A U.S. Navy Landing Craft Air-Cushioned transports Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Marines are deployed aboard the landing dock USS Ashland (LSD 48). - DefenseLINK

U.S. Marine Cpl. Joseph M. Abasciano, an infantryman with Echo Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Bn., 8th Marines, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, stands perimeter security with a M16A4 Service Rifle during a vehicle-mounted Tactical Recovery of Aircraft Personnel in Djibouti, Africa, on April 26. - DefenseLink

Passivism as Virtue

It has come to my attention that a certain kind of self-righteous morality has been absorbed by a large minority of Americans. I speak of the dreaded and cowardly sin of passivism. This insidious belief is a form of narcissim that produces a reactionary and condencending attitude that rejects the right of the individual to defend themselves to the point of killing another human being.

Thus, since the individual doesn't have a right to kill then certainly the State doesn't have a right to wage war. As a result, the passivist rejects all forms of state-craft related to waging war whether it be offensive or defensive in nature. Of course, the passivist will defend their untenable and short-sighted position by saying IF we are attacked then we can defend ourselves, but then in only a limited sort of way. But when you ask the passivist which war would have been "acceptable" to meet their conditions you have to go as far back as the War of 1812! And even then, I'm not so sure they would have taken up arms to defend the nation being that the South practiced slavery at that time.

To justify their position they often site the many mistakes on the battlefield where men appear to have just thrown-away their lives or even more troublesome they claim that only the "poor" man fights the wars of the "rich" men. They might even go so far as to claim that "Christ" wouldn't wage war or serve in the military often referring to the "Sermon on the Mount" where Christ tells of the future kingdom of God where men will no longer wage war against each other, for example to "turn the other cheek" if someone strikes it in anger. All of these rationales have no basis in common sense nor acknowledge the free-will of man.

Battlefield Casualties: When you consider the number of men that serve in the armed forces verses the actual number of men that see battle then really battlefield deaths/injuries are quite small. The actual "state of war" that the passivists so fears is often quite insignificant when viewing war in its totality. Most of the time a state of peace exists to preoccupy the time of the soldier.

Poor Man v. Rich Man: Yes its true that the rich call the shots and the poor are made to follow. However, this has been the case since time immemorial. The rich are typically more intelligent hence they are richer than their poorer relatives because of the CHOICES they have made that put them in that position in the first place. Therefore, they are the ones that are going to do the "leading" since they had the know-how and money to train and equip themselves and their armies to defend/offend in war. Multiply that a thousand fold when a State is managed properly. I must remind you that poverty is not a virtue! There is nothing romantic about being poor and ignorant. It would be even more of a catastrophe if the "poor" and "dumb" lead us in battle. It goes without saying even though I just said it.

Sermon on the Mount: Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Kings and Lords have always been the commanders of armies and in fact war is often the "final argument of Kings". Remember when Christ was being tempted in the wilderness and Satan himself acknowledged that Christ COMMANDED the legions of Angels? Yep, he sure does. Remember that Christ's sermon was in regards to a future kingdom where Christ is the King of the World not just tiny Israel. How will he have attained that position, I dare ask knowing the answer? By VIRTUE OF WAR! The FIRST advent of Christ was 2000 years ago with the express mission of being the SAVIOR of the world. The SECOND advent of Christ which has not yet occurred see's Jesus Christ returning to Earth as the "KING" of the world. This is accomplished in his resurrection body, along with the resurrected ARMY of believers as calvary officers, invading and ATTACKING the earthly armies under the command of anti-Christ. You will note, at the battle of Armedgeddon which is located at the apex of the Eurasion-African continent, it is Christ who does ALL of the killing. Once the enemy forces are defeated, then a "state of peace" exists in which there will be no more war. Consequently, the rebellion is crushed and its leader, Satan, is incarcerated to prevent him from agitating the nations to wage war. Thus, peace is maintained for a thousand years per the Book of Revelation.

