu as its anchor. Cantu started in Austin doing radio news in Spanish before moving to TV decades ago.

Many, however, for personal and professional reasons, however are leaving “the business” behind. Some are going into retirement. Some are choosing newly created opportunities in cyberspace. Some are being laid-off or, better, bought out. With the loss of these pros we, the audience, lose their perspective along with their talents.

At the same time print publications are still shutting down or cutting back on when they go to press. So far Austin seems to be escaping these sad developments, but I hate to see “Editor and Publisher” magazine go away.

In the national broadcast media this year, we’ve seen increased splintering and polarizing, and it is reflected in the Congress. Sometimes, I just want to grab some of these politicians and pundits by the face and ask them to recognize truth when they see it. The nation has been beaten down by cynicism and negativism—particularly the politics of “No”. Viewers, readers, and users of the media seem to be consuming only those thoughts, positions, and beliefs that reinforce their pre-existing notions.

Mainstream media is in flux too. ABC’s World News Tonight debuted its new main anchor with flashy and fresh opening graphics Monday, December 21st after the retirement of Charles Gibson. Diane Sawyer turned 64 December 22nd. So, one might wonder how long she will warm the chair. For the most part, meantime, the networks continue pursuit of truth, but it’s hard when there are so many voices screaming hyperbole in the marketplace of ideas. I just want to repeat, “Come, let us reason together.” As an idealist in the mid-1960s I majored in Communications believing that it would lead to peace. Call me naïve, but I still believe.

I have a sticker that says “Hope” on the back of my truck. It’s not political. It’s an ideal. We must at the interpersonal level communicate hope and turn away from those who sneer. Hope is at the foundation of any economic stimulus. Hope will help heal the hurts. Hope with love and faith can end wars.

Best hopes and wishes for us all in 2010.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

Liberal Media is Greatest Threat to Our Security

During this busy Christmas season, I try to find articles to share here at Talk Wisdom that "tell it like it is" or "give a ray of hope." Sometimes, it is difficult to accomplish both in one post! However, I think that I have found such an article written by Douglas MacKinnon over at Town Hall.com.

A Warning and a Ray of Hope from an Intelligence Operative

I wonder. With each changing administration, do all of the "intelligence operatives" change right along with it? Or is it just their ideology that shifts? In other words, because Obama and his cohorts are far left lunatics, has the intelligence community been overtaken by that same ideology? Or, are they now being suppressed (or bought off just like Congress!) from exposing and gaining prosecution of all of the corrupt individuals (and groups) that have escaped from their former Marxist organizational asylums and are now, most regrettably, in places of influence in our government?

The author doesn't tell us, but perhaps the intelligence operative he interviewed is now retired?

It is frighteningly true that when the Lamestream Media of Mass Deception doesn't do it's proper job, We The People suffer immensely for it!

Excerpt:

Recently, I sat down with a friend who has spent almost three decades working as an intelligence operative in the defense of our nation. During the course of our conversation, I asked him what -- based on his vast experience -- was the number one threat facing our nation? Without even pausing to think about it, he forcefully answered, “Our mainstream media.”

More than Al Qaeda, more than homegrown terrorists, more than heavily armed Mexican drug cartels, more than non-existent borders, more than out-of-control and extremely violent domestic gangs, and even more than biological and nuclear terrorism, this dedicated intelligence operative felt that our own liberal media was a greater threat to our safety. Why?

“Simple,” he answered. “They enable all of those things and more. They betray our secrets, assign civil rights to enemy combatants, and push for a multi-cultural nation with no borders. The vast majority of those who work in mainstream media have a visceral hatred of traditional values and all those who espouse those values.

"Many have strong socialist tendencies, are vastly inexperienced when it comes to the actual plight of working Americans or corporate America, or were hired for politically correct reasons.

"Fortunately, their hatred of traditional values and the average American has caught up to them and they are going out of business in droves, but that said, they are still capable of inflicting incredible damage upon our republic.”

The more he spoke about this threat, the more he felt resigned to our fate. “Look at what has just happened,” he continued. “The far-left hates Sarah Palin, so their dishonest lapdogs at Newsweek did everything in their evaporating power to smear her one more time with a demeaning cover.

