Ted’s Remarks About Stuff
October thru December, 2010


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Dec. 31, 2010

I ended the year eating two of my favorite meals.  Virtually everyday, beginning about 11:00 a.m., I have raw oats with skim milk and cut up fruit and almonds mixed in, along with a toasted corn tortilla with peanut butter.  The fruit I have is usually two apples, a pear, an orange (including the peel), a banana, red grapes, and whatever else might be in season.

I made two bowls of it today.  Tonight and tomorrow are my Sabbath (sunset to sunset), so I made a portion for tomorrow, sort of like how Moses and the Israelites gathered double the amount of manna on the sixth day, one portion to feed them on the seventh day (Exodus 16:22,23).  And no, I am not a Seventh Day Adventist.

Someone mentioned stirfry, so I made a batch of it, according to my own recipe.  It turned out really good; everyone who had some raved about it.  In fact, even I raved about it.  Along with my serving, I had a whole wheat tortilla.  I toasted it on a burner, since it is too large to fit into the toaster.

     
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I think everyone here is planning to have champagne around midnight.  Although I rarely ever drink alcohol, I may have a small glass to celebrate the end of the first decade of the 21st Century.  I hope Yeshua comes during the second decade.  It will really be worth celebrating when that happens.


Dec. 25, 2010

Full moon over the Sea of Galilee, Tiberius, IsraelI have enjoyed hanging out with family members for Christmas.  I even prepared four things for our Christmas dinner: whole wheat cornbread, cornbread dressing, whipped potatoes, and a chocolate cake.

   
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Of course, for the most part, Christmas is “just another day” to me.  I have seen too much evidence to convince me that Jesus was not born in December.

Rather, He was born in early to mid October, during Sukkot = Feast of Tabernacles, which will be celebrated as a major, worldwide event in Jerusalem after Jesus returns (Zechariah 14:16).  That celebration will begin five days after Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives (14:4) on Yom Kippur—the same day that that He will “touch down” in Bozrah, Jordan, and tread the winepress of God’s wrath all the way to Jerusalem (Isaiah 63:1-6).

In any case, I am very glad that Jesus did come, regardless of when it was.  Without His sacrifice and redemption of our sins, we all would be lost forever—every single one of us.  Indeed, He is the Son of God who came to save all who would believe in Him and acknowledge Him as Lord.


Dec. 21, 2010

There was a total eclipse of the moon very early this morning.  The last one of these that I saw was on Feb. 20, 2008.  Interestingly, today is the winter solstice, and the shortest day of the year, in the northern hemisphere.  There hasn’t been a lunar eclipse on the winter solstice for 372 years, since 1638.  It will not take place on the winter solstice again until 2094.

         
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The eclipse began at about 1:33 a.m. EST.  The totality phase began at 2:41 a.m. EST and continued until 3:53 a.m. EST (72 minutes), with the maximum eclipse (minimum brightness) at 3:17 a.m.  There was intermittent cloudiness (which reminded me of Job 26:9), so the shots I got were not nearly as good as the ones almost three years ago.  For instance, I was unable to capture any of the totally eclipsed moon.  Oh well, maybe next time.


Dec. 13, 2010

It has been a month since something very interesting happened in a mall, as I posted in my Nov. 13 entry.  Some of you may not have seen the video, though.  If not, I feel that it is worth watching:

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus

I find it almost electrifying seeing and hearing a bunch of ordinary people standing up and singing, “King of kings and Lord of lords!” as they are doing by the end of the video.  One day, everyone will acknowledge, whether voluntarily or otherwise, that Jesus is Lord.  I, for one, am waiting in eager anticipation for that to happen.


Dec. 8, 2010

Tonight is the last night of Hanukkah, which began on Dec. 1.  All of the candles have been lit.  I even got around to making some matzo balls and potato latkes (pancakes).

