Health Update with News Links, Bits, Pieces and Sorta Rule 5

I haven't been visiting blogs much or posting much lately because I haven't been feeling well. My pain has increased so much to the point that a good portion of the time my strong pain meds don't even relieve my pain that much.  In addition to my endo pain I also have pretty bad joint and bone pain. So far the docs can't figure out what's causing the pain. Plus my red blood cells are too big which cause some other symptoms but the doctors are having trouble figuring the cause of that. I have quite a few people in my life whom I am so ever grateful for knowing. I will hopefully be able to visit your blogs bit by bit this weekend.

From the AP: 

The intelligence linking Syrian President Bashar Assad or his inner circle to an alleged chemical weapons attack is no "slam dunk," with questions remaining about who actually controls some of Syria's chemical weapons stores and doubts about whether Assad himself ordered the strike, U.S. intelligence officials say.

So it's no slam dunk. I am NOT for going into Syria at all but if President Obama decides to use our military in Syria he should sure as hell make 100% sure that chemical weapons are linked to Assad.

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain faced quite a bit of backlash over his rushed response so now he is backing down, saying that he will wait for a report from the United Nations.

The only black U.S. Senator, Tim Scott, wan't invited to the event commemorating Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech. I believe ALL of the speakers at the commemoration were Democrats. The commemoration excluded African Americans who don't believe The Democrat Way.  And they want everyone else to be inclusionary? Huh! So much for MLK's message for unity and his standing up against discrimination being honored. To discriminate and exclude when celebrating MLK's accomplishments is like giving his legacy a middle finger.

Fast food workers across the country went on strike yesterday to demand higher wages. At present minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. They are demanding to be paid $15 per hour.  First of all these are not jobs where you have to be skilled. Second, do they really want to pay at the very least double what they are paying now for food items at fast food restaurants?  Third, these types of jobs were created for teenagers and those in college, not people trying to raise a family. Fourth, there are plenty of people who get second jobs to help pay for things. Fifth, this is one more reason for women to keep their legs closed, wait to meet a great guy and start a family.


Here is Megan Fox modeling for Avon's new fragrance.

Did Obama Admin Authorize Chemical Weapon Attack To Frame Assad?

Yahoo has just posted news of leaked documents which show that the Obama administration gave a green light to a plan that would use Qatar to fund the rebels in Syria to use chemical weapons. Then this would spur military action from the U.S. and garner support from other countries in the West as well. Apparently within the documents there is an email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor Britam Defence which authorized this scheme.  I don't know whether the claims being made are accurate or false.  Would our peace prize president tarnish his award by conjuring up a plan to get the U.S. into another war? 

Blindness About Obama by ChurchMilitantTV

Spot on! The man deserves a standing ovation. I hope the bishops and laity listen to this. Wake up!

New Mexico Court Says Christian Photographers Must Compromise Their Beliefs

A New Mexico court says F you to Christian photographers religious beliefs. A New Mexico court says that the Christian photographers must violate their beliefs, violate their consciences.  From now on they are going to be forced to photograph at gay ceremonies. The court says they must compromise their beliefs. Bullshit! 

What about the gay couple respecting the beliefs of the Christian photographers?  The judge obviously has a warped interpretation of the Constitution and religious freedom.  The gay couple did find another photographer so what's the big deal?  This case shows the vindictive nature of homosexual activists.

Alliance Defending Freedom is the legal firm defending the photographers. Their attorney Jordan Lorence said they are considering appealing to the Supreme Court. I hope they do.

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled Thursday that two Christian photographers who declined to photograph a same-sex union violated the state’s Human Rights Act. One justice said the photographers were “compelled by law to compromise the very religious beliefs that inspire their lives.”

In 2006 Vanessa Willock asked Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin, owners of Elane Photography, to photograph a same-sex “commitment ceremony” in the town of Taos. 

Huguenin and her husband declined the job because their Christian beliefs were in conflict with the message communicated by the ceremony. 

Willock found another photographer at a cheaper price but nevertheless filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission accusing Elane Photography of discrimination based on sexual orientation. She was later found guilty and ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines. 

Bosson said the Christian photographers are now “compelled by law to compromise the very religious beliefs that inspire their lives.” 