"Beyond that, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other far-left outlets think nothing of betraying national secrets on the front pages of their papers in the hope of winning the far-left Pulitzer Prize.

"They do this while simultaneously wringing their hands and crying foul when someone hacks into a computer system and exposes as lies, their false and economically crippling religion of global warming.

"In the United States of today, no one on the left is ever held accountable for their sins because their protectors in the far-left media ensure that they are blameless. Worse than all of that is the fact that the far-left controls the content and socialist propaganda fed to our children on a daily basis.

The following sentence grates on my nerves, but there is some truth to it:

"For the most part, they control education across the board, control media across the board, and control entertainment across the board. Conservatives and those who believe in traditional values have inexplicably ceded all those areas to the left.”

I once read an opinion that stated that it took the far left (you know - the really rabid kind like we have with Obama who lied about everything to fool the public and get into office) almost 49 years (if counting from 1960 on) to get into the White House. It was probably in the works over 100 years ago, but since the 60's, their progress has grown exponentially. That same person stated that it might take 100 years to correct this awful direction that the far left is currently taking us. This last year, under the anti-Christian tyranny of Obama and his corrupt cronies, has been "progressivism" (a.k.a. socialism, Marxism, Communism; including pro-Islamo-fascism and the global warming fraud and nonsense into the mix) on steroids!

I pray and hope that it doesn't take 100 years to correct America's free-fall into the abyss because of these leftist crazies and what they are doing to our nation! I want our nation to be normal again!

I fervently pray that all the Dem and RINO seats in Congress that are up for re-election will be voted out! Boot the bums out of office! GOOOH!!! (Get Out Of Our House!) It will take TEA Party activism and voter public awareness to accomplish such a task. This progressive nightmare could turn on a dime in the 2010 election - and then finally head back towards sanity with a Conservative candidate (hopefully Sarah Palin!!) in office in 2012.

I wonder. Could the ObamaSCARE HELLcare bill be repealed by a new Congress? If (God forbid!!) it reaches final passage, the fact remains that it won't be installed until 2013 (or 2014?), so all that would have been done is that taxes would have been collected over the course of the next four or five years. If it's not implemented until then, couldn't it be reversed by the new Congress? I would love an answer to that question!

Mr. MacKinnon writes:

When I asked if there was any hope left for our nation and for those who still believe in traditional values, he slowly nodded his head, and said:

“Some. Barack Obama and his devotion to his far-left ideology has frightened a great many Americans. Especially moderates and independents. It turns out that real-world experience does matter.

“If the Republicans -- as equally corrupt as the Democrats -- can put forth a candidate who honestly puts the needs of our nation before his or her own, they may have a chance. This is not complicated. The vast majority of Americans do believe in God and don’t believe the word ‘Christian’ should be used as a punch-line by the left.

It may take a third party candidate to accomplish this IF the Republicans don't get their conservative roots back and put forth a Ronald Reaganish candidate in 2012. I know what has been done in the past regarding third party candidates. They generally aren't seen as having a chance to win. However, the tide of anger over what is happening in Washington D.C. may bring forth the best scenario for a third party candidate to win. With Conservative Republicans, anti-Obama Democrats,former fawning ObamaBORG Bots who have now turned against him, Moderates from both parties who are highly alarmed at this current bogus POTUS and his radical buddies, and Independents who are horrified over what they voted for in 2008 (the ObamaBORG monstrosity of government takeover) may create the right atmosphere for a sea-change in politics toward the Conservative side, the likes of which have never been seen before in America!

As the author states in his conclusion of the article:

Game on.

Read this comment:

TruLib
Location: VA
Reply # 2
Date: Dec 22, 2009 - 6:02 AM EST Behind The Curve
Too many Americans think it's safe to believe the lie that government can do what it promises. "Let us be responsible for your retirement", "Let us be responsible for your health care. By the time enough people wake up and see the reality the socialists have crafted for us it will be too late.

Business is going Galt. They are afraid of what government will do next and are sitting on money needed to fund investment. The government pretends the money it is spending is an "investment" when it's really just bribing voters with their own money. They borrow money from our grandchildren to purchase votes today. Anyone willing to participate in that transaction is a traitor to America.

Jefferson is spinning in the grave.

