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I just have to brag a little this morning about my three oldest grandsons. David, age 12 is an awesome swimmer and yesterday he agreed to teach me to swim better. He is going to be an great personal trainer, and if he can teach me, he can teach anyone!

 

Daniel, age 18,  is in Germany and then on to Austria to work at a castle being used as a pastor's retreat. He will be there until late August and then start his college classes when he returns. He is a wonderful young man.

This morning I received an e mail from my daughter forwarded from my 16 year old grandson Blake. He is on a mission trip to Panama:

Hello Mom,
 
I Have to make this quick because there are others wanting to send emails out at this little internet cafe in Panama.  But I just wanted to let you and everyone know that the trip is going amazing!  Panama is soo beautiful.
 
Many people have come to know the Lord through evangelizm and the discipleship is going great as well.  Tommorow we are going to the Ngobe Tribe in the jungle.  We are all really excited to see what the Lord is going to do.  He has already done so many amazing things on this trip, I cant wait to tell you all when I get back.
 
I can’t wait to see you all when I get back!
 
Love,
Blake

This just reminds me that the most important investment we can make is in the lives of our children and grandchildren.
 

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            I have been looking through my personal journal over the past few months, since I have entered the world of blogging.  Certainly it has been a blessing, far beyond anything I expected, and it has also been a challenge as I have interacted with those who oppose the message of God’s Word.

 

            I thought I would share some of my entries in the hope that it may encourage other Christians to step out and share their faith. Some of these entries are direct from Scripture on a day when I needed it, and some are from writings by Oswald Chambers.

 

·        Jeremiah 20:9 “His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones.  I was weary of holding it back and I could not.”

 

·        2 Timothy 1:2 “The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.”

 

·        Jeremiah 10:23 “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”

 

·        Oswald Chambers – “There is no responsibility on you for the work; the only responsibility you have is to keep in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him.”

 

·        Oswald Chambers – “God engineers everything; wherever He puts us our one great aim is to pour out our whole hearted devotion to Him in that particular work.”

 

·        Oswald Chambers – “Spiritually we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us; and we cannot measure that at all.”

 

·        Acts 18:10 – The Lord said to Paul, “Dismiss your fears; go on speaking and do not give up, I am with you and no one shall attack you or injure you; for I have many people in this city.”

 

·        Acts 11:23 – About Barnabas - “He encouraged them all to remain with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.”

 

·        Acts 4:20b Weymouth – “As for us, what we have seen and heard we cannot help speaking about.”

 

 

Conservative leader and writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation foreign policy analyst, said last night that the United States needs to act with great urgency to secure its southern border with Mexico if it hopes to protect the nation's security interests and begin reversing the many economic and other crises spurred by the nation's apparent unwillingness to enforce federal immigration laws by fully securing its southern border.

Replays of Johns' interview with the Grizzly Groundswell Network on Blog Talk Radio are available globally for replay from the 61.30 to 120 minute mark of the network's June 30, 2008 show, available at:

http://grizzlygroundswell.com/archives/2849

In the interview, Johns challenges the conventional wisdom that Mexico's illegal aliens in the U.S. are only filling jobs that Americans do not want, stating that nearly half of them--10.5 million of the 21.6 million illegal Mexicans in this nation--are illegally filling skilled jobs that almost certainly would be appealing to Americans at a time when unemployment is standing at 5.5 percent nationally. Johns stated further that the failure of the U.S. to seal its southern border from illegals represents one of the greatest ongoing security threats to the nation at a time when the U.S. continues to be embroiled in a global conflict against al-Qaeda and Islamic extremism.

Johns stated that the 21.6 million illegal Mexican aliens in the U.S. are ill-serving the U.S. economy, costing the nation approximately $397 billion annually in education, health care and other social services. Meanwhile, Johns says, Mexican illegals are returning large sums of their earnings--approximately $33 billion annually to Mexico and $283 billion annually to all of Latin America. He also said that the U.S. has spent approximately $1.5 billion since 2001 in costs associated with the incarceration of approximately 370,000 illegal aliens in the U.S.

As President of Phoenix's Coalition for a Conservative Majority (CCM), Johns and his organization are actively supporting two Arizona ballot initiatives that would strengthen the state's illegal immigration enforcement capabilities by empowering Arizona's law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration laws and make the state's criminal trespass statutes applicable to illegal aliens in the state. The deadline for the submission of signatures for these two ballot initiatives is this Thursday, July 3, 2008.