So in summary, passivism has no place for those who love freedom and for those who understand that man will always attempt to take what is not his thus we must defend ourselves and defence often requires going on the offensive as well. Passivism reflects a lack of a proper understanding of history and focuses more on self rather than the consideration of others over self. And finally, passivism remains the refuge of the faithless who do not know Bible Doctrine and have given themselves over to fear which I'm afraid, no pun intended, is often exhibited more by Christians than non-Christians. At the Judgement Seat of Christ, the "faithful" will be judged and the cowardly Christian will be shamed by the MILITARY glory of our Savior, Christ the Lord.

An F/A-18C Hornet, assigned to the "Argonauts" of Strike Fighter Squadron One Four Seven (VFA-147), receives fuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker during a combat mission flown from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). - DefenseLINK

A dust storm which originated near the Syrian-Jordanian border swept across Iraq's western desert April 26, 2005. U.S. Marine Corps weather forecasters stationed at Al Asad, Iraq, described the dust storm as a downburst. The storm passed over in about 45 minutes, leaving a heavy sheet of dust in its wake. Forecasters say the wall of dust may have reached 4,000 to 5,000 feet, based on the height of the clouds above it. - DefeseLINK

The Road to Damascus

Today marks a special moment in the epochal War on Terror: Syria, against her will, has vacated Lebanon after 29 years. Without a shot being fired, mind you. All this because the Emporer of the World, President Bush, said "get out by May or else". For the third time in less than 5 years, an oppressed people have been freed from the tyranny of an Islamic/Arabic regime. All this without so much as a sniffle from the Main Stream Media.

And yet, I sense trouble ahead for poor old Lebanon. The Cedar Revolution may have been emboldened by the electoral success in Iraq, thanks to the fortitude of President Bush in Washington, but like Iraq, the Lebanese people had better brace themselves for a terror campaign by Syria's own jack-booted thugs in the terrorist group called Hezbollah. Though Syria's armed forces and intelligence apparatus have "triumphantly" marched back to Damascus, Lebanon is still occupied by terror armies which will avenge themselves at the expense of the Lebanese people who only desire freedom from oppression.

Just as Lebanon will form its own indigenous government, I predict that Hezbollah will launch their own campaign to destablize this former french colony and perhaps return it to the days when another terrorist organization, the PLO, made their headquarters in Beirut in the 1970's. This terror campaign will be entirely directed by Damascus and just like their meddling in Iraqi affairs, they certainly will have no qualms about interfering in their own backyard as far as they see it.

What are we to do? Syria under the Baathist regime of Assad has been a major instigator of terror throughout the Middle East and especially so since, their Baathist cousin in Saddam Hussein was overthrown by American Armed Forces, they know their time is short. Hence they have moved the rest of the Syrian army out of Lebanon back into Syria to shore up the Assad Regime. Damascus must be overthrown in order to effectively end the Sunni Islamic uprising in Iraq. This in turn will ease the burden of the Lebanese people as well as occupy the enemies of America in Syria proper. Damascus is the administrative and logistical hub for terrorists in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel. She must be destroyed.

As we move our chess pieces in position to checkmate Iran, Syria will have to be dealth with sooner or later. As we move against Tehran, Damascus will try to "pin-down" American Forces in Iraq through both conventional and asymetric means. If push comes to shove, then a glorious D-Day like amphibious assault by US Marines from the Mediterranian onto Syrian beaches would certainly send a message to Damascus that if you mess with the best, you die like the rest! Woe to our enemies.

Chaplain Dan Reardon and Chaplain Kyle Fauntleroy work together to put up a cross for the Easter Sunrise Service on the flight deck of USS Nimitz (CVN 68). - DefenseLINK

Scarlet and Purple

The inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI is another incredible historical calculation that will have reprecussions we cannot phathom but certainly will influence history not seen since the 11th Century. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a Bavarian, was elected to the Papacy on April 19th, 2005 and took the name of Benedict the founder of Western Monastism in the 5th Century and who himself was made the Patron Saint of Europe in 1964. Coincidentally, April 19th is the Feast of St. Leo IX, a German Pope and Saint who was famous for fighting the Normans (colonial Vikings) in Southern Italy over 1000 years ago.