Yep....

Hat Tips:

Town Hall.com

American Thinker - Mr. Obama: Tear Down Your Wall of Secrecy

TownHall.com - Chuck Norris: Away With The Manger

New York Post: Obama, left behind. Even progressives abandon him as he ends a lost year

Sports Shorts (12/21/09)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Bowl Time......


All you need to know about Brett Favre:

When it goes bad for Tom Brady(notes), he takes the blame and defends his teammates’ talent, effort, performance. When it goes bad for Favre, he starts talking about secrets.

This was a good game. So far the bowl season has been...*meh*. Yes, I realize the Wyoming/Rutgers game was close, but is there a more boring team out there than Wyoming? (Extra bonus: Dwight Dasher took Vince Young out of the record books with 201 yards rusing. Longhorn bitch-fest soon to follow I'm sure.)


Note: A quality NFL team handles the St. Louis Rams. Any other questions?


Pre-game...Post-game. Give Solomon this: he's typically fairly consistent.


A meaningful finish? - Up until they lose to the Patriots and finish 8-8 (again) or lose this week to Miami to finish 7-9. Either way we'll be told to "trust" Kubiak by radio and sports personalities.


Why am I not torn up about the prospect of losing Kyle Shanahan? Is it because his play-calling is formulaic and overly simple? Is it because he tries too-oten to make the Texans' round-peg offense fit into a square-hole running game? Lance Z is spending too much time cavorting with the Borg instead of focusing on his day job. That being said I've noticed I'm turning my AM radio dial more to 610 these days as John and Lance become more and more un-listenable.

Who would have thought that John Lopez was the answer? (If we could just find a replacement for Vandermeer.)

Time Warner vs. Fox

Tough Love

Time Warner wants us to believe them yet again.

This is the same Time Warner that is just about the only programming provider in the Austin area that does not have a deal with the NFL Network. Not that I have any deep and abiding love for the NFL Network, but I did want to see a telecast of the Dallas Cowboys against the New Orleans Saints this past weekend. I could have sought out a friend with Dish, Direct TV, or Grande. I could have gone to a nearby sports bar and watched with a room full of loud people whom I do not know. Instead, I was relegated to NFL.com’s “live” coverage punctuated with its insipid “insights” into the game that was often going on in the background. Once, I could see the replay the sideline reporter was describing in a screen. It was something, but I’d rather have had the game.

This is the same Time Warner that has moved the free over-the-air digital stations, such as public television’s KLRU TV’s two side channels to the digital tier, out of the reach of customers who cannot or wish not to pay for it. There are blank spaces in the basic spectrum where worthy channels used to live. Now, they are gone or out of reach. I’ve wondered why we have blank channels.

This is the same Time Warner that went to war with LIN TV, owner of KXAN TV (NBC) and a couple of dozen other stations around the country over retransmission rights and payments last year. This Time Warner couldn’t make a deal with LIN, so they took KXAN out of the line-up.

Now, this same Time Warner is playing hardball with Fox and KTBC TV (Fox owned and operated) locally. This time the stakes are higher because conditions have changed, and I wouldn’t want to negotiate with Rupert Murdoch and his minions. The contract runs out January 1st.

TW’s tact is much different this time. They emailed all subscribers asking whether subscribers wanted TW to “get tough” with the networks—a pre-emptive strike. They asked for viewers votes. Apparently, viewers said, “Get tough.” Now, TW can say that they have the viewers on their side. It could be interpreted as the old saw, “If you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain.”

So, acting on that TW is taking out full-page ads in the Austin American-Statesman (not cheap) saying, “You told use to get tough. We listened.” Time Warner claims TV networks are demanding price increases as high as 300%...” or “…they’ll pull the plug on their programs.” Time Warner wants you to believe that it, the second largest cable provider in the country, is the victim.

Fox, meantime, responded with its own full page ad (not cheap) of its own shouting, “Time Warner cable isn’t playing fair, and you could lose Fox.” Fox warns of future rate increases. Folks, if you were ready for the “digital revolution”, you will not lose Fox. You can pick it up off the air in full high definition, if you are so equipped.

Both TW and Fox have set up web sites to voice your opinion.