A recent Rasmussen survey found that 85 percent of Americans support the right of a photographer to refuse participating in a same-sex wedding. 

Attorney Jordan Lorence said the ruling in effect means gay rights now trump religious rights. 

“Government-coerced expression is a feature of dictatorships that has no place in a free country,” Lorence said. “This decision is a blow to our client and every American’s right to live free.” 

Lorence said the New Mexico Supreme Court undermined the constitutionally protected freedoms of expression and conscience. 

“If Elane Photographer does not have her rights of conscience protected, then basically nobody does,” he told Fox News. “What you have here is the government punishing someone who says, ‘I, in good conscience, cannot communicate the messages of this wedding.’” 

Ken Klukowsi, of the Family Research Council, called the ruling profoundly disturbing. 

“This decision may bring to Americans’ attention the serious threat to religious liberty posed by overbearing government agencies when it comes to redefining marriage,” he said. “Rather than live and let live, this is forcing religious Americans to violate the basic teachings of their faith or lose their jobs.” 

“This is very coercive, very authoritarian to crush those who do not agree and make public examples of them – and in a free society, that simply should not be,” he said.

You can read the entire article here.

This is one more example of how citizens religious freedom is under assault in the U.S.

Asking for Prayers for my Mom

My mom has had tremors for a number of years and it has progressively gotten worse so she is having surgery tomorrow.  She has pain and headaches too.  A neurosurgeon is going to try and locate what is causing her tremors in her brain. I am praying so, so much that this helps my mom, that this relieves her tremors, pain, and headaches.

Lord, look upon Mary(my Mom) with eyes of mercy, may Your healing hand rest upon her, may Your lifegiving powers flow into every cell of her body and into the depths of Mary's soul, cleansing, purifying, restoring her to wholeness and strength for service in Your Kingdom.
Amen.

Afterburner with Bill Whittle -- World Gone Mad

Jesse Jackson Speaks Out Condemns African Americans Who Beat White Boy on Bus

I am pleasantly surprised to hear that Jesse Jackson has spoken out against the three teenage African Americans who beat a white boy on a bus.

Jackson said, “We are trying to make contact with the family of the kid because we should discourage people attacking people, whether it’s black, white, white, black, black, that people should stop attacking people. We must learn to live together respectfully in a civilized way. And it becomes white, black, black white, it just makes matters worse, it does not make matters better.”

I am fully agree with Jesse Jackson. Everyone should respect one another regardless of skin color.  More black civil rights leaders need to come forward to denounce this type of behavior when it is committed by blacks. In my opinion it is wrong for them to ONLY speak up when something tragic happens to a black person at the hands of a white individual. If everyone speaks up more often when beatings occur whether it's white on white, black on black, white on black, black on white maybe they would stop or at least decrease substantially. 

Help Mom Caregiving for 9YO Daughter with Extremely Debilitating Cerebral Palsy ( Who is Terminal) Win Cruise for Family - Please Vote

This is a repost from Maggie's Notebook. 

Grumpy Opinions notified me that one of his readers and an occasional contributor to his site has an 9-year-old granddaughter with Cerebral Palsy. She has never walked without assistance. She cannot speak without a specialized computer program. Now she has also been diagnosed with “mitochondrial degeneration.” Her name is Alexa Savage and her devoted Mom, Kimberly has been nominated to receive a “caregiver” cruise. If she wins, she can take the whole family along, including Alexa. All you have to do is visit this site and cast a vote for Kimberly Savage. When I voted, I was not asked to donate, didn’t even see a place to donate. It’s just your vote and it will mean so much to this family. Please bookmark the site and vote once a day through August 24th. Here’s what Alexa’s grandfather sent to Grumpy Opinions:

Alexa Savage, 9-years-old
To help her mother, Kimberly Savage, win a caregiver cruise (and take along the entire family) click the photo and vote. You will NOT be asked for a donation.

Alexa Savage is 8 years old. She has had cerebral palsy since birth. She has never been able to walk or speak without assistance, but she can use a computer, and goes to school in 2d grade. She speaks thru a specialized talking computer. She likes to read, but has trouble with math. She likes to swim, but has to watch others run and play. Most days she plays with her video collection on her free time. Her parents do all they can with their time and resources to get Alexa the therapy and support she needs.

