Greed & Stupidity Don't Mix Well

MIAMI (AP) -- Police in Florida are using the promise of a stimulus check to make some arrests.

Authorities in Fort Lauderdale say they sent letters to fugitives offering them stimulus money. The suspects were asked to call a hot line and set up an appointment to pickup a check from an auditorium where "South Florida Stimulus Coalition" banners hung.

When the fugitives arrived, they were identified and about 75 were arrested on offenses ranging from grand theft to fraud to attempted murder.

Police spokesman Sgt. Frank Sousa says the two-day sting was dubbed "Operation Show Me The Money." Sousa says the sting saved man hours and allowed police to make arrests in a controlled environment.

Sousa said Thursday the department may try something similar in the future.

Coming Soon

Remember my blog post predicting that Israel will bomb Iran some time soon?

http://circumspective.blogspot.com/2009/08/it-won-t-be-long-now-t-ry-not-to-get.html

Well ... read the [condensed] Associated Press report below and then tell me:
Who wants to bet against that happening before the end of this calendar year?

VIENNA (AP) -- Iran is stonewalling the U.N. nuclear watchdog on "possible military dimensions" to its suspect nuclear program, officials said Friday, urging the regime to clarify the mysterious role of a foreign explosives expert and shed light on other issues.

A senior Iranian envoy angrily denounced the assessment as "fabrication," insisting his country has gone out of its way to be transparent and cooperative.

In its latest report, the International Atomic Energy Agency delivered a blunt assessment: "Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities. There remain a number of outstanding issues which give rise to concerns and which need to be clarified to exclude the existence of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program," said the text, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The report contained a reference to a "foreign national with explosives expertise" who apparently assisted the Iranian nuclear program. It did not identify the expert by name or nationality, and officials - pressed by the AP for details - would not elaborate.

"We are very concerned that they are not addressing the concerns of the international community," U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Friday in Washington.

Since August 12th, Iran has installed roughly 1,000 more centrifuges...

Link to previous ("Israel will soon bomb Iran") blog post: http://circumspective.blogspot.com/2009/08/it-won-t-be-long-now-t-ry-not-to-get.html

Feeding the Hungry ...
Why Do I Keep Harping On This Subject?

Please let me explain ... and please don't stop reading this message until you finish it.
Yes. It's a hard message. I don't bother trying to candy-coat the truth, because I don't have to worry about congregation members being "offended" [by the truth] and leaving my church.
So, here is the hard truth:

Who are the sheep and who are the goats?
Matthew 25:31-46: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ...

So who are these sheep and goats? Have you always assumed that because you profess to be a Christian and attend church [and occasionally read the Bible and occasionally pray, etc., etc.], that you will be counted among the sheep? Why have you assumed that? The scriptures seem to indicate just the opposite in many instances.

Jesus himself said, "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

[Do people not claiming to be Christians "prophesy" in Jesus' name? Do people not professing to be Christians drive out demons and perform miracles in Jesus' name? It sounds to me like these goats thought for all the world that they were going to be counted among the sheep.]

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." --Matthew 7:21-27
But what words must we put into practice? What is God's will for us? Well, I don't presume to know what God speaks to each of you individually, but I do know at least one thing that he expects and requires all of us to do. Let's finish reading the words of Jesus in Matthew, chapter 25:

Matthew 25:31-46
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

And what about the scriptures in the books of James and 1st John?
They seem to say the same thing:

I John 3:17-18: If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

JAS 1:22-25: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

JAS 2:14-20: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

JAS 5:1-5: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.

Are you consuming the resources God has given to you ... that He intended for you to use to help feed hungry (starving to death) people? What did you do this month instead of helping to save a few lives -- or a few dozen, or a few hundred? Go to church? Say a prayer for the hungry? Prophesy? Cast out demons in Jesus' name? Sing a song? Lead yet another Bible study? Profess your faith? Go on vacation to the beach? Play a round of golf? Buy another useless gadget?
There's still time to repent (be sorry, ask forgiveness and start acting/living differently).
Life is too short and eternity too long to even risk the possibility that we may be counted among the "goats".