Conservative political leader and writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will appear on Sirius Satellite's "Blog Bunker" show today from 5pm to 6pm EDT to discuss the state of the 2008 United States Presidential election and the public policy issues of the respective campaigns. The Sirius show, hosted by Joe Salzone, is available globally on Sirius Satellite's Indie Talk Channel 110.

Also this week, Johns provided an extensive interview to the popular Sonoran Alliance blog and the recently-launched Grizzly Groundswell podcast. In both interviews, Johns argues that, despite significant and understandable voter angst, American conservatism is providing thoughtful policy solutions to the vast challenges confronting the nation, including the global war against Islamic extremism, American economic challenges, the mounting global petroleum shortage, and others.

Defense Department Program Informs Overseas Voters
Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:52:00 -0500

Defense Department Program Informs Overseas Voters By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 18, 2008 - A Defense Department program is working to ensure overseas government employees, civilian contractors, servicemembers and their spouses have all the information they need to make their vote count. Scott Wiedmann, deputy director and 15-year employee of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, said people deployed to combat or stationed overseas have numerous sources for registration and balloting information. Every U.S. military installation and individual unit, as well as U.S. embassies, has voting assistance officers to help servicemembers and civilians. Information can also be found on the program's Web site at www.fvap.gov. This year is particularly important because of the U.S. presidential election approaching in November, Wiedmann noted. "Every vote counts, and a vote in the U.S. is a very powerful vote, so people need to take advantage of it," he said. "Not to diminish the importance of any other country, but certainly, a vote for the U.S. president will have its effect on many issues. Policy decisions made by the U.S. government do have an effect on many other countries around the world." Military members, especially, should take advantage of their vote, he said. "Their daily lives, their income, their living conditions and their retirement benefits are decided by Congress. So, they should certainly have a choice in who's representing them," he added. Wiedmann encouraged people turning in absentee ballots to act as early as possible to ensure enough time for their ballots and registration requests to process. The earlier one starts the process, the more time election officials have to decide whether the applicant meets the jurisdiction requirements to vote, he explained. Early application allows enough time for such issues to be resolved, he added. "As long as people get their ballot requests in at least 30 days before the election, no state will be too late," Wiedmann said. "Thirty days is the maximum timeline for registration and ballot requests." The primary procedure for all 55 U.S. states and territories is to process registrations and ballots by mail, but many states are working with the Defense Department and allowing servicemembers and overseas voters to request by e-mail and fax, he said. If voters don't receive their ballots in a timely manner, they can request backup ballots on the program's Web site as well as at every military installation and U.S. embassies worldwide, he added.

Related Sites: Federal Voting Assistance Program

Conservative writer, Republican strategist and industry executive Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will join American Civil Rights Institute Chairman Ward Connerly tomorrow evening in Scottsdale, Arizona to lend support to Arizona's Civil Rights Initiative, which would ban gender and racial-based considerations in the state's governmental hiring and in state university admissions considerations. They will speak before Phoenix's Coalition for a Conservative Majority (CCM) at 7pm PDT at Starfire at the Scottsdale Country Club. The event is open to CCM members and media.

Connerly, a leading advocate for the removal of gender and racial preferences in hiring and university admission processes, is nationally recognized for his successful leadership behind California's Proposition 209, a successful statewide ballot initiative which, in 1996, amended California's state constitution to prohibit gender and racial-based considerations in California's public hiring. He also helped lead a similarly successful amendment to Michigan's state constitution in 2006.

In addition to his appearance tomorrow evening in Scottsdale, Arizona, Johns will appear on Sirius Satellite's "Blog Bunker" show at 5pm EDT on Tuesday June 17, 2008 to discuss the national Presidential election and related topics. Hosted by Sirius's Joe Salzone, the show is available globally on the satellite channel's Indie Talk Station 110.

Please sign the petition to urge Congress to defund and exit the United Nations.

Child sexual exploitation as young as six years old by paid personnel.  Funding and active participation in terrorist activities by paid personnel.  Mentally ill patients are routinely sexually and physically abused by paid personnel.  Involved in illicit gold and ivory and weapons trade and sexual exploitation and rape of Congo women and girls replete with photo and video evidence.  Paid personnel roasting a fourteen year old Somali boy.