Alexa has recently been diagnosed with “mitochondrial degeneration”. Basically, the “engines” inside her cells that process nutrients are breaking down. As new cells grow, there are fewer and fewer working mitochondria. Eventually this will mean that she can’t sustain life and will go into seizures and her heart will stop. We don’t know how much longer Alexa may last. She is already 3 years past the doctors’ best-case estimates.

Her parents would like to take Alexa on one last adventure, a cruise, as long as she is still functioning rather well. It would mean a lot to the entire family. Alexa would be able to take along her sister and brother on this cruise as well, which would do them all a lot of good. We need a little help from you, however. Please do all you can. Click on the link below and that is all we ask. No donation, just a vote. This is not a phony gimmick or some marketing ploy, but a real request to help a real girl and her family, and it won’t cost you anything. Just a vote.

http://cruise.caregiverstress.com/view-vote-for-entries/?k=Kimberly+Savage

Please vote once a day till August 24.

The following was written by Alexa’s grandfather at the Caregiving Cruise website:

My daughter, Kimberly Savage, has been caring for her 9 yr old daughter with Celebral Palsy (who doesn’t walk or talk) for 9 years. In addition she is now working 40-60 hrs a week at a full time job since her husband, Jason, was layed off in January 2013.

Alexa requires 24 hr assistance as she can not do anything for herself. My daughter, works like Superwoman to accomplish everything she does everyday. She’s an incredible human being. Her stress level is beyond the stroke level and she so very very much deserves this time away.

In addition she has two other school age children ages 6 and 11. She is constantly helping others with special needs to get things to help them. She is a huge advocant for others. She goes way out of her way to help so many children and adults, I’d love to think someone could help her. God bless you and your caregiver award committee.

Please vote every day. There is time to get Mrs. Savage to the No. 1 spot from her current 91. Bloggers, please feel free to take this post and use it from your site to help this family. 

Is NSA Surveillance Stopping Terrorist Events? Or Causing More Harm than Good?

In an article called Thanks to NSA Surveillance, Americans are More Worried about Civil Liberties than Terrorism Jacob Sullum points out that in a pew research poll more citizens are concerned about civil liberties than ever before. An increasing number of citizens believe that the government's counterterrorism policies "have gone too far in restricting civil liberties". 

The fact that NSA surveillance has violated our privacy, has ignored and infringed on our constitutional rights is a sign of government intrusion and overreaching power gone wild. The NSA surveillance's power hungry trip invading peoples privacy on so many levels is so horribly wrong. 

On the upside it is a good thing that more people are waking up to the ever increasing assaults on our civil liberties. Although it is a mixed bag since the results in the pew survey also show an increase in support for "the government’s collection of telephone and internet data as part of anti-terrorism efforts".  How is it possible for citizens to be concerned about civil liberties but more people also approve of the NSA surveillance program? That doesn't make sense to me.  We obviously have some work to do to help the citizenry understand the relationship between the NSA surveillance program and the infringement of our civil liberties.  The NSA surveillance program is one huge piece of the pie intruding on our civil liberties.  

According to the article it is apparent that the NSA has greatly exaggerated its effectiveness in preventing terrorist attacks. Apparently most if not all the terrorist attacks could have been prevented using different means or the program only played a small part in averting terrorist attacks. 

"I have not seen any indication that the bulk phone records program yielded any unique intelligence that was not also available to the government through less intrusive means," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

 So our civil liberties have been violated in the name of safety for a useless deficient program?  I am reminded of an often misquoted Ben Franklin quote:  "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety."  There is a popular misquote that adds an idea that 'ol Ben may have missed, and I think there is even more wisdom in the misquote than in the founding father's original words, for we have gained no additional safety with this devil's bargain:  "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." (bold emphasis mine).








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Listen to Michelle Malkin's Fiery Takedown of Al Sharpton

Michelle Malkin pulls no punches in her most beautiful rant on Al Sharpton. She is awesome and spot on! Al Sharpton thrives on racial divisiveness and stoking the flames. He is despicable.

H/T The Blaze