The question is, would you go to an emergency room staffed with untrained doctors?

The earth is heaving as if it is in labor.

The quake hit about 100 miles from Santiago, the capital of Chile. But reported death toll right now is only 78 people.

My thoughts and prayers are with those on the ground in Chile.

But back to the initial thoughts.

How long ago was it that seismologists were screaming the world was heading towards “the big one”. A massive quake level 9 or higher on the Richter Scale that would decimate a significant area of even highly developed and well constructed buildings.

A disaster of biblical proportions, it would be called, even by atheists and agnostics and dont’-careists.

I don’t know if this is it. I don’t have a crystal ball or special word from God that the end is here. But I know that God wants us to be vigilant, ready, always choosing our next steps based on His greater glory and with the continual awareness of the impending end of days.

The constant reminders in the New Testament, especially, though they are the words of men expecting a return of the Christ within their lifetimes or very shortly thereafter, are included nonetheless at God’s behest. God wanted us living between Christ’s first and second comings to live always in the hope of His imminent return, both as a justification for the struggles we deal with on earth as His ambassadors, and as a guide to our thoughts and actions.

Christ is returning, of that we are sure.

Whether He comes through the upheaval of earthquakes shattering the sure footing of this earth we each trust too much, or through the twisting terrors of tornadoes scarring the skies, or hurricanes or typhoons or the soft, sweet winds of a summers’ afternoon, He will still come.

And for the people in Chile now dealing with the aftermath of such destruction and ruin, I pray their succor will not just be of their physical homes, but also include a rebirth in their own lives in the salvation of Christ.

So here’s a new policy: If your link is spammy, I delete your link. If you comment is spammy, I delete your comment and flag it as spam. If your link and your comment are spammy… what do you think this is? A democracy?

I’ll leave your comment if it applies to the post, just because I feel lonely sometimes out here in my little corner of cyberspace without people commenting. But I reserve the right to delete your link and change your name to Jane Doe or John Doe, as the situation is appropriate. Or Robby the Robot if it’s difficult to tell.

So you’re desperate, but I’m desperate too. Only difference, I’ve got the power here on I, Pandora, and you don’t.

It was an attempt at making a hearty, chunky pasta sauce inspired by an advertisement for Philly Cream Cheese that went awry, and in a good way.

The advertisement showed the couple stirring cream cheese into what appeared to be a simple tomato sauce and then enjoying it over spaghetti. The cream sauces I’d enjoyed previously tended to have a thick flavor that was not necessary enjoyable to me.

So I tried my own hand at it, and it ended up a bit too hearty for sauce, and just right for a really good soup. In my opinion.

1 medium onion(diced)
4 cloves garlic (crushed well into a near-paste)
2T olive oil

1 green bell pepper (chopped finely)
1 yellow bell pepper (chopped finely)
1 red bell pepper (chopped finely)

small handful cilantro (diced)

2 10oz cans Tomato sauce

4oz cream cheese (softened)

2 cups fresh tomato (chopped into 1/2 inch cubes)
1lb ground beef

Sweat the onion and garlic in olive oil over very low heat until the onoins are translucent.

Increase heat to medium-low until onion begins to brown lightly.

Add bell peppers and saute just until bell peppers are soft. If you over cook the bell peppers or they’ll not add texture to the soup.

Add cilantro to pepper and onion mixture for last minute of sauteing.

Brown ground beef and drain.

In soup pot warm tomato sauce over medium low, add softened cream cheese and stir until there are no lumps of cream cheese.

Mix in fresh tomato chunks, browned ground beef, and pepper and onion mixture.

Heat, stirring sparingly, until bubbling.

Serve immediately.

There aren’t pictures because we ate it all before I thought to take a picture.

If the sauce were thinner it would probably work OK as a pasta sauce. But as is it is a thick and hearty tomato soup. It even works for dipping grilled cheese sandwiches, though the extra chunks do require their own spoon for finishing the bowl.

Kudos to Harry Reid?

Harry Reid is proposing putting the force of law behind rules already on the books requiring all future obligations Congress saddles us with to be funded prior to enactment.

Congress already lives within similar budget rules but routinely waives them. However, the new rules would carry the force of law and be enforced by the threat of across-the-board spending cuts if they are violated.