The 11th Century was the last period of European history in which the papacy was largely influenced and controlled by Germans. In fact, most people don't realize that Roman Europe gave way to German Europe when germanic tribes migrated into and at times invaded the Western Half of the Roman Empire. When finally Rome fell to German tribes in 476 AD, this marked the beginning of a German modus vivendi that is extant today. Though the German tribes were "barbaric" by Roman civilized standards, they themselves would come to embrace the old Roman ways and thus perpetuate the Roman ideal of law, government, and culture.

As the German tribes consolidated their hold in Western Europe, several nations arose that would come to dominate the center of Europe and thus influence the Papacy as well as history of the world. A political entity arose that later would be called the Holy Roman Empire that consisted of present day Germany, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands, parts of Poland, Austria, Hungary and Northern Italy. The leader of this political/religious/cultural entity was known as the Emporer of the Holy Roman Empire and himself in alignment with the Catholic Church held both political and religious sway over much of Europe. All was not harmonious however, for just as the German tribes brought down the Roman Empire in the West in the 5th Century, German attempts to retain political and religious unity would break apart Christendom as well as the Holy Roman Empire beginning in the 11th Century.

Christianity as a whole stretched from the British Isles to Asia Minor and by the time of the early 1000's certain fissures erupted to fracture expontentially the unity of the Christian Church throughout the classical world. The first "Great Schism" would occur between two branches of Christianity that were different in culture and language as well as in doctrine and faith. As the Papacy consolidated their gains in German dominated Western Europe by the beginning of the 11th Century, the Eastern Church as centered in Constantnople was waning under the pressures of their own political disunity as well as the constant assault of Islam against their Asian strongholds in present day Turkey. The Eastern Orthodox Faith considered themselves to be the center of Christianity while the Catholic Church in Rome themselves were considered the center. The Pope, esconced in Rome, demanded subserviance from the Orthodox Christians in Byzantium and when they refused to accept the Pope as their Christian Lord and Shepherd, they sundered complete fellowship with their German cousins in Rome that ultimately would prove disastrous for Constantnople. Just when unity was required to fight against her enemies, the house of Byzantium was divided and ultimately would collapse under the full weight of history, never to recover its formal glory. In spite of the apparent alliance between Rome and Constantnople to rid Asia Minor of Islamic potentates, the Crusades, initiated by the Roman Pontiffs with the implicit blessings of the Byzantine Emporer actually aggravated and added to the animosities between the Roman and Greek Church. The old unified spiritual order was pierced in 1054 and the Eastern Orthodox would eventually take up residence in Moscow some 400 years later and declare it the Third Rome.

The second great fracture coincidentally occured at exactly the same time as the Roman and Greek Churches themselves broke away from each other in the mid-11th Century and that was the power of the German Emporer to elect Bishops to important ecclesiastical positions within the empire as well as ultimately choosing who was to be Pope of the Catholic Church. The power of the secular ruler in the person of the Holy Roman Emporer to choose who was to be bishop and who was to be Pope was the greatest power weilded by a single person in the Western World at that time. The Catholic Church under certain reformers wanted to de-secularize the Papal succession as well as choose the Bishops themselves and thus created the "College of Cardinals" to elect both bishops and Popes as the princes and rulers of the Church. Of course, the Emporer would not accept this inferior position and demanded the current Pope, Gregory VII under whose direction this course of affairs had arisen, to be impeached and removed from his office. Naturally, the Pope himself excomunicated the Emporer from the Catholic Church thus the Emporer had to give up his kingdom as well. This led to war. The German Nobles also were paying attention and supported the Pope as they were for weakening the Emporer's position and advancing their own claims to the Kings domains. The Bishops naturally supported the Emporer from whence they attained their office. The secular power of the state under the tutelage of the Emporer weilded its long arm and defeated the nobles in a glorious battle. Fresh from victory against the barons, the Emporer marched on Rome herself and by military force deposed Gregory VII from his Papal Throne. The year was 1081. Though victorious on both fronts, the Emporer would ultimately lose the war. The power of the German King to determine who would be bishop and more importantly who would be Pope would be broken within 50 years. Though this marked the first time that secular power raised its hand against the Papacy, it would not be the last. Historically, this would be the last time that Germania herself excercised any authority in the Chuch, until the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI almost 1000 years later.