Can we feed everyone? No. Can we feed some? Yes. But which ones? How many? How much money does God want you or I to give to feed the hungry? How can we know?

By asking Him and then waiting and listening for an answer.
Have you even asked lately?
So what did He say?
Are you doing what he said?
Are you giving what he told you to give?

It is estimated that about forty-one thousand children die of starvation every day.
Do you know what it feels like to die of starvation?
I don't either. So I looked it up. I read about it.
It takes a long time. It is slow and painful.

And totally unnecessary for anyone on this earth to die that way.

Yes. God's grace is sufficient. Unless we spend our lives being "hearers" who merely give God lipservice by doing all kinds of super-religious stuff, but never doing the simplest and most obvious act of love and sacrifice: keeping God's children from starving to death.

If you spend your life ignoring those children, pretending they don't exist, that it's not your problem, that God hasn't "called" you to help, letting them die, day after day after day, while you consume the resources God meant for them ...
then, frankly, you deserve to hear the words, "Depart from me...".

That is the plain, hard truth that you probably won't hear from your local church pulpit.

THE WEED-EATER HAIR-DO

What's the deal with the popular new hair-do for guys (you know the one that looks like a mockingbird having a bad feather day)? If I'm not mistaken, it started with homosexuals on television and spread from there. Is that where our heterosexual young men get their "fashion" trends now? From "please notice me" perverts?
By the way, guys ... it looks idiotic. I mean, how much time do you waste every day standing in front of a mirror trying to make your hair look like you haven't combed it in a week and had it cut by a barber wielding a weed-eater? Idiotic ... and transparently narcissistic.
Did I mention idiotic?

WHAT HAPPENED?
I thought they said the recession was over.

A quarterly report released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association found that more than 13 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage have fallen behind on their payments or are in foreclosure.
That's another new record, and an indication that the foreclosure crisis is still getting worse as layoffs continue to soar.

The record-high numbers released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association are being driven by borrowers with traditional fixed-rate mortgages, rather than the shady subprime loans with adjustable rates that kicked off the mortgage crisis. Past experience indicates that foreclosures probably won't stop rising until about six months after layoffs peak. And economists don't expect unemployment, now at 9.4 percent, to crest until this winter at the earliest. New jobless claims rose for the second straight week, disappointing "analysts" (financial weasels, like stock brokers, mortgage brokers and bankers, who make money whenever you spend yours).

But hey, there is some good news. One of those companies that got bail-out money (Morgan Stanley) will add as many as 400 professionals in trading and sales this year, said an anonymous person familiar with the hiring, who did not wish to be identified because the job additions were not formally announced.

Now, doesn't that make you feel better?

My prediction: The real recession is just getting started. False hopes and declarations of blue skies ahead will continue for a few months, and then ... even the more entrenched liars will have to admit what is happening. Once they do, the free fall of our economy will begin in earnest.

DYING TO SELF
and Following Christ Is Such A Difficult Thing To Do ...
Frankly, I Don't Believe Anyone Can Do All He Commmanded.
So Where Does That Leave Us?

Repenting.

Asking For Forgiveness.

And Being Thankful For The Unmerited Favor Of God.

LUKE 6:27-46:
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' lend to `sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

"Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?

Repent.

Ask for forgiveness.

And be thankful.

Very thankful.

Obesity: Our National Disgrace

Everyone wants to join the debate about health care, so here's my two cents worth. People who choose obesity over self-control should be made responsible for a greater portion of the cost of health care. If you want to let your appetite be your god, then you may choose to do so in a rich, free society. But, by God, you should have to pay for it ... and not just figuratively, but also literally. Why should I have to work to pay for the consequences of your unbridled appetite?

I am so sick of tip-toeing around the subject of obesity. It is not a disease! Its not a "diability". Its not a "condition". It is, in fact, something you have chosen to become (in 99.99% of cases). Yes, this is a "free society" -- for the time being -- but if you are going to keep choosing, day after day, to disdain exercise and eat like a self-destructive glutton, then you should be required to pay four or five times as much for your health care as people who choose to live a reasonably healthy lifestyle. That's what they do with smokers. They penalize them for their unhealthy choice. So ... why is this same principle not applied to gluttons? Obesity "costs" our society more than cigarette smoking.