       

       
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Although I made the matzo balls from a box mix, I made the potato latkes from scratch.  The latkes look very different from the ones I made last year, on Dec. 14, 2009.  I think I kind of like the ones from scratch better; they have more texture.  Also, I prefer mine plain, although some like to dip them in sour cream or applesauce.  Here’s the recipe I used: Potato Latkes.


Dec. 6, 2010

Today, Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04), along with 42 bipartisan members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, sent a letter to President Barack Obama.  They called on him to issue a correction to a speech he gave in Jakarta, Indonesia, in which he inaccurately referred to our national motto as being “E Pluribus unum.”  However, the official national motto is “In God We Trust.”

National Motto Letter to President Obama

Congressman Forbes said, “For the President of the United States to incorrectly state something as foundational as our national motto in another country is unacceptable.  The President is the primary representative of our nation to the world, and whether mistake or intention, his actions cast aside an integral part of American society.”  I agree completely with his words and with the words in the letter.


Dec. 3, 2010

The largest wildfire in Israel’s modern history is burning out of control today, east of Haifa.  It seems that negligence is the cause of the fire.  Forty-two people died when a bus in which they were traveling was trapped by the fire.

Wildfire spreads towards
Haifa University, Denya neighborhood

There also have been several arson-caused fires breaking out throughout the north of Israel.  I bet these are “copy-cat” fires.  Pray that all the fires will be extinguished soon.


Dec. 2, 2010

NASA announced today that a species of life has been discovered, and it is different from any other life that we know about.  It is a bacterium, discovered in Mono Lake, California, that utilizes arsenic, rather than phosphorus, in its metabolism.  Some have suggested that it has adapted to its environment through evolution.

Arsenic-based life form discovered on Earth

"Alien life" found on Earth by Nasa scientists

Besides the possibility of evolution, of which I have seen no proof, something else in TV news reports about this discovery caught my attention even more.  This was the implication that if life that we never thought was possible actually exists here on earth, then that logically should cause us to broaden the expanse of locations where we would look for life in outer space.

Wait a minute...HUH?  This seems like a gigantic leap of “logic” to me.  Actually, what it seems like to me is a ploy by NASA to justify increased government funding at a time when that organization is having to discontinue many of its programs.  In fact, we are in the midst of a devastating recession, and the U.S. federal government really needs to slash its funding of programs rather than look for more programs to subsidize.

Besides all of that, I personally feel that it is a gigantic waste of time and money to search for life, intelligent or otherwise, in the cosmos.  Even if there are others “out there” with whom God wants for us to be in contact, then He will provide the means for that to happen; we do not need to go actively looking for it.

I am familiar with the gamut of reasons why people think that we should seek the existence of life elsewhere in the universe—from those who think that it would help us understand the origins of our own existence, to those who think that some advanced civilization could help us out of our colossal mess here on earth, among other reasons.  I simply do not buy any of it.

I am content to know that Yahweh is responsible for the existence of old and new Creations.  He is the Source of all things, and our focus should be on Him, not on the things He has created, to satisfy all of our needs and curiosities.  In Him is true Life, and any alleged life beyond this earth is irrelevant and immaterial—unless and until He deems it to be relevant and material for us.

Let’s save the money, NASA.  Even if we had the money, which we don’t, there are more meaningful things to study—such as God’s Word, and that is free.


Dec. 1, 2010

I observe Hanukkah, which began at sunset.  Jesus observed it as well, when He came to the temple, spoke about His miracles, and affirmed that he was the Christ or Messiah and the Son of God (John 10:22-26,36).  It also is known as the Feast of Dedication or the Festival of Lights, and it is observed for eight nights.

A menorah holds nine candles.  The middle candle is lit, and it is used to light the other candles.  The first night (tonight), only the middle candle and first candle on the right is lit.  The second night, the middle candle and first two candles on the right are lit, and so on.  The unlit candles are not in the menorah each night; I inserted all of them only for the photos.  The last photo is what the menorah will look like on the eighth night (Dec. 8).  I also read Hanukkah Blessings each night.