You do have a choice, of course. You can ignore the hullaballoo, have your Fox programming too. You may be able to change programming providers to keep the national programming. You can watch Fox over the air. It’s free.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

Couldn't Have Said it Better!

While catching up on my blog reading this morning, the following letter that was found over at /RepubX - Defend Our Freedoms blog: A Nebraska doctor’s message for Ben Nelson needs to go viral! I hope that you will pick it up, paste it into an email and send it to everyone you know; and/or post it on your own blog, or include it on the front page of your website so that more people can see a perfect example of the anger that is occurring among millions of people across this nation because of the back door deals, extortion, bribery and stealing of the American taxpayers' money in order to pass this horrendous HELLSCARE bill in the Senate!

From Blogsphere:

Dr. Becky Hollibaugh of Friend, Nebraska e-mailed me her message for sellout Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) this morning:

Hello Michelle:
I’m a family practice doctor in Nebraska. I sent the following (angry,I admit) letter to Senator Nelson. I urge your readers (from Nebraska and elsewhere) to do likewise, in their own words!

Dear Senator Nelson:

I send this message under “Tort Reform” because the current monstrosity you have pledged your support to says nothing whatsoever about Tort Reform. You have sold the physicians of Nebraska for zilch (zilch for us, but beau coup federal bucks for you and the liberal partisans in this state). As a family practice physician in Small Town, Nebraska, I was counting on you to be the lone voice of Democratic sanity on this issue, but you sold me out. I will dedicate every spare minute of my time and every spare dollar I have to defeating you, should you run for re-election. The long hours I spent on my medical education and the long hours I spend treating my patients are nothing but chump change to you and your Democrat colleagues in Washington. I especially can’t wait for your equivocation and milquetoast evasion when your “compromises” on the abortion language in the bill are silently erased or quietly (on-little-legislative-cat’s-feet) eviscerated in the House/Senate give-and-take. Go on: Bet me that you won’t wuss-out on this issue!

I know you won’t give two-seconds to this letter, but I had to write it. I’m a primary care doctor in YOUR state, and you sold me out. I didn’t slog through 4 years of college and 4 years of medical school and 3 years of residency just to have you hand my career and my patient/doctor relationships over to government lifers. Your gutless acquiescence to Obama and Harry Reid and ‘Nanny’ Pelosi will NOT be forgotten.

Thank you, Ben, for forcing doctors like me to earn less than the repairmen who fix our appliances. Case in point: We recently had our dishwasher fixed. The repairman who came to our house charged $65 just to come and ‘diagnose’ the problem, then charged another $180 to ‘fix’ the problem. You and your fellow lawmakers have fixed MY going rate (Medicare) at $35 per-visit. Thank you for securing such a ‘lucrative’ rate for me! Thank you so much for making me–someone with 8 years of education!–make less than a mechanic or appliance repair technician. And thanks especially for falling in line with Obama and the rest of the Democrats to make such a socialist system permanent.

You have my disgust and disdain forever, you socialist-coddling coward.

Sincerely,
Becky F. Hollibaugh, D.O.
Warren Memorial Hospital
Zimmerman Clinic
Friend, NE 68359

Let's support Becky. Send her a note or card and just say thank you and that you want to help her. Send your email so she can reach you. Find out were you can send a dollar, five or twenty to help defeat Nelson. Let's show the 100 Senators that no longer will we let them have a country club life of dinners, travel, power, money and fame. The good life is over. From now on they run and get elected to make America better, not line their own states pockets. Senators above all should be for all the people.


It's time to make a difference.

Desert Cactus

Great comment over at RepubX too:

Be it known, America, there are no "compromises", "negotiations", "political deals" et.al there are only bribes, graft, fraud and corruption for each and every vote that passes these bills: health care, cap & trade, stimulus - you name it.

Every representative who voted yes has been bribed for a vote and every representative who stood by and watched it happen without notifying the media of the details of said bribes & indiscretions, are complicit.

Vote these people out - they no longer represent America and the foundations of freedom, individual freedom, free choice and the pursuit of happiness - they only seek wealth building off the backs of other Americans.

Question the patriotism of EVERY representative! They have spat in our faces and no longer show themselves as Americans.


ICONIC FREEDOM

2010 - VOTE THE BUMS OUT!