I just came back from running a few errands (to the grocery store, gas station, etc.). Two out of every three people I saw were obese. This is a national disgrace. It is disgusting and pathetic and ... disgraceful. Motorized shopping carts for fat people?! When you are so fat and so lazy that you don't even have the will to walk around the store to buy the crap that is making you fat ...
God forbid you might get a few minutes of exercise by walking and actually burn a calorie!

In the vast majority of cases, obesity is not the result of any "disease" or medical condition, as some would have us believe. It is simply the result, in most cases, not all, of a lack of self-discipline. It is the result of unbridled self-indulgence. And if you want to claim that you are "addicted" to food, go ahead. So what? I've been addicted to a few things in my life, too. I'm not addicted to them any more. Do you know why? Because I made a choice (actually many choices over a long period of time) to stop feeding my addictions. It is a matter of choice.

The Bible refers to the kind of self-indulgence that leads to obesity as "gluttony", but gluttony has become so prevalent that even pastors of fundamentalist churches are afraid to speak or preach against it any more. Why? Because they would probably lose more than half their congregation, all people ready to run away to a different church if anyone so much as suggests that maybe they need to think about developing a little more self-discipline.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think people who are dealing with obvious and uncontrolled drug abuse or alcohol abuse problems are usually installed into "ministry" or leadership positions in the church. So why do we allow obese people to serve in those same positions. Obesity (gluttony) is evidence of the very same character flaws that produce all kinds of other sin. Why is everyone afraid to say, "Hey, Pastor, go sit down and be quiet until you lose about 75 pounds. You don't have much credibility because you are obviously a self-indulgent glutton.Try skipping one of your five meals or ten snacks tomorrow. Have you ever heard of 'fasting'? ... I didn't think so."

Its all about self-indulgence versus self-denial.
It really is that simple folks.

We just try to make it complicated so we can hide behind all the speculative theories and fancy rationalizations, behind all the ridiculous excuses and psychological jargon that substitutes for the plain, simple truth:
You're FAT. You need to control your appetite. Period.

Many people who are obese don't even realize that they are, by definition, "obese". "Oh ... yeah ... I'm over weight, they think to themselves." NO. You are obese! It's just that when you only compare yourself to the other overweight and obese people around you, you seem almost average. And now, with 60% of our population obese, that's an easy distortion of reality to adopt. It also feels better to all our sensitive little psyches to delude ourselves than it does to accept reality.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this national disgrace is the prevalence of obesity among children. There are many types of abuse, but one that is being overlooked is the abuse of making food so constantly accessible to your children that they become obese before they even get through puberty. That is more than lazy parenting. It is child abuse. Obesity, as I'm sure you already know is a major contributing factor to numerous medical problems, not to mention the poor self-esteem and related psychological and social adjustment problems that usually accompany child obesity.

The main point of this rant once more, so you'll get it: if you are going to keep choosing, day after day, to disdain exercise and eat like a gluttonous, self-destructive glutton, then ...
you should be required to pay four or five times as much for your health care as people who choose to live a reasonably healthy lifestyle.

All right. I'm done ... for the moment. Now you can go get into your motorized shopping cart and buy yourself another five gallons of ice cream. Be careful not to accidentally throw a fresh vegetable or a piece of fruit into your cart. Wouldn't wanna waste good money on something like that! Oh, and don't forget to stop by that fast-food drive-through on your way home and get a couple of those giant, grease-dripping piles of fat that you all so affectionately refer to as "burgers".

Was this blog post written to you?
Gee, I hope I didn't hurt your big fat feelings.

What have they ever done to us?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon presented a grim portrait of the Afghanistan war Thursday, offering no assurances about how long Americans will be fighting there or how many U.S. combat troops it will take to win. With 62,000 U.S. troops already in Afghanistan ...

"The administration has raised the stakes by transforming the Afghan war from a limited intervention into a more ambitious and potentially risky counterinsurgency," the Senate report concluded. "These core questions about commitment and sacrifice can be answered only through a rigorous and informed national debate."