     
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Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the second temple, in Jerusalem, in 165 B.C.  Here is a brief history prior to that point:  In 330 B.C., the Medo-Persian Empire was conquered by the Grecian Empire (the “ram” and the “goat,” respectively, of Daniel 8:5-7).  The Greek army was led by Alexander the Great, the “large horn” (8:8a), which was “broken off” when he died in 323 B.C.  Eventually, he was succeeded by “four prominent horns” or rulers (8:8b).

Out of one of these “horns” (Seleucus IV) came another “horn,” Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Daniel 8:9a), who came to power from 175 to 171 B.C.  He extended his authority to the south (Egypt) and then, in 167 B.C., to the east toward the “Beautiful Land,” Israel (8:9b).  Then he mercilessly sacked Jerusalem and persecuted the Jews.

Antiochus forced the Jews to abandon the law (Torah) and customs of their ancestors.  He also profaned the second temple in Jerusalem, dedicating it to Zeus after he desecrated the altar, abolished the daily sacrifice, and set up the “abomination that causes desolation” (Daniel 11:31).  He also had anyone put to death who studied the Torah, or who worshiped the true God, who had brought them out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 20:2,3).

Finally, in an uprising and revolt by the Maccabean Jews in 165, B.C., they were victorious over the soldiers of Antiochus Epiphanes.  They refurbished and restored the temple, and then they rededicated it, on Kislev 25, at the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah or Chanukah).  Because they had been in the midst of a battle two months earlier, and had missed the eight-day celebration of Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles, they celebrated the temple rededication for eight days, which then became a tradition.  More details can be found here: Hanukkah in the Temple.


Nov. 28, 2010

A good friend, Barry, likes to scuba dive in the ocean.  He’s done it at various places in the world.  He also has a very nice underwater camera to record the animals, plants, and other things he sees.  It truly is another amazing world down there.

Several months ago, I made a page of many of his photos from the waters off of Hawaii, Little Cayman, and the Philippines.  Since then, he has been diving in Honduras.  I have almost doubled the number of photos (from 38 to 72), which you can see on his page below, where you can click on individual photos or else watch a 6-minute slideshow:

Barry’s Scuba-Diving Photos

He is planning to return to the Philippines in a few months.  Most likely, I will add more photos then, at which time the slideshow will extend beyond 6 minutes.


Nov. 25, 2010

Thanksgiving MealHere is an interesting article on the history of Thanksgiving:

The 1621 Thanksgiving

Here is another account, by Rush Limbaugh, who brings an interesting focus on Genesis 41 into the mix:

The Real Story of Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you Americans out there.  Don’t forget to thank Yahweh for all of the abundant blessings He has bestowed upon you and yours.

Give thanks even for financial difficulties, a home foreclosure, health problems, strife with friends, marital problems, a rebellious child, divorce, loss of a job, or the death of a loved one.  Without His love and care, we would have nothing, not even these things.

Remember, He is in control of everything, and His thoughts and ways are incomprehensibly far above ours.  For those who love Him, He can turn the worst of disappointments and setbacks into the best of triumphs and victories.


Nov. 19, 2010

Circumstances are difficult, and are getting tougher, for many.  The spiritual and socio-economic systems of the world are crumbling around us.

But if Yahweh is our Lord, and if we serve and obey Him steadfastly, we can feel secure in many promises that He has made to us.  Here are a few:

Promises of God

I don’t know how I could keep going sometimes if I didn’t have the blessed assurances of His promises and pledges to me.


Nov. 16, 2010

I received a brochure from the United States Postal Service (USPS) about the “Warning Signs of Fraud.”  I think it has some good information, so I am including it here:

   

The brochure refers to this website: http://www.deliveringtrust.com.  It has eight pretty good videos on the following topics:

1. Fake Check Scams     5. Work-at-Home Scams
2. Cross-Border Fraud     6. Identity Theft
3. Internet Fraud     7. Telemarketing Fraud
4. Foreign Lottery Scams     8. Picking Up The Pieces

This information might help some avoid some unpleasant scams, which seem to abound everywhere around us.