Apparently he’s a rather unwilling convert to the idea, being pressured by the “blue-dog” Democrats who tend to hold to more fiscally sound ideas while maintaining a (D) after their name.

These rules are similar to those enacted in the 90’s which helped contribute to the balanced budget of ‘98. Those rules expired in ‘02 and have not been re-upped.

So kudos to Senator Reid. I’ll think a few happy thoughts about you after you are forced out by a landslide defeat in your next election.

Democrats have been pulled to the left, to the left.

And I’d welcome a move to the right from them. Sure, it’s harder to tell people apart when they’re so similar, but the fights aren’t quite as “end of the world” as they are when there are such polar opposites at stake.

Senator Evan Bayh (D)

Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana prescribes such a move to save the party of the donkey from a potential rout in upcoming elections.

President Obama should, according to Bayh, “draw a line in the sand on spending” and promise vetoes for bills that exceed those limits. Yea, with you there. I’d like that.

Democrats are “tone deaf” to what people are really saying in the ballot boxes and around water coolers:

It is amazing that some people here in Congress still don’t get it.…For those people it may take a political catastrophe of biblical proportions before they get it. I don’t think we’ll get to that. But we might.

Senator Bayh has good reason for his warnings, he’s up for reelection. And with the public increasingly understanding the national import of even local elections, he’s liable to get thrown out as any other Democrat, especially as his fellow Hoosiers tend strongly to the conservative.

So he chides Washington Democrats for being “out of touch”, for being foolhardy in spending, for not passing the best jobs policies, namely tax-cuts for small businesses.

He isn’t sure bashing banks will bring real economic improvement to average Americans, and he staunchly opposes denying Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke a second term. He said he prefers “positive populism” in the form of, for example, more aggressive moves to create jobs and lower college costs. Above all, he wants that presidential line in the sand on spending and deficits.

Keep up the good advice Evan. I’ll think higher of you than I think of Harry Reid after you’ve been ousted too. Or perhaps you can join the party you belong in and put that pen to use where we actually believe in those things.

It just might save your bacon come November.

Oh, and I really can’t end even this post without digging some at Harry. I’m feeling a little icky after congratulating Senator Reid above.

Feeling better now.

Colonel Joseph "Joe" Nelson

Grace’s grandpa died this morning.

Marine Colonel Joseph “Joe” Nelson (Ret.) passed away while in a coma he’d fallen into while sleeping during the night.

He knew Christ Jesus as his Savior and Lord.

And he was a hero of the armed forces of the United States of America.

Colonel Joe was a veteran of 3 wars, WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. He observed the atom bomb exploding over Nagasaki from the cockpit of this fighter plane. He was a member of the Marine Observation Squadron 6 (VMO-6) and commanded them in Vietnam for much of 1967. During his tenure as commander of VMO-6 there were no fatalities despite hard fighting.

During his command of VMO-6 one of his men, Major Stephen M. Pless, earned the Medal of Honor for action protecting soldiers under heavy attack on a beach in Mai Lai and several others were recognized with lesser commendations.

Colonel Joe spent the last years of his life in deteriorating health due to exposure to chemical agents during the Vietnam War.

My son William is his great grandson. Due to the generosity of family, Grace and William were able to fly to North Carolina to spend some brief time with Colonel Joe the day before he died.

I did not know Colonel Joe personally. Grace and I were planning a trip to visit her granddad and grandmother once I’d found longer-term employment. I know he was a human, and prone to all the failures of humankind. However, he was and remained to the end and strong and decent man. Well respected in the community around his home near the Marine Base.

Grace and her siblings were recognized as “Colonel Joe’s grandkids” by all they met when visiting their grandparents, speaking to the honor and respect the Colonel received.

ValorRemembered.org chronicles much of the action surrounding VMO-6 and the Pless Medal of Honor episode. It describes Colonel Joe this way:

Colonel Nelson is a veteran of three major wars, and untold other actions.  During World War II he flew fighters in the Pacific and witnessed the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki from the cockpit of his fighter.  He fought again in the Korean War.  In Vietnam he was first put in charge of the construction of the air base at Chu Lai.  He commanded VMO-6 for most of 1967, a period of time when the squadron was heavily engaged in combat throughout the I Corps area.  Despite numerous hard fought battles with the enemy, not a single member of his squadron was killed while Joe Nelson was in charge.  After leaving VMO-6 Colonel Nelson was assigned the task of preparing a contingency plan for the final evacuation of American personnel from Saigon.   Years later  Colonel Nelson’s plan was followed in the actual evacuation under fire of the thousands of American and Vietnamese from Saigon.