Appearing alongside Gates, the nation's second-highest ranking military officer agreed there is no date certain for an exit. Military officials [who know better than politicians, of course] believe the Afghanistan mission can only succeed if troops are there far longer - anywhere from five years to 12 years.

_______________________________________________________________

I will ask this question until American troops are no longer there, or until I die, whichever comes first:
Why are we killing people (including non-combatant civilians) in Afghanistan?
What have they ever done to us?!
Osama Bin Laden isn't even there any more.

This country must be populated and governed by some of the most arrogant, imperialistic bunch of bigoted yahoos in the history of the world. How much revenge is enough? Do you think maybe we've overreacted just a tad? The twin towers was nine years ago. Between 13,000 and 17,000 people (depending on what source you consult) are killed each year by drunk drivers! Are we going to declare war on drunk drivers? Invade their front yards with tanks? Kill their families? Killed by firearms in this country: more than 28,000 a year.
About 41,000 children die of starvation in the world every day!
Maybe you need to read that statistic again.
Forty-one thousand every day.
Who is angry about that? Why haven't we declared war on starvation and hunger and malnutrition?
Why are we still obsessed, nine years later, with 3,000 lives?

Here is the answer to the question I keep asking (the question for which no one has offered an answer): We are still killing people in Afghanistan because we are afraid, and fear makes people do bad things. We are bullies beating up on the scrawniest kid in school -- because we are compelled by our collective insecurities to keep "proving" that we are the toughest kid on the playground. We are there because they are the poor step-child of Islamic countries and none of their siblings has the guts to step in and try to stop us.
Well, we may have proved once again that we're the toughest, but we are also proving that we are no longer the smartest or the most Christian. We are international bullies -- arrogant, blood-thirsty bullies. This "war" (military oppression of another culture) is obscene. The amazing part is that we have 62,000 troops in that country for no good reason and very few Americans seem to even notice or care.

I know ... Americans have more pressing issues to contemplate and pray about, like whether or not they will refinance their mortgages for the third time so they can go out and buy that 52" plasma TV before football season starts.

Yes. God bless America. Forgive me for interrupting your prayer-filled lives.

Like I've explained before, I'm not against the troops. I disagree with the decision-makers. I hope all our sons and daughters come home safely ... tomorrow.

CHINA DEAD SERIOUS ABOUT FRAUD

BEIJING (AP) -- China executed two business people for defrauding hundreds of investors out of more than $127 million, calling the scam a serious blow to social stability, state media said Thursday.

Though usually reserved for violent crimes, death sentences are also applied for nonviolent offenses that involve large sums of money or are seen to threaten social order.

The two were executed Wednesday.

And we're still housing Charles Manson in a California prison forty years after he committed his mass murders.

HOW LONG DO YOU THINK OBAMA'S FRIENDS WOULD LAST IN CHINA?
Maybe we could institute the death penalty for politicians who forget to pay their taxes. I bet almost no one would "forget" anymore. ... Just thinkin' out loud here. Stop me if you hear something you like.

It Won't Be Long Now

Try not to get too distracted by all these silly (relatively speaking) political issues. If you are not truly ready to meet your Maker, I recommend you take care of that very soon.

On May 28th, I wrote about the one real issue facing all of us:

"... In Iran, on the other hand, Mahmood I'm-a-dinner-jacket seems to have evil principles giving structure to his grandiose thought processes. He seems to have darkness as his guide and death to Israeli and American societies as the primary objectives in his life. ...He just keeps moving forward toward his stated goals, while the rest of us do nothing to stop him from reaching those goals. And he will probably reach them in the very near future (within a year or two).

So let's do the difficult thing now, because what is difficult now may be impossible later ... Let's act NOW to reduce [Iran's] ability to "bring America to its knees". Later might be a little too late. All we have to do is keep our mouths shut except to express full support for the Isrealis, and then either help them or stay out of their way when the time comes. ... [W]e will all be quietly relieved and grateful when the Isreali Air Force effectively relieves Iran of its nuclear capabilities. All of us. Including the most vehement and far left critics. They just won't be honest enough to admit it."