Nov. 13, 2010

An interesting thing happened at a food court today.  I don’t know where it was located, but the video is fun to watch.

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus

Basically, some people in a “flash mob” began singing the Hallelujah Chorus, and then almost everyone in the place stood up and joined in.  It think it would have been pretty cool to be there.  The whole thing was planned and arranged by Alphabet Photography, Inc.


Nov. 10, 2010

Anchor in ParkA small park near downtown San Diego has a white boat anchor sitting in it.  I have wanted to photograph it for quite some time.

However, there always is traffic running on all sides of the park, and you can’t just stop and snap a shot.  Any photos that I’ve taken before have turned out blurry.

Today I was lucky, though.  I happened to have my camera ready (which I usually do not).  The traffic was slow as I was passing by the park, so I took a quick shot.  I think it turned out pretty well.

I wonder how that anchor got there.  Sometime I’ll have to park somewhere, walk over, and take a close-up of it.  I probably won’t be able to resist climbing on it.


Nov. 7, 2010

A friend has some nice tomato plants.  Whenever I’m there, I pick the bite-sized spheres right off the plants and eat them like candy.  Today, I have eaten at least 20 of them; I’ve lost count.  That included some on my salad tonight.

     
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She has two very cool cats who love catnip.  They also love each other.  Can you tell?

       
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Pink Clouds at SunsetThis evening, there was an awesome sunset.  It reminded me of sunrise yesterday, Nov. 6.  Of course, they appeared in opposite directions (sunrise in the east, sunset in the west).

     
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I wonder why the clouds at sunrise were more orange, while those at sunset were more pink.  In any case, they were memorable.


Nov. 6, 2010

I happened to be up early enough this morning, at a little after 7:00 a.m., to catch a nice sunrise.  Buildings and wires spoiled any outstanding views.  With my camera’s zoom, though, I was able to eliminate everything but a few wires.

   
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Tomorrow, sunrise will take place a little after 6:00 a.m., instead, due to the time change.  I like gaining an hour overnight, but I don’t like the fact that sunset will be an hour earlier because we will have switched to Pacific Standard Time here.  I’d just as soon stay on Daylight Saving Time year-round.


Nov. 4, 2010

100 Degrees in San DiegoIt was 100° in San Diego today, setting a record here for the highest temperature ever in November.  On the right is a snapshot of my dashboard as I was driving on the 5 Freeway.  You can see the 100° external temperature reading at the lower/right (click on the photo to see an enlarged version).  I was listening to AM 600 KOGO talk radio, San Diego, which I like a lot.

Record-Breaking Heat
Grips San Diego Area

It was awesome.  I loved every minute of it, especially since we still are on Daylight Saving Time (which changes this weekend; move your clocks one hour back before bed on Saturday night).

After the gym, a friend and I had lunch at a Thai restaurant.  As usual, I ordered my food “ped mak mak” (as spicy/hot as it can be made).  No matter where I was today, inside or outside, I was sweating.

I suppose the ideal situation would have been to be eating extremely hot red curry, while working out on an elliptical machine, outside in the direct sunshine.  I just like everything hot.  Really hot.


Nov. 3, 2010

Today, I returned to San Diego, CA, from Birmingham, AL.  However, it was not on the route that I originally had scheduled.  It was better.

I got to the airport a couple of hours before I was supposed to depart.  While working on my computer, I happened to look up at a nearby gate and noticed another flight to San Diego.  It was departing in 25 minutes, whereas my original flight was to depart in 1 hour 40 minutes.  I walked over and asked if I could be put on the other flight.

I’ve found, over 3+ decades, that Southwest Airlines typically has accommodated me in my requests, usually quickly and with no hassles attached.  This was no exception, nor was there an extra charge.  In fact, there was a $2.50 security fee refund.