So Colonel Joe has gone to meet his Maker, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, from whose mouth he hears those words of honor and praise “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the rest I have prepared for you.”

Colonel Joe standing on the wing of a Corsair fighter he flew in his early days as a Marine aviator.

UPDATE: Colonel Joe’s obituary in the New Bern Sun Journal:

(Colonel Joe) is survived by his wife of 65 years, Virginia Nelson; two sons, Dan Nelson and wife, Judith, of Dallas, Texas, and Dr. David Nelson and wife, Sheila, of Birmingham, Ala.; and one daughter, Susan Sauer and husband, Dr. Ronald Sauer, of Wheaton, Ill.; 10 grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

These parents treat their children as if they were their homies in the streets,

They raise them up in immorality and teach them how to cheat,

This generation has deplorable values,

And they’ve glorified the term “deadbeat”.

There is a perversity that runs so deep, passed by blood between the sheets…

And our city sleeps…

The nation it creeps,

As it lurks in and out, across this poverty stricken house,

lying in doubt.

These people are lost, and in their follies they shout!

Sin runs so deep into the hearts of these streets…

Sight is given only to those viewed through the clip,

Faith built on greed, they’re being slain in mammon’s grip,

Pain evoked passions,

Will the demise ever quit?

Folks are getting tired of all same ol’ stiff lip,

Their darkened inner cities, just want things to be fixed.

Broken and tired, their emotions so mixed…

The catastrophic demise,

will surely arise,

If the Calvary doesn’t come quick!

People are sick.

These lands are ill filled by the ways of the stick.

And I must admit my blame in this,

For not doing my part to help the fix.

But time urgently speaks to all those who repent,

To gather your forces for this mission we’re sent.

Come to valley all you who are God-sent.

Make room in your tent,

Join the gospel event, for the time is so near.

Your place in this race is to speak the Word over fear,

There is opportunity now for the hurting to hear,

Be the hands and the feet and the bringer of cheer.

The mission speaks life, and brings peace to the tears.

Take up His commission and share salvation this year,

To this lost generation, for the Coming is near…

Ashley Lucas

Michelle Obama as pop culture

In yet another article about content providers raising rates for the cable TV companies to continue running their shows, the NY Times reports millions of viewers complained at having missed a particular Iron Chef show which featured… drum roll please… Michelle Obama and the White House Chef.

I enjoy Iron Chef. I don’t enjoy a President and his family acting as though they are pop-culture icons. There is real America, lived by you and me and represented by a President. And then there is entertainment America, where we go to escape at times.

The President and his family do not necessarily belong in pop culture the same way actors and other people who haven’t actually contributed much to the nation. Or maybe that’s why this President and his family go on such shows…

Will latest jobs bill really produce jobs?

Asks ABC News implying that previous ones haven’t.

Oh, and the answer, as before, is no.

The reason, in case you didn’t already know, is that the government doesn’t produce jobs, businesses do.

Government spending costs more, has unintended consequences

The Wall Street Journal reports that government stimulus programs encouraged states to spend more instead of tightening their belts for these lean times. So now there are more, bigger programs, and less money to pay for them with.

And we’re surprised why?

Settled climate science not so settled after all

The Daily News Online on the climate emails:

It has been written that “there is room for legitimate civilized disagreement as to the role of human activity in climate change,” and that is correct. But that is not how the climate zealots see it. On Nov. 19, 2008, the president said, “The Science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear.” Actually, how the earth’s climate works is the most complex question scientists have ever addressed, any conclusions that can be drawn now are “highly speculative.”

The government doesn’t like accountability

The TSA is apparently more concerned that the new media (bloggers) have found out information about their processes and procedures than they are about yours and my security at the airport and in air travel.

Thankfully cooler heads prevailed after the new media (bloggers) showed just how good they were at raising a stink.

The new media (bloggers) are read by people who care. The old media are viewed passively by people who couldn’t care less. That’s where the real power of blogging and the internet comes through.

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