Today, there was this story:

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel hardened its insistence Monday that it would do anything it felt necessary to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, just the ultimatum the United States hoped not to hear as it tried to nudge Iran to the bargaining table.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak used a brief news conference with Gates to insist three times that Israel would not rule out any response - an implied warning that it would consider a pre-emptive strike to thwart Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

"We clearly believe that no option should be removed from the table," Barak said. "This is our policy. We mean it. We recommend to others to take the same position, but we cannot dictate it to anyone."

Israel considers itself the prime target of any eventual Iranian bomb. Iran says it is merely trying to develop nuclear reactors for domestic power generation. Israeli leaders fear the U.S. prizes its outreach to Iran over its historic ties to Israel and appears resigned to the idea that Iran will soon be able to build a nuclear weapon.

Obama says he has accepted no such thing. Still, the United States argues that an Israeli attack against Iran would upset the fragile security balance in the Middle East, perhaps triggering a new nuclear arms race and leaving everyone, including Israel and Iran, worse off.

All this comes at a time when Washington's policy of dialogue with Iran itself has hit an impasse because of that country's election turmoil.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "reiterated the seriousness (with) which Israel views Iran's nuclear ambitions and the need to utilize all available means to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapons capability," Netanyahu's office said following his meeting with Gates.

Both Barak and Gates said time is short. Other officials have said Iran is perhaps one to three years away from being able to build a nuclear weapon.

It won't be long now.

Gee ... I Wonder Why They Don't Like Us Over There?

Here's a cute story about
American troops routinely murdering Iraqi civilians:

... a story that compels me to once again revisit the question:
Why do we still have troops in Afghanistan and Iraq?

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Soldiers from an Army unit that had ten infantrymen accused of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter after returning to civilian life described a breakdown in discipline during their Iraq deployment in which troops murdered civilians, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Some Fort Carson, Colo.-based soldiers have had trouble adjusting to life back in the United States, saying they refused to seek help, or were belittled or punished for seeking help. Others say they were ignored by their commanders, or coped through drug and alcohol abuse before they allegedly committed crimes, The Gazette of Colorado Springs said.

The Gazette based its report on months of interviews with soldiers and their families, medical and military records, court documents and photographs.

Several soldiers said unit discipline deteriorated while in Iraq.

"Toward the end, we were so mad and tired and frustrated," said Daniel Freeman. "You came too close, we lit you up. You didn't stop, we ran your car over with the Bradley," an armored fighting vehicle.

With each roadside bombing, soldiers would fire in all directions "and just light the whole area up," said Anthony Marquez, a friend of Freeman in the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment. "If anyone was around, that was their fault. We smoked 'em."

Taxi drivers got shot for no reason, and others were dropped off bridges after interrogations, said Marcus Mifflin, who was eventually discharged with post traumatic stress syndrome.

"You didn't get blamed unless someone could be absolutely sure you did something wrong," he said

Soldiers interviewed by The Gazette cited lengthy deployments, being sent back into battle after surviving war injuries that would have been fatal in previous conflicts, and engaging in some of the bloodiest combat in Iraq. The soldiers describing those experiences were part of the 3,500-soldier unit now called the 4th Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team.

Since 2005, some brigade soldiers also have been involved in brawls, beatings, rapes, DUIs, drug deals, domestic violence, shootings, stabbings, kidnapping and suicides.

The unit was deployed for a year to Iraq's Sunni Triangle in September 2004. Sixty-four unit soldiers were killed and more than 400 wounded - about double the average for Army brigades in Iraq, according to Fort Carson. In 2007, the unit served a bloody 15-month mission in Baghdad. It's currently deployed to the Khyber Pass region in Afghanistan.

Marquez was the first in his brigade to kill someone after an Iraq tour. In 2006, he used a stun gun to shock a drug dealer in Widefield, Colo., in a dispute over a marijuana sale, then shot and killed him.

Marquez's mother, Teresa Hernandez, warned Marquez's sergeant at Fort Carson her son was showing signs of violent behavior, abusing alcohol and pain pills and carrying a gun. "I told them he was a walking time bomb," she said.