German influence upon the Papacy in the 16th century continued the fracturing of the Catholic Chuch in the West. In this case, Martin Luther, a german theologian and Augustinian Monk, attacked the Catholic Church for its corruption and doctrinal errors and gave birth to the Protestant Reformation. As Luther translated the Bible from Latin to plain German, the citizens of Western Europe awoke to the realization that the Catholic Chuch no longer had a monopoly on spiritual and even secular matters. Northern Europe threw off the fetters of the Catholic Church and now a North/South divide arose pitting Protestants against Southern European Catholics. Nearly 100 years later, the Thirty Years War would break out between these two antagonists that would come to devastate Germany nearly killing a third of its population between 1618 and 1648.

So, what does all this mean? A German Pontiff brings with it a certain opportunity that may usher in a period of unification. The fact that he chose Saint Benedict as the Patron Saint of Europe for his Papal name speaks volumes as to his agenda. Granted, many before him have paved the road to Ecclesiastical Unification between the three great Churchs: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant. However, he may provide the motivation and expertise needed as no other European could to demand and implement consolidation last seen in the 11th Century. It would appear all things come full circle. With each church headquartered in Europe, Russia and America respectively, his ability to pull off the impossible would unite Christendom totalling nearly 2.2 billion believers. Additionally, would that in turn bring about political unification between the European peoples that only now creeps ever closer to reality under the aegis of an economic order? Only time will tell but I suspect something momentus is occuring before our eyes and many things will astound us before all is said and done.

U.S. Marines assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 6th Marines, the ground combat element of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) wait for the word to move toward a mountain from which Taliban snipers are engaging the lead elements of their convoy. The Marines were near the village of Siah Chub Kalay, while participating in Operation Asbury Park. The intense fighting between the Marines and Taliban lasted for eight days and more than 80 Taliban fighters were killed while eight Marines were wounded in the most intense clashes during their deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in June of 2004. - DefenseLINK

The Military Sealift Command (MSC) underway replenishment oiler USNS Bighorn (T-AO 198) and the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) conduct a replenishment at sea in the Atlantic Ocean. Bighorn, assigned to the USS Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group, is on a regularly scheduled deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

Family Atomics Revisited

Last month I had blogged on the fact that Middle Eastern countries were secretly researching and developing nuclear weapons in such places as Egypt for example and how the Egyptian government clandestinely assisted in Iraq's biological weapons program as well as assisting in Iraqs production/upgrade of SCUD missles. Well, lo and behold, its now Saudi Arabia's turn. This is from the Washington Post dated April 20th:

Saudi Arabia has quietly begun talks on a U.N.-sanctioned agreement that could curtail any outside probe of its atomic intentions - a move that heightens concerns in a region already edgy about rival Iran's nuclear program....

The protocol frees countries from reporting the possession of up to 10 tons of natural uranium - or up to 20 tons of depleted uranium, depending on the degree of enrichment - and 2.2 pounds of plutonium. It also allows them to keep silent about work on nuclear facilities secret until six months before they are ready for operation. And once a protocol is signed, the country's word is normally not questioned....

While the Saudi government insists it has no interest in going nuclear beyond a small research reactor built in the 1970s, in the past two decades it has been linked to prewar Iraq's nuclear program, to Pakistan and to the Pakistani nuclear black marketeer A.Q. Khan. It has expressed interest in Pakistani missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and credible reports say Saudi officials have discussed taking the nuclear option as a deterrent in the volatile Middle East.