I have also been made aware of another great grassroots movements (besides the TEA Party Movement) called GOOOH!

"GOOH" stands for:

Get
Out
Of
Our
House

"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." Samuel Adams, 1776

Such a time is NOW!! PEOPLE!!!


Hat Tips:

RepubX - Defend Our Freedoms blog

GOOOH.com: Get Out Of Our House!

The Gift of Himself

The Gift of Himself

Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!
Psalm 68:19

Recommended Reading
Romans 5:15-21


Long ago, there ruled a wise and good king in Persia who loved his people and often dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar so he could visit the poor and learn about their hardships. One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the coarse food the poor man ate and spoke cheerful, kind words to him. He later visited that poor man again and told him, "I am your king!" The king thought the man would surely ask for some gift or favor, but he didn't. Instead he said, "You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate my coarse food. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself!"

God gave us the gift of Himself when He sent His Son to this dark, dreary place. Have we accepted Him graciously and thankfully as the poor man did, or do we take this gift for granted? This Christmas season, let's remember to thank Him for His most precious gift to us: Himself.


Read-Thru-the-Bible
Revelation 6:1-7:17

Hat Tip:

David Jeremiah.org

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With all of the turmoil that we are experiencing here in America because of our current gangster government and clueless congress, it might be difficult to push it all aside and be at peace during the celebration of the birth of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. But that is what we, as devout born-again Christians must do!

Jesus told us, "In this world, you will have trouble (tribulation)."

However, his very next words say:

"But take heart!"

Why should we "take heart" even through those moments, days, weeks, months, or even years of tribulation? This is why:

"I have overcome the world."

Jesus came to save mankind from their sins. His Incarnation and birth on this earth some 2,000 years ago happened after almost 400 years of silence - between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The naysayers of the OT probably wondered if the promised Messiah would ever arrive!

When we think about time, we are limited in our scope because we are physically finite creatures (with an eternal soul) during our existence here on this earth. God is eternal. He always was, always is, and always will be. So, as the Bible states, "one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day" to the LORD. It's hard for us to grasp the truth of that. However, when we think of God existing eternally outside of the confines of "time" as defined here on this earth, we can at least get a glimpse of what that saying means.

Jesus' miraculous birth was the beginning of his mission to "overcome the world." His mission was completed, for our sakes and the forgiveness of sins, at the cross of Calvary. His subsequent resurrection from the dead proved that he was (and is!) who he said he is - God in the flesh!

As Dr. Jeremiah's devotional states, God gave us the gift of Himself, through His eternal Son, Jesus Christ! Such a Gift should NEVER be taken for granted! I always tear up when I hear "O Holy Night."


O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wise men from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

The Disturbing Thuggery of this Admin Worsens! [Update]

The Weekly Standard Reports: Source: Dems Threaten Nelson In Pursuit of 60.

Glenn Beck covered this on his show today. He claimed it fell "just short of treason." I think it IS TREASON! Add this latest treasonous, thuggish event to the list that is piling up for this bogus POTUS, his Marxist Cabinet and Thug czars!

While the Democrats appease Senator Lieberman, they still have to worry about other recalcitrant Democrats including Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. Though Lieberman has been out front in the fight against the public option and the Medicare buy-in, Nelson was critical of both. Now that those provisions appear to have been stripped from the bill, Lieberman may get on board, but Nelson's demand that taxpayer money not be used to fund abortion has still not been met. According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn't fall into line.

Offutt Air Force Base employs some 10,000 military and federal employees in Southeastern Nebraska. As our source put it, this is a "naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson's vote." They are "threatening to close a base vital to national security for what?" asked the Senate staffer.

Indeed, Offutt is the headquarters for US Strategic Command, the successor to Strategic Air Command, and not by accident. STRATCOM was located in the middle of the country for strategic reasons. Its closure would be a massive blow to the economy of the state of Nebraska, but it would also be another example of this administration playing politics with our national security.

Also see Citizen Wells blog.

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UPdate:

WorldNetDaily: 20 senators demand probe of health-care vote 'threat'
Did White House say it would close Air Force base if Nelson didn't play?

The twenty Senators with a backbone to question whether or not this threat happened:

Despite the denials, some WND readers have expressed outrage if a threat were indeed made.