Hernandez said the sergeant later taunted Marquez about her phone call.

"If I was just a guy off the street, I might have hesitated to shoot," Marquez told The Gazette in the Bent County Correctional Facility, where he is serving a 30-year prison term. "But after Iraq, it was just natural."

The Army trains soldiers to be that way, said Kenneth Eastridge, an infantry specialist serving 10 years for accessory to murder.

"The Army pounds it into your head until it is instinct: Kill everybody, kill everybody," he said. "And you do. Then they just think you can just come home and turn it off."

Both soldiers were wounded, sent back into action and saw friends and officers killed in their first deployment. On numerous occasions, explosions shredded the bodies of civilians, others were slain in sectarian violence - and the unit had to bag the bodies.

"Guys with drill bits in their eyes," Eastridge said. "Guys with nails in their heads."

Last week, the Army released a study of soldiers at Fort Carson that found that the trauma of fierce combat and soldier refusals or obstacles to seeking mental health care may have helped drive some to violence at home. It said more study is needed.

While most unit soldiers coped post-deployment, a handful went on to kill back home in Colorado.

Many returning soldiers did seek counseling.

"We're used to seeing people who are depressed and want to hurt themselves. We're trained to deal with that," said Davida Hoffman, director of the privately operated First Choice Counseling Center in Colorado Springs. "But these soldiers were depressed and saying, 'I've got this anger, I want to hurt somebody.' We weren't accustomed to that."

At Fort Carson, Eastridge and other soldiers said they lied during an army screening about their deployment that was designed to detect potential behavioral problems.

Sergeants sometimes refused to let soldiers get PTSD help or taunted them, said Andrew Pogany, a former Fort Carson special forces sergeant who investigates complaints for the advocacy group Veterans for America.

Soldier John Needham described a number of alleged crimes in a December 2007 letter to the Inspector General's Office of Fort Carson. In the letter, obtained by The Gazette, Needham said that a sergeant shot a boy riding a bicycle down the street for no reason.

Another sergeant shot a man in the head while questioning him, lashed the man's body to his Humvee and drove around the neighborhood. Needham also claimed sergeants removed victims' brains.

The Army's criminal investigation division interviewed unit soldiers and said it couldn't substantiate the allegations.

The Army has declared soldiers' mental health a top priority.

"When we see a problem, we try to identify it and really learn what we can do about it. That is what we are trying to do here," said Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, Fort Carson's commander. "There is a culture and a stigma that needs to change."

Fort Carson officers are trained to help troops showing stress signs, and the base has doubled its number of behavioral-health counselors. Soldiers seeing an Army doctor for any reason undergo a mental health evaluation.

Nice, huh?

there's something fishy about that old lady

CHICAGO (AP) -- Authorities said a 86-year-old woman charged with shoplifting wrinkle cream and other items from a Chicago grocery store has been arrested 61 times since 1956. Ella Orko was arrested Sunday afternoon on the North Side after she allegedly stuffed $252 worth of groceries into her pants, including cosmetics, salmon, batteries and instant coffee.

She was charged with felony shoplifting. Police said Orko has gone by as many as 20 aliases in the past. Court records indicate that she has now been arrested 61 times and has 13 convictions for shoplifting. She was arrested the first time in 1956 in Chicago for petty larceny.

[Prior to a strip search, Ms. Orko was asked by a female seargent: "Are you just having a really bad hygiene day, ma'am, or are you actually hiding unrefrigerated salmon in your underpants?"]

ARE WE ACTUALLY DEBATING THIS?

Why is there even a debate about whether or not the government should become heavily involved in (or even control) health care in this country?

The people who are not opposed to more government involvement just need to visit the average Veteran's Administration (VA) hospital and/or have a conversation about government-provided health care with a few veterans who have been receiving it for a while. I am fairly certain that would end the debate.

Veteran's Hospitals are the worst hospitals in the country by almost any standard of measure, and the "care" provided through the Veteran's Administration is the worst in the country, hands down.
That is not even debatable.