Initially, I had the first schedule below (one change of planes), but I switched to the second schedule (one plane the entire way, with two stopovers):

#1) BHM ———————————————> LAS ———————————————> SAN
   11:35a            1:45p|2:55p             4:00p

#2) BHM ————————> HOU ————————> ABQ ————————> SAN
   10:20a    12:10p|12:40p  1:50p|2:20p      3:10p

The first photo below shows the plane crackers and spicy tomato juice I was served on the plane.  The next one is my plane flying from Houston to Albuquerque.  The last one might have been my original flight crashing into the Gulf of Mexico, had I been on it. 

   
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My flight actually landed 12 minutes early in San Diego, which was over 1 hour earlier than I originally was scheduled to land.  When I went outside, I was happy to discover that it was 95°, so I enjoyed an extra hour in the sun.  It was great!

I want to comment that I don’t believe this unexpected change in schedule, to my advantage, was an “accident” or a “coincidence.”  I strongly believe that the Lord had that all planned out for me beforehand, for these reasons:

  • I felt, for some unknown reason, that I should get up earlier than I had planned that morning.
  • It was a fluke that I noticed the other flight schedule on the board at that gate.  The computer stations near my original gate were taken, so I set up my laptop at a station near the second gate.
  • Against all odds, being one of the last passengers to board, I even got my favorite seat on the flight (second row, left side, window seat).

Yahweh is great, and He is good.  His goodness often comes at the last minute, but it always is with perfect timing.  I love that He does nice things for me, even though I am unworthy of any of them.


Nov. 2, 2010

Today is election day in the USA.  It is a very important election, and many seats in the U.S. Congress are expected to change from Democrat to Republican.  I hope that both the House and Senate becomes significantly more conservative.

I am reminded of the “election” between Jesus and Barabbas (Luke 23:18-25).  The winner would be pardoned, and the loser would be put to death.  Barabbas, a murderer and an insurrectionist, won by a landslide; Jesus, an obedient servant of God, lost.

In essence, the people did not like being convicted of their sinful natures and did not want to repent.  They had rejected Jesus’ message of truth and life, along with His conservative message of obedience to God’s ancient commands.  A few days before this, Jesus had predicted that they would reject Him and, as a result, that their enemies eventually would attack them (Luke 19:41-44).  This happened in 70 A.D., when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans.

I believe that liberal and so-called “progressive” policiess have caused this nation to plummet into a quagmire of social and economic instability.  Personally, I would like to see conservative values brought back into the U.S. Congress on a wide scale.  Perhaps today’s election will be the first step in that direction.


In other news, I watched a car chase on TV for awhile.  It was in Long Beach, CA.  It seems that the Los Angeles area is the “car chase capital” of the USA.  I can’t even count the number of car chases I’ve seen in Los Angeles County over the decades, although not so many in San Diego.

Today, a white woman was driving a stolen car very recklessly through the streets, running red lights, driving on the wrong side of the street, and whacking other vehicles.  She easily could have killed someone.  Fortunately, she was stopped before she did.  Her passenger also was a white woman.

         
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What were they thinking?  Who knows, but I bet they both voted “Yes” on California Proposition 19, the Marijuana Legalization Initiative.  I hope the voters defeat that initiative today.  Otherwise, it may be that stoned people driving through the streets like that nutcase in Long Beach will become the rule rather than the exception.


Oct. 31, 2010

Don't Text and FlyBoo.  That’s about the extent of my Halloween sentiment, although I think the cartoon at the right is pretty funny (click on it to see a larger view).

A cousin picked some really nice vegetables from her garden.  We boiled the collard greens, steamed the zucchini and yellow squash, and had lettuce and green bell peppers in a salad.  We had the vegetables along with the lasagna I made a couple of nights ago.  It was super yummy.

   
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If any trick-or-treaters come around, they might get some fresh vegetables in their bags.


Oct. 24, 2010

Assorted SquashI have been taking some colorful autumn pictures in Alabama.  In many places in the northern USA, most or all of the foliage has changed color.  But here, many trees are still partly green and partly red, orange, or yellow, since they are in the process of changing.  The colors in some places are like walking through a bowl of Fruit Loops.