A Vienna-based diplomat familiar with the issue said that while there is no firm evidence that the Saudis "have been playing around, we can never be sure" should the IAEA's authority to inspect be curtailed and it be restricted to taking the word of the government that all is well.

So now the Saudi's too have been up to no good as well. When we consider the reality that Nuclear Weapons are slowly becoming the doomsday weapon of choice for Islamic states throughout the world, it certainly raises the spectre that the 21st century could witness the first Atomic War in man's history. The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the exclamation marks on the Second World War on what was otherwise a bloody "conventional" conflict. Would nations that are essentially military paper-tigers resort to using a weapon of mass destruction as their FIRST line of defense/offense? The Washington Post continues:

Worries about Saudi Arabia were nonexistent in the 1970s, when the first small quantities protocols were negotiated. The overriding fear back then was that the Cold War could turn nuclear.

While the Nonproliferation Treaty, which came into force in 1970, was designed to contain the spread of nuclear weapons, the focus was on developed countries on both sides of the ideological U.S.-Soviet divide.

But the Saudi case is even more disquieting considering the country's past record. British newspapers and several think tanks have reported independently on the existence of a Saudi position paper as recently as two years ago that listed the possible acquisition of a nuclear weapons capability as a deterrent.

Further back, Saudi defector Muhammad Khilewi produced documents in 1994 purporting to show that the Saudi government had paid up to $5 billion to Saddam Hussein to build nuclear weapons on condition that should the project succeed, some of the bombs would be given to the Saudis.

The former diplomat's papers also appeared to show Saudi payments for Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. Later, in 1999, Prince Sultan Bin Abd al-Aziz, the Saudi defense minister, toured part of Pakistan's secret nuclear facilities.

Have the Saudi's made a deal with the devil? Is this the prelude to greater Jihad glory over Israel or a grand scheme to produce and use these weapons against enemies farther north? Dar Al Islam is at war across the globe against Israel, America, Europe, Africa, India and Russia. She is outnumbered and out-gunned, with her culture all but dead being kept alive by artificial means in the form of petrol dollars. Islam is a dying animal that will strike out at her neighbors one last time before she herself is consumed by history.

Judicial Nuclear Options

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Senate Majority Leader Frist will not be able to muster the required votes to end Democrat filibustering (or threat thereof) because of "moderate" Republicans in the Senate. There are approximately 8 - 9 moderate Republican Senators from Maine to Virginia on the East Coast and two outposts in the west in Nebraska and Arizona.

For these moderates, the ability to leverage their position is stronger while democrats filibuster than if Republicans can vote in a plurality to get Judicial Nominees voted for confirmation. To be a "pariah" is a greater reward than joining the "pack" and otherwise being invisible. In other words, these Republican moderates will throw a wrench into the Republican agenda to maintain their "strong" status quo in relation to both parties in the Senate. To do away with their "strong" hand would be foolish in their eyes. Therefore, they will not vote to undermine their own narcisstic political fantasies for the greater Republican good.

Conservatives should not blame all Senate Republicans for this problem. The vast majority of the Senate Republicans want to push the President's and the Party's Agenda forward, alas, the moderate few will act otherwise. I can sense the Democrats upbeat and highly vocal grandstanding as they are clearly pleased with themselves over this political development. The Democrats haven't felt this good since Clinton beat Dole in '96. I sense a "Cheshire Cat" moment in the Senate for the minority Democrat Party.

Conservatives should not take their wrath out on the party either come the next election. The internet, blogosphere and radio are exposing the traitorous machinations of these moderates and all we have to do is "remember". These moderates must be made to suffer for their lack of vision when it comes to plum Senate posts as well as support from the President in their re-election campaigns. If Republicans can knock Senator Lott from Leader of the Senate to just a sitting Senator then how much more could we do to these other fair weather moderate Republican "friends"?