This is the banking system all over again. This is the auto industry all over again. Why are 50% of the citizens in this country so slow to learn?
The only people who will benefit from Obama's proposed health care reform are the drug company executives and the friends of government officials.

So, if you think you want government-run health care system, go hang out at a VA hospital for a while and ask some veterans how well things are going.

What we ought to be debating is how to make other options (private options) available to veterans, not how to force the rest of us into a system as pathetic as the Veteran's Administration. How about more choices for them, not fewer for us.

Don't Be Naive.
Be Prepared.

Have you heard? The "recession" is over. The economy is "leveling off".

Don't be naive.

• The number of foreclosures rose 7 percent from June to July. Banks repossessed more than 87,000 homes in July, up from about 79,000 homes a month earlier.
• The federal government has "monetized" more than 1.2 trillion dollars of its own debt since Obama took office, including hundreds of billions more just last week.

If you don't know what that means, I'll tell you: Hyper-inflation is inevitable now. The result of that ... probably economic chaos, the big crash. Reality is about to smack down the once great United States of America. The mass delusion will finally be revealed: the church in America (Christian believers in this country) are in the same position as was the church in Laodicea:

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, `I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
--Revelation 3:14-22

On February 5th, I wrote: "A wise person once observed that people (populations, cultures, societies) usually end up getting the government they deserve. I also believe that, which means the freedoms we have been abusing and taking for granted in the United States, and the ever-increasing level of collective greed and self-interest that motivates our decisions and actions will have (and is already having) the effect of an ever-decreasing level of freedom and prosperity."

That "ever-decreasing level of prosperity" will suddenly plummet in coming years. Be prepared for it. At least think it through. How will you respond when it happens? How will you live?
Remember: "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon [money]."

-- Matthew 6:24

SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

Definition from Wikipedia: A broad class of theories that try to explain the ways in which people form states and/or maintain social order. The notion of the social contract implies that the people give up some rights to a government or other authority in order to receive or maintain social order.

Definition from an episode of House: Collaborative lies. Giving someone a hand who maybe needs to deceive himself. For example you tell me that my nose suits my face and, in return, I don't mention that the pants you're wearing make you look even fatter than you look in your other clothes.

Thus, in a sense, they are very much the same theory. In the first, people give up rights to a government in order to maintain social order (or so they are led to believe), and in the second, people give up the ability to know and tell the truth in exchange for not hurting each other's feelings.
Gosh, that second one sounds sooo worth it! What a great contract ... exclaimed the Father of Lies with utmost glee.

[For those who would like to read more about Social Contract Theory: Thomas Hobbes (1651), John Locke (1689) and Jean-Jaques Rousseau (1762) are the most famous philosophers of contractarianism, which formed the theoretical groundwork of democracy and republicanism. Just Google those names and you'll have more to read than you ever really wanted to read on the subject.]

Speaking of lies, let's talk about lies for a few minutes ... shall we?

To lie is to state something that one knows to be false or that one has not reasonably ascertained to be true with the intention that it be taken for the truth. One may lie to oneself as well as to others. In fact, lying to oneself may be even more undesirable and destructive than lying to others. At least when you lie intentionally to another, you know that what you have said is a lie. But to be self-deceived -- that is, to tell oneself a lie and believe it to be the truth -- is a dangerous position in which to be.

Types of lies

Lies come in all shapes and sizes. For example, one of the more common lies is told when someone submits a statement as truth, without knowing for certain whether or not it actually is true. Although the statement may be possible or plausible, it is not based on fact. Rather, it is based on a certain amount of speculation and could be more accurately described as an educated guess. However, the person boldly asserting it conveniently fails to qualify the statement by using words such as, "I believe ... " or "I read somewhere that ..." or "I am fairly certain that ...".

Lying by omission

One lies by omission by omitting an important fact, deliberately leaving another person with a misconception. Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions.

White lie

A white lie would cause only relatively minor discord if it were uncovered, and typically offers some benefit to the hearer. White lies are often used to avoid offense, such as complimenting something one finds unattractive. In this case, the lie is told to avoid the harmful realistic implications of the truth. As a concept, it is largely defined by local custom and cannot be clearly separated from other lies with any authority.