Also, since it is a week before Halloween, I have seen numerous decorations around.  Halloween means absolutely nothing to me, and I do not celebrate it; but I photographed what I thought were a few clever ornaments.

         
         
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Recent hail and hard rain zapped the leaves off of some of the trees, causing the trees to be less colorful.  I played around with one photo in my graphics program and made the following modifications:

  • more orange and yellow in all the trees on the hill,
  • more yellow in the top of the tree between the two orange trees, across the lake on the right,
  • more green on the slope in the left foreground, and
  • a cloud in the sky on the right.

Click on the photo at the right to see the original photo.  Then click on that original photo to see the changes I made.  You can click on each of those photos to go back and forth between the original photo and the modified photo.  If you want to see larger versions of those photos (which will take a little longer to load in your browser), click here.


Oct. 23, 2010

At the Middle East synod of Catholic bishops, Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros called on the United Nations to “end Israeli occupation of Arab lands.”  More of what he said can be read here:

Palestine is not Israel's "promised land"

I completely disagree with every word that came out of this man’s mouth.


Oct. 22, 2010

I like to eat healthfully.  For me, that means a daily intake of several fresh fruits and vegetables.  Today, for instance, I ate this:

 
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Typically, I eat nothing before noon.  During the afternoon, it takes me a few hours to eat the following, mixed in a bowl: raw (uncooked) oats (or six grains, when I can get them), along with a sliced up apple, banana, orange, peach, pear, grapes, raisins, and skim milk.  I also mix in crushed almonds and some flax seeds.

In the evening, I like vegetables, with or without meat.  This time, I stir-fried (in olive oil) the following: chopped pieces of chicken breast, yellow squash, broccoli, brown onions, celery, green olives, and green beans.  I also made a tossed salad, consisting of lettuce, tomato, celery, carrots, and raw green beans.  It was super delicious.

Sometimes I put olive oil and vinegar on my salad, but tonight I ate it raw, which I like just as well.  I made enough of everything to last a few nights for myself and for my cousins, whom I am visiting in Alabama.  They liked it too.


Oct. 21, 2010

Juan WilliamsJuan Williams has been fired from National Public Radio (NPR), where he was a news analyst for over a decade.  According to NPR, this happened because Williams’ remarks on Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox News Channel, three nights ago, “were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.

NPR Ends Williams' Contract After Muslim Remarks

Bill O'Reilly on The ViewPeople who do not know Juan Williams may not be aware of what he said and what led up to this.  On Oct. 14, on the TV show “The View,” Bill O’Reilly was answering Whoopi Goldberg’s question about why he thought 70% of Americans felt it was inappropriate for a mosque to be built near Ground Zero in Manhattan.  He replied, “Because Muslims killed us on 9/11!”  This caused a firestorm of controversy, beginning with Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar’s walking off the set.

On Oct. 18, during the talking points segment of O’Reilly’s “The Factor” show, he stated, “The cold truth is that in the world today, jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations, is the biggest threat on the planet.  If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, Israel and other countries are in grave danger.

Juan WilliamsAfter this, O’Reilly asked one of his guests, Juan Williams, a Fox News political analyst, what he thought about the idea that America is facing a “Muslim dilemma.”  In the following video, in the interval from 30 seconds to 45 seconds, Williams stated this:  “Look, Bill, I’m not a bigot.  You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country.  But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried.  I get nervous.

Now, I am convinced that a very high percentage of Americans feel the same way.  Yet the last part of Williams’ statement, all by itself, was enough for the extremely “politically correct” organization, NPR, to fire him.  Williams also pointed to incendiary remarks made by radical Muslim Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber on Oct. 5.  One thing that Shahzad said was this:  “Brace yourselves, because the war with Muslims has just begun.  Consider me only a first droplet of the blood that will follow me.”  In my opinion, any American who ignores or is oblivious to the colossal threat of Islam, particularly of radical Islam, is a fool.