A pair of F-16 Fighting Falcons, assigned to the 27th Fighter Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., head out for a Joint Red Flag mission over the Nevada Test and Training Range near here March 29. The exercise is designed to enhance operational and tactical effectiveness through joint integrated training. - DefenseLINK

U.S. Army Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division jump from C-17 Globemaster IIs to Landing Zone Sicily during Joint Forcible Entry Exercise here April 5. - DefenseLINK

Army of the Left

Why would anyone want to be a liberal? I find it funny how almost all the libs I know deny they are libs. They say they are "open-minded" or "moderate" or someother nomenclature that clouds their real persona. I even correspond with a certain individual at work who is a liberal through and through but refuses to admit the Lie that liberalism espouses: that socialism is the panacea of life. Since there is no God, as far as the liberal is concerned then they embrace socialism to fill the vacuum of their empty souls. Since most liberals are atheists or lukewarm Christians, socialism becomes their religion replacing the tenets of freedom, of the body as well as the soul, that the modus vivendi of Protestant Christianity has played in North America for hundreds of years.

I have found a trend with liberals lately however that I believe reveals a rather subtle pathology in that they also deny history. To them, there is no ultimate truth and thus everything is anything to everyone. History is not a anchor to guide one in understanding the present or the future but best to be forgotten. In fact, history is a real drag for liberals these days. It apparently reminds them of how wrong they have been and really conservatives use history as a constant reminder of the fallacies of liberal policies. Thus, history is to be ignored or viewed through the prism of political correctness so that the truth of history is suppressed or distorted.

Liberals are intellectually dishonest in the final analysis. The ends justify the means and no one will stop them. Rebellion and lawlessness (ironically using the law to bring chaos about) is the order of the day. Authority is to be rejected in all forms, except when it comes to establishing the "dictatorship of the proletariet". Once liberals drag down all the noble things in life, the nation, the family, and the intellect then dictatorship is embraced as a means and as an end in erecting the edifice of a liberal/socialist state. Which is why liberals love Federal Centralized Government to regulate every aspect of life from the cradle to the coffin. Dependence, not independence, from government is the modus vivendi to be religiously followed, and in some cases, even to death.

Liberals have lost the debate in the arena of public ideas but they are holding tough in the upper echelons of our society especially in the Judicial realm. Liberal judges are striking out at the Constitution both in spirit and letter and embracing "other" forms of judicial precedence in other countries. The judicial tyranny as witnessed in Florida over Terri Shiavo is but a microcosm of the rot that has allowed liberalism to be imposed upon the electorate without due regard to democratic debate. And when democratic debate has occured, liberal judges strike down the laws the people enacted through the legislative process denying the people their sovereign right to decide the issues of the day.

We have much work to complete before we can actually say its too late to save this country. Only time will tell how badly liberalism has necrotized the body politic beyond repair.

Superiority of Light

In Christianity, God is a Trinity. God is 3 persons in one body. The Father, The Son and The Spirit. They are co-equal and co-eternal having distinct characteristics yet sharing the same attributes of love, righteousness, justice, sovereignty and integrity. Much like the element of water, it is comprised of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom or H2O and yet can maintain three distinct forms all at the same time: as liquid (water), as vapor (steam) and as a solid (ice) which interestingly enough is the ONLY element that can maintain this trichotomy in the same plane. And yet there is a better illustration of the Trinity in the form of light. Light is a better illustration of the Trinity because of its creative and destructive abilities.

2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day. Gen 1: 2-5

Light as a trinity is made of three properties as well: actenic, calorific and luminiferous. Actenic light is neither seen nor felt and yet exists such as infared light. Calorific light is not seen but can be felt as such as in the form of heat. Finally, there is luminiferous light that is both seen and felt such as an atomic explosion among other things. God the Father is represented by actenic light, which is neither seen or felt. God the Spirit is representative of calorific light which is not seen but definately felt. God the Son is representative of luminiferous light in that he is both seen and able to be felt. Jesus Christ is the Ambassador of the Trinity if you will since the other members of the God-head cannot be seen by elemental man.