Noble lie

A noble lie is one which would normally cause discord if it were uncovered, but which offers some benefit to the liar and assists in an orderly society, therefore potentially beneficial to others. It is often told to maintain law, order and safety.

Emergency lie

An emergency lie is a strategic lie told when the truth may not be told because, for example, harm to a third party would result. For example, a neighbor might lie to an enraged wife about the whereabouts of her unfaithful husband, because said wife might reasonably be expected to inflict physical injury should she encounter her husband in person.

Perjury

The act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law, or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime, because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court to remain intact, witness testimony must be relied on as truthful.

Bluffing

To bluff is to pretend to have a capability or intention which one does not actually possess.

Misleading/Dissembling

A misleading statement is one where there is no outright lie, but still retains the purpose of getting someone to believe in an untruth. "Dissembling" likewise describes the presentation of facts in a way that is literally true, but intentionally misleading.

Exaggeration

I think we're all familiar with this one.

Jocose lies

Jocose lies are those which are meant in jest, and are usually understood as such by all present parties. Teasing and sarcasm are examples.

Contextual lies

One can state part of the truth out of context, knowing that without complete information, it gives a false impression. Likewise, one can actually state accurate facts, yet deceive with them. To say "yeah, that's right, I slept with your best friend" utilizing a sarcastic, offended tone, may cause the listener to assume the speaker did not mean what he said, when in fact he did.

Puffery

An exaggerated claim typically found in advertising and publicity announcements, such as "the highest quality at the lowest price," or "always votes in the best interest of all the people," or "even a jeweler cannot tell it from a genuine diamond."

Lying in Trade

The seller of a product or service may advertise untrue facts about the product or service in order to gain sales, especially by competitive advantage. Many countries have enacted laws that hold sellers liable for omission of any material fact that the buyer relies upon.

Lie by obsolete signage

Examples are the continued use of old stationery that has printed information such as a previous telephone number, or advertising that remains painted on a wall after an enterprise has ceased business.

Psychology of lying

Young children learn from experience that stating an untruth can avoid punishment for misdeeds, before they develop the theory of mind necessary to understand why it works. In this stage of development, children will sometimes tell outrageous and unbelievable lies, because they lack the conceptual framework to judge whether a statement is believable, or even to understand the concept of believability. When children first learn how lying works, they lack the moral understanding of when to refrain from doing it. It takes years of watching people tell lies, and the results of these lies, to develop the ability to lie convincingly.

Morality of lying

The philosophers Saint Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Emmanuel Kant, condemned all lying. According to all three, there are no circumstances in which one may lie. One must be murdered, suffer torture, or endure any other hardship, rather than lie, even if the only way to protect oneself is to lie. Each of these philosophers gave several arguments against lying, all compatible with each other.

Telling one, or even a few lies does not make one a "liar". However, habitual or compulsive lying or an excessive or abnormal propensity for lying and exaggerating does qualify one as a "liar". Jesus refers to Satan as the father of lies (John 8:44) and Paul commands Christians "Do not lie to one another" (Colossians 3:9, Cf.Leviticus 19:11). God says "..all liars shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." [Rev 21:8]

What do you think about that "social contract" (agreement to lie or to not speak the truth to each other) now?

A liar is a person who tends to lie repeatedly. The more one lies (big, small, white, by omission, or whatever), the easier it becomes to tell more lies ... and the more difficult it becomes to stop lying.

Self-deception is the most dangerous form of lie. How can your conscience, or a friend ... or God pull you back from the edge of that Lake if you have been telling yourself lies for so long that you can no longer even recognize the truth ... for so long that your own conscience is no longer even a part of the equation, having been deadened by repeated rejections? That is a dangerous place to live, folks.

Because it is a matter of life and death (literally and eternally), I recommend we all ask God to help us see where we are habitually or repeatedly deceiving ourselves or others.

Are you a Christian? Or do you just claim to be one? Do you believe the Bible? Do you believe that all liars will have their part in the lake that burns? Are you so smug or so arrogant or so self-deceived that you don't even think you need to pray about this one? I hope not. For your sake.