Angela Merkel, German ChancellorLater, Bill O’Reilly mentioned Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, and her recent comments.  She has declared that “multikulti” (multiculturalism) has failed in Germany.  This is due, in large part, to the inability of Muslims to assimilate into the German society.  This also has become an immense problem in other European nations, such as The Netherlands and France.

The chancellor also said this:  “We feel tied to Christian values.  Those who don’t accept them don’t have a place here.”  I think she was very bold to speak those words.

Merkel says German multi-cultural society has failed

One thing I find quite “revealing” is the fact that, yesterday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) pressured NPR to get rid of Juan Williams.  Within a few hours, Williams was fired.  I feel that this is an extraordinarily flagrant and egregious violation of Mr. Williams’ right to freedom of speech, as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Any American, whether liberal or conservative, who is not seriously concerned by this, has his/her head buried in the sand.  I like Pamela Geller’s summation of all of this here (and I also recommend exploring Pamela’s website further):

Hamas-linked, Muslim Brotherhood CAIR
Demand for Action: Juan Williams Fired

On that page is a video, which I watched live on Fox News Channel today, of an interview by Megyn Kelly of Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for CAIR.  After all of the uproar today, if there is not a reversal of NPR’s action against Juan Williams (or, at the very minimum, an apology), I feel that NPR’s credibility with the American public—at least, with those who are paying any attention—may be critically damaged.  At least, I certainly hope it is.  They have exhibited a blatant disregard of the right to freedom of speech, and they should be penalized for that, perhaps by severing all of their funding from federal tax dollars.


Oct. 18, 2010

Every so often, I visit the Botanical Building at Balboa Park.  I like to see what new plants and flowers are on display.  The vast collection of hot peppers (third photo on the top row) made my mouth water.  It was all I could do not to pick a few and eat them on the spot.

         
         
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Those hot peppers reminded me of the restaurant (Taste of Thai) where I ate lunch a few days ago.  I ordered my red curry “ped mak mak”—that is, as hot and spicy as they could make it.  On a scale of 0 to 10 of spicy, it was about an 8½...not bad.

The food was so hot/spicy inside my mouth that I couldn’t quite finish chewing each bite before swallowing.  Also, the hair on the back of my head was soaking wet when I was done.  I was on “Cloud Nine” for the rest of the day.

After the arboretum today, I needed a rodent fix.

     
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I hope they didn’t already have names.  Initially, I was thinking they were chipmunks, so I named each of them “Chippy.”  Then my perceptive friend pointed out to me that they were squirrels, so really I should have called them “Squirrely.”  I hope that I didn’t confuse them; maybe that’s why a couple of them were looking at me funny. 


Oct. 14, 2010

I needed a “seagull fix,” so I went to Seaport Village.  There’s a bird in all five of these pics, although the second one isn’t so obvious, and the last one isn’t a real bird.  Oops.

       

While walking around there, I watched Rabindra Sarkar—The Rock Star of San Diego for awhile.  He has an amazing talent for balancing rocks atop one other.

       

       
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I wonder if any birds ever land on those columns of rocks and...nah, I don’t want to think about it. 


Oct. 13, 2010

Celebration in Chile after 33 miners were rescued after being trapped in the ground for 69 daysWhat an amazing day this has been for the 33 miners in Chile who have been stranded, almost half a mile underground, since August 5.  All of them were brought to the surface safety in a perfectly executed operation lasting 22½ hours.  No one in recorded history has survived as long trapped underground.

After 69 Days, All 33 Chilean Miners Rescued

Here is a video of the youngest miner, Jimmy Sanchez, being rescued and hugging his dad:

Rescue for youngest Chile miner, Jimmy Sanchez

It reminds me of Jesus’ parable about the lost son (Luke 15:11-32).  That father said the following:

“For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”  So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:24)

Indeed, figuratively speaking, all of these miners were raised from a tomb of death and back to life.  It was an incredible miracle.


Oct. 10, 2010

Today’s date is 10/10/10.  That happens only once a century.  Make it count. 