"It is time for some spines on the Hill to impeach Obama and charge him with treason," said reader Tom Bender.

"This is simply amazing that we the people are permitting this type of politics in our country," noted another, Mike Kovach. "Not that this hasn't been done before, but this administration is on a course to destroy our nation. I am beginning to wonder why there has not been calls of subversion, treason and sedition against this administration. I'm am a Democrat and I would like to see all of those in cohorts with this administration put in jail and charged accordingly."

The Republicans signing the letter were Sens. John Ensign of Nevada, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, John Thune of South Dakota, Jim Bunning of Kentucky, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Kit Bond of Missouri, Michael Enzi of Wyoming, George LeMieux of Florida, Pat Roberts of Kansas, David Vitter of Louisiana, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker of Mississipi, John Cornyn of Texas, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Bob Bennett of Utah, Johnny Isakson of Georgia and Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

Encouragement: Music Changes lives

Hey Guys~

So I've decided to finish this week and start fresh in the new year. In reality, I know I've not kept this up to date and I'm over a month behind. But I figured you'd rather see something than nothingSo here we go.

In previous posts, I've discussed the power of music in people's lives. Recently, I was "introduced" to someone who feels the same way I do . Her name is Erin Breedlove. Like me, she has cerebral palsy but is breaking boundaries despite her disability. Now, her CP is much less severe than mine. Still, she is doing great things for her cause. She believes that music has the power to change and influence people beyond what they thought they were capable of doing. This is also known as music therapy. Read more of her story at:
Http://www.empowerpeoplechangelives.com/

Muslim "Renewal" (NO!) or Insult (YES!!) Near Ground Zero?

Just when I thought that the bizarre world we are living in today could not possibly get worse, I read the following at Gateway Pundit:

Mysterious Group Buys Building Next to Ground Zero for Mosque.

The original article at Hudson New York asks the question in it's title, "Mosque At the World Trade Center: Muslim Renewal Or Insult Near Ground Zero."

I'll vote for INSULT!!

Can I say how absolutely disturbing this is?? First, we get the Flight 93 memorial shaped in the form of a crescent pointing towards Mecca, now this?

I am extremely appalled, totally dismayed and absolutely disgusted…

Hat tips to all links.

Was so upset I forgot to include an excerpt:

An identified group with unknown sponsors has purchased building steps away from where the WorldTrade Center once stood -- to turn it into potentially one of the largest New York City mosques.

At the moment the building, the old Burlington Coat Factory, already serves as a mini-mosque: an iron grill lifts every Friday afternoon for a little known Imam leading prayers a few yards away from where Osama Bin Laden’s airborne Islamist bombers killed nearly 3000 people back in 2001.

The Imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, told the New York Times -- which put the story on its front page Wednesday -- that he has assembled several million dollars to turn it into ‘’an Islamic center near the city’s most hallowed piece of land that would stand as one of ground zero’s more unexpected and striking neighbors.’’

The 61-year-old Imam said he paid $4.85 million for it -- in cash, records show. With 50,000 square feet of air rights and enough financing, he plans an ambitious project of $150 million, he said, akin to the Chautauqua Institution, the 92 Street Y or the Jewish Community Center.

The origins of such monies are unexplained; neither are the countries or entity advancing such huge donations. Most US mosques, including many in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx are funded directly or indirectly by Saudi Arabia the country to which 15 of the 19 hijackers who bombed the World TradeCenter belonged. The UAE, Qatar and Iran are other major sponsors across the USA.

The money trail is an important question that must be answered by the Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg with more than a bland comment by one of his spokesmen, Andrew Brent, who quipped to the Times, “If it’s legal, the building owners have a right to do what they want.”

This guy Brent and that millionaire idiot Bloomberg are clueless political hacks!! Money obviously talks - not love for America, not sorrow for the 9/11 terrorist attack, not honor for our Judeo-Christian heritage, and not a clue about the need for protection, integrity, faith and remembrance for the 9/11 victims and their STILL GRIEVING FAMILIES!

What will it take for Americans to wake up and smell the coming Muslim invasion (just ask Britain what they are going through now) and forcing Sharia "law" upon our beloved nation??