This is the organization who would claim moral authority to investigate human rights violations by the United States of America?  Whose appointed commission is headed and bodied by some of the worst human rights violators in history including Sudan, Cuba, and Pakistan.

A waste of billions of dollars annually in fraudulent carbon footprint reduction programs abuses.  It has a reputation for ignoring evidence in its internal investigations including rape and murder.  Its filled with hypocrites who condemned Israel four times compared to the six times it has condemned any of the other 191 countries represented.  Who claim to self police their organization but even their own appointed investigators quit in protest of limiting access and non-application of recommendations.  Against its own charter, it is maneuvering for final authority over any military action by any nation including in case of grave threat even though they have a record of complete inaction on those same threats.  Now it has banned criticism of Islam.

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The Dictators' Roman Holiday

In a display of arrogance and hypocrisy that was outrageous even for the United Nations, UN food development officials last week accused the United States of raising global food prices by subsidizing ethanol production.  Actually, the outrage began even earlier.

Only the United Nations would invite a dictator who has purposefully starved his own people to a summit on the international food crisis. But that is precisely what happened in Rome last week. Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who has starved his political enemies and channeled food aid to only favored groups, was in attendance, as was the Iranian dictator, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It has already been one year since the U.S. Congress voted 411-2 to call on the UN Security Council to punish Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for violating the UN Charter and the UN Convention on Genocide for his repeated incitement of genocide against the Israeli people, yet the Iranian dictator is still welcome at UN events.

True to form, Ahmadinejad used the international spotlight to once again predict the demise of the state of Israel and accuse the U.S. of plotting an attack on him.

Mugabe accused the West, not his own genocidal policies, of starving his people.

In other words, it was a typical gathering for the United Nations.

Europe's Resistance to GM Foods, Not America's Support for Biofuels, Has Contributed to the Global Food Crisis

But the infuriating arrogance of UN bureaucrats lecturing the world's largest provider of food aid - and the single greatest contributor to the UN food fund - cannot be allowed to pass without comment.

In fact, it is the Europeans irrational resistance to genetically modified (GM) crops - aided and abetted by extremists on the left -- that is responsible for much of the hunger in Africa and the rest of the developing world.

GM crops that are commonplace in the U.S. - crops that don't need expensive pesticides and even potentially are drought resistance - are banned in Europe. And Europe and the Left's misinformation about the health and safety of these foods has led most African nations to ban them too for fear of being shut out of lucrative European export markets.

South Africa is the only African nation that grows GM crops. And while food production in the rest of Africa is 20 percent per capita less than it was in 1970, South Africa is producing surplus amounts of crops through biotechnology.

The U.S. Should Refuse to Participate in Future UN Charades

The UN food crisis gathering ignored the issue of GM foods, of course, but it did call on member nations to kick in at least $20 billion a year to help ease global hunger.

President Bush, who has tripled U.S. aid to Africa during his presidency, should ignore this demand and publicly refuse to participate in farces with vicious, murdering thugs like Mugabe and Ahmadinejad like the one in Rome last week.

President Bush should transition U.S. assistance to direct, bilateral forms only. Our willingness to allow UN bureaucrats and international dictators to lecture us in public strengthens them and isolates us. Far from feeding hungry people, it consigns them to lives of poverty, desperation and premature death.

For their good, and for our national self-respect, we should stop being a part this charade.

Your friend,

Newt Gingrich

U.S. does not stand for Uncle Sam, rather we are considered Uncle Sugar by the nations least appreciative yet most benefited by our aid programs.  Let's take a look at votes in the United Nations by a long list of nations wallowing in Uncle Sugar's foreign aid like spoiled hogs:

Egypt votes against the United States 79% of the time.  Yet, Egypt receives $2 billion annually in Foreign Aid.

Jordan votes against the United States 71% of the time.  Yet, Jordan receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time.  Yet, Pakistan receives $6,721,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

India votes against the United States 81% of the time. Yet, India receives $143,699,000 annually in U.S. Foreign Aid.

The Arab states, all recipients of foreign aid, consistently vote against the U.S. by lopsided margins. 

Even Kuwait -- for whose independence American servicemen fought and died -- votes against us 67% of the time!