Oct. 5, 2010

Faisal Shahzad, Time Square Radical Islamic TerroristToday, radical Islamic terrorist Faisal Shahzad was sentenced to six life sentences plus 20 years.  He demonstrated no regret at what he had attempted to do detonate a car bomb in Times Square on May 1.

Times Square bomber's vile
rant as he gets life in jail

Every American should read the statements made by Shahzad in court (included in the report above).  It is one of the few times that we will hear about the true goals and intentions of Islam, spoken publicly by a Muslim in America, as Muslims wish for Americans to be totally ignorant about how they really feel.

A disproportionate number of people seem to be oblivious to the reality that true Islam is not a religion of peace.  A hint of this can be seen in photos in my Feb. 3, 2006 entry.

Islam’s ultimate objective is to force the entire world into submission to Shari'a law.  When “push comes to shove”—as I feel quite certain that it will—then multitudes of “moderate” Muslims, when given the choice of being ravaged and beheaded or of joining the ranks of militant, revolutionary Islam, will choose the latter.  Americans should be preparing themselves, psychologically and emotionally, for that time.


Oct. 2, 2010

The mid-term elections in the USA are a month from today.  I know that many conservatives are hoping and expecting that, following the election, Republicans will gain the majority in both the House and the Senate.  It is looking more and more as though this will be the case.

However, those who think that such a majority will result in the solving of all our socio-economic problems are living in a fantasy dreamland.  In fact, there is little doubt that Democrats in Congress will “ram through” as many of their liberal and “progressive” policies as they possibly can during the “lame duck” session, for over two months following the elections.

Furthermore, I think that Obama can be expected to issue a host of executive orders and directives for things that he cannot push through the Congress.  He probably will do this during the final two years of his term.

New laws, along with all of the disastrous, failed regulations established since January 2007 (with a Democrat majority in Congress), and especially since January 2009 (following Obama’s inauguration), will have long-term calamitous effects on this nation.  Significant recovery will be extremely problematic, at best, and impossible, at worst.

What absolutely can be expected is an escalated attack on Republicans and conservatives as all of the old and new legislation drags the country further and further into the pit of ruination.  They will be blamed, increasingly, by both the Obama administration and the left-wing media for the failures that have occurred due to the devastation caused, paradoxically, by radical left-wing policies.

Hopefully, staunch conservatives will refuse to compromise their values and support of the Constitution and will be able to stand up to the barrage of affronts, assaults, and condemnation by the left.  They certainly will have my support and encouragement.


Oct. 1, 2010

I have been asked a few times if I have seen another time line, similar to the one I pointed out in my European Neighbourhood Policy and Daniel 9:27 commentary, that potentially could work, since that one evidently did not.

Well, I do not like to speculate, so I need to say up front that I am not advocating that the time line I will show is what I believe will happen.  I will not believe anything unless and until I actually see it take place.  It is interesting, though, how the dates coordinate perfectly together as they did with the ENP scenario.

There is a new moon on November 6, 2010.  If some type of seven-year agreement involving Israel were initiated at that time (which I highly doubt), then the time count of the 70th Week could begin.  For a moment, let’s say that is the case.

Adding 1,260 days to November 6, 2010, brings us to April 19, 2014.  That would be the last day of the initial 1,260-day period.  Then April 20, 2014—which happens to be the Feast of Firstfruits—would begin the next period of 1,260 days.

The final day of that second period of 1,260 days would be September 30, 2017, which happens to be Yom Kippur.  (See the Calendar of Hebrew Holy Days 2010–2018.)  I have believed, for over two decades, that the second advent of Yeshua/Jesus back to earth will be on a Yom Kippur.

Keep in mind, of course, that all of this is dependent on a seven-year Israeli agreement (presumably with the Palestinians, and perhaps with others involved as well) taking place in early November this year.  The way things are looking so far with the most recent set of “peace talks,” the possibility of this appears very bleak.  I certainly am not holding my breath in anticipation.

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