Living In America - Dec 26

I'm a day late with this but the 'Godfather of Soul', James Brown passed away yesterday on Christmas day. Got a video from YouTube with Mr. Brown singing 'Living in America'. If you pay attention, you'll see two shots of the Twin Towers in NYC. Often imitated but never duplicated, there was none funkier than Mr. James Brown.



I'm up for a good rant aren't you? From Jihadi du Jour comes a wonderful discombobulated pro-American and anti-left rant that I think is worth your time. I think JDJ is on to something here. Without a doubt, the two most hated nations in the world are the United States and Israel. This is not by accident, since these two nations are a people who still have a strong connection with God. While we have been blessed mightily by our Creator, we have a lot of faults that our enemies are exploiting. Things like pacifism (peace at any cost), self-hatred and complacency are eroding our morale. Organizations like CAIR scream 'Islamophobia' at the drop of a hat whenever someone says something critical of Muslims in particular and Islam in general. And what do we do? We cower like a scolded child. You see, that's what happens when you abandon Biblical truth. Man knows nothing apart from God's divine counsel. NOTHING! It is God and God alone who is the source of all knowledge and truth. Not the government, not empty philosophy, not academia and not from Man's feeble imagination. It's that simple.

And here's another thing: It's cool to be a Christian! Hallelujah! Unlike our snobbish secular counterparts, Christians sin less, are productive members of society, are generally happier and live longer! So I refuse to apologize for my faith. If you have a problem with it, then talk to God about it. It's also cool to be a regular church-goer too! Whether it be feeding the homeless in Vancouver or tsunami survivors in Tamil Nadu, India, the church does a tremendous job of helping those in need.

Got some other stuff that caught my eye that I think is worth posting:

Earthquakes in Divers Places Dep't: The island nation of Taiwan received a massive jolt (7.1 on the Richter scale to it's south. Thankfully there appears to be few casualties and no tsunami! Whew! I also got a strange one from the Beeb that Dumfries, south of Scotland (!) got all shook up today. The last time that the area got a jolt like that was on 1979, curiously enough also on Boxing Day. Weird!

General Rick Hillier was in Afghanistan along with comedian Rick Mercer to lift their spirits and give them some Christmas Eve turkey. Hooray for the two Ricks!

If there's one thing that Iraqis must deal with successfully in order to have a semi-functioning state (Actually Muslims don't build nations. It's Christians, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists that do. But I digress.), it is corruption. When police are the usual recipients of bribes, crime can only flourish. I think of police in Mexico being bought by the drug cartels and how things are turning for the worse along the Texas-Mexico border. It costs the global economy literally a trillion dollars in wasted money, capital that could've been used to better the lives of the little people.

Speaking of Iraq, Saddam Hussein has a date with the hangman sometime in the next thirty days. May that day arrive sooner rather than later.

There's some good news coming out of the Horn of Africa as Ethiopian troops are routing Somali Islamists. See? Don't tell me that a well-trained, well-equipped army with a steely resolve cannot defeat an Islamic insurgency. Defeatists in the West, please take note!

There's been a horrible accident in Nigeria as over 260 people are dead and many more wounded after a leaking gasoline pipeline exploded.

Hope you survived another Christmas!

The Man in Black,
Johnny Cash