12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Col 1: 12-17

And just as light has creative abilites so light has destructive ablities:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.[a]

11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 2 Peter 3: 10-13

Light is the key to understanding God as well as Christian doctrine from the Bible. Light is the key to life in fact for it precedes life and without light there would be no life. The Earth is neither too close nor too far from the Sun and as such is in its "perfect" orbit, the rest of the planets bearing deadly witness of their location to the Sun in our Solar System. May the Holy Spirit illuminate your mind and guide your understanding in these matters.

An F-14B Tomcat, assigned to the "Swordsmen" of Fighter Squadron Three Two (VF-32), accelerates through a hard bank while passing over the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) during an air power demonstration performed by the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3).
- DefenseLINK

The Perception Gap

I've noticed a rather interesting development in American political discourse in that when it comes to viewing the world, either we choose to get our information from the traditional sources, at least "traditional" in the last 30 years, from the Main Stream Media which covers network television, cable and newspapers or we get our information from "new " sources such as the internet, blogs, and radio. In fact, the trust we put in either method of information gateways determines which way we fall politically in general terms. In other words, liberals tend to "trust" their news from the traditional or "old" media while conservatives tend to "trust" their news from the "new" media. This in turn has led to a perception gap when understanding the days events as well as getting an appreciation of the vagaries of any subject that is covered.

The older generation has formed their opinions through the prism of the Old Media. The older generation were the "rebels" of the 60's that is currently in power in the upper echelons of our society such as Academia, Judiciary, Press, Religious bodies and Politics. This phenomena isn't new as there has always been a tug-of-war between those in power and those up-and-comers who eventually will take power. However, this particular generation of older Americans in our upper echelons of society really have a disporportionate ignorance in terms of understanding the newer generation rising to the top. In fact, they are so clueless as to where we came from and where we are going that it is almost frightening they are in power. I believe this disconnect is directly related to their dependence on the Old Media which has become ossified and stuck in the politics of the 60's. The new media is revealing this rather disturbing trend in the older generation as the new generation no longer depends on the gateway controlled by the Old Media. A case in point is the recent Terri Shiavo event in those that trusted the Old Media tended to support Judge Greer's position while those that trusted the New Media tended to support the Shindler position to keep Terri alive. Why would this be so?

Because the Old Media is "agenda" driven news which relies on pictures and a single line of information that all the rest of the networks and papers will follow. The New Media, however, focuses on all aspects of a story due to the fact that the New Media is text-based and anyone can contribute to a story. Thus, there may be agenda's in the New Media however, because so many different avenues are approached in developing a story it doesn't take long before that agenda is revealed for what it is. In other words, the New Media is democratic meaning anyone can call talk radio and speak to thousands if not millions of listeners and the conversation is two-way. Also, blogging can be done by anyone and everyone all at the same time. The internet is viewed by millions and millions contribute to the internet. The Old Media on the other hand is autocratic. It is a one-way street of propaganda with no accountablity to the people. The Old Media is characterized by large institutions with a heirarchy that often mimicks the puffed up royal families of Europe! How long has Ted Koppel, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather ruled the gateways of information believing their position to be unassailable and without question or derision in the same vein as the belief in the "divine right of kings"?

If you feel better that the "party-line" is disseminated then the Old Media is for you. If you like your news from different sources and different outlooks with all its various opinions then the New Media is for you.

The older generation relies on the Old Media which itself is stuck in an old era. The rising newer generation relies on the New Media which has now embraced a new era of communications and information dissemination undreamed of by our founding fathers when they crafted the First Amendment. Thus, a perception gap divides the nation which eventually, by a process of attrition and conversion, will give way to the new generation, for better or for worse, that will guide and set the course of the American Ship in the 21st Century.

The Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) shown off the coast of Dili, East Timor. Mercy deployed to the region to provide humanitarian assistance and focused medical care to thousands of people displaced by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that struck Nov. 11, 2004. - DefenseLINK

Eyes of the Fleet

Two E-2C Hawkeyes, assigned to the "Seahawks" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron One Two Six (VAW-126), circle the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) prior to breaking away for their final approaches during recovery operations. - DefenseLINK

Lt. Keith Majors and Ensign Don Prince direct the flow of data received from numerous sources inside the Combat Direction Center (CDC) aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), on March 25, 2005. - DefenseLINK

Iraq Revisited Again

With the recently released report from the Presidential Commission on the Intelligence Capablities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction led by Senior Appeals Court Judge Laurence Silberman and former Senator Charles Robb (D) from Virginia there appears to be some "I told you so" attitudes from the left-wing in this country of late. The MSM is all agog over the report and emphasing the reports analysis of one part of their review of US Intelligence capabilities as related to Iraq. However, the commission itself dealt specifically with Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Here are some important excerpts that you would not get from the MSM that puts this report in perspective:

In regard to the commissions objective:

Our first task was to evaluate the Intelligence Community’s performance in assessing the nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons activities of three countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. In addition, we studied U.S. capabilities against other pressing intelligence problems—including Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, and terrorism. We wanted a range of studies so we would not judge the Intelligence Community solely on its handling of Iraq, which was—however important—a single intelligence target. In all, the studies paint a representative picture. It is the picture of an Intelligence Community that urgently needs to be changed.

Three main tasks were laid out in this report that bears visiting before we decide if President Bush "lied" to the American People on the eve of the Second Gulf War:

First, our main tasks were to find out how the Intelligence Community erred in Iraq and to recommend changes to avoid such errors in the future. This is a task that often lends itself to hubris and to second-guessing, and we have been humbled by the difficult judgments that had to be made about Iraq and its weapons programs. We are humbled too by the complexity of the management and technical challenges intelligence professionals face today. We recommend substantial changes, and we believe deeply that such changes are necessary, but we recognize that other reasonable observers could come to a different view on some of these questions.

Second, no matter how much we improve the Intelligence Community, weapons of mass destruction will continue to pose an enormous threat. Intelligence will always be imperfect and, as history persuades us, surprise can never be completely prevented. Moreover, we cannot expect spies, satellites, and analysts to constitute our only defense. As our biological weapons recommendations make abundantly clear, all national capabilities—regulatory, military, and diplomatic—must be used to combat proliferation.

Finally, we emphasize two points about the scope of this Commission’s charter, particularly with respect to the Iraq question. First, we were not asked to determine whether Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. That was the mandate of the Iraq Survey Group; our mission is to investigate the reasons why the Intelligence Community’s pre-war assessments were so different from what the Iraq Survey Group found after the war. Second, we were not authorized to investigate how policymakers used the intelligence assessments they received from the Intelligence Community. Accordingly, while we interviewed a host of current and former policymakers during the course of our investigation, the purpose of those interviews was to learn about how the Intelligence Community reached and communicated its judgments about Iraq’s weapons programs—not to review how policymakers subsequently used that information.

In order to really make a final judgement on the veracity of this report, you gunna have to read it. I know, its boring. But before you go shooting your mouth off about how "Bush Lied, People Died" please inform yourself fully on the conclusions of this report. If you do not, then you leave yourself wide open to being outflanked and outmanuevered by us on the right.

Even after this report, I'm in total support of the War on Terror. We can only wage war with the army we have and we can only analyze the intentions and capabilities of our enemies with the Intelligence agencies we currently possess. All else is subject to the vicissitudes of public opinion which is blinded by the fact it does not have access to top secret information pouring in from around the world from the military, CIA and other intelligence assets. Even for myself, the only thing I have for "intelligence" reports is the news media. And since they are of a liberal left-wing political persuasion, then everything they report must be taken with a grain of salt. After that, I only have history to fall back on as a guide to the future.