Cluster of wheat image Grapes and vines image Cluster of wheat image
November 28th, 2012

UNCLE CHUCK DIES

Uncle Chuck was my husband’s half-brother. We kept in touch by e-mail and he would call every once in a while to see how I was and tell me he loved me. I knew him as a good and kind man and I will miss having him in my world. Thank you, Chuck, for being the person you were. God love you.

Charles Vining Jr. (1924 – 2012)

Obituary
  • “i haven’t seen or heard of uncle chuck since i was a little…”
    – mary vining perrone

Charles Edward Vining, Jr.

Charles Edward Vining, Jr., 88, of Palm Desert, Calif., passed away October 27, 2012 in Palm Desert of age related causes. He was born October 4, 1924, to Charles E. Vining, Sr. and Jean Forrester in Chicago, Ill. He married Nita Killen on August 30, 1992 in Maui, Hawaii. He was in the legal and claims department of State Farm Insurance for 26 years. He was a member of Optimist International. He served in the Marine Corps during WWII for three and a half years as a PFC. He is survived by his wife, Nita Rae Vining; daughters, Vicki Lynn Meece of Tustin, Calif. and Stacey Jean Kelley of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; son, Charles Richard Vining of Palm Springs, Calif.; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by one sister and one brother, parents and grandparents. A visitation will be held Sunday, November 4, 2012 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Ramon Chapel at Forest Lawn Cathedral City. A funeral service will be held Monday, November 5, 2012 at 10:00 am at Forest Lawn Cathedral City with entombment to follow. The family suggests that donations be made to Desert Adventist Academy Student Aid, 74-200 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260. Forest Lawn Memorial Parks & Mortuaries. To view and sign this guestbook, please visit mydesert.com/obituaries.

Published in The Desert Sun on November 2,
November 28th, 2012

NO ARMS, NO LEGS. NOW WHAT?

Long before personal computers and YouTube I first read the story of Joni Eareckson, who, as a 17-year-old suffered a spinal injury which left her quadraplegic.  Joni was on Huckabee last night, as a 63-old-old woman, with her husband.  It was such a delight to see her for the first time, to hear something of her struggles and triumphs, and even to get a glimpse of her in the process of drawing which is accomplished with a pencil in her mouth.  “Sometimes I drool on my work,”  she says.

Wikipedia has this to say about her:

Joni Eareckson Tada is the founder of Joni and Friends, an organization accelerating Christian outreach in the disability community that numbers 610 million people worldwide. This organization operates out of the new Joni and Friends International Disability Center located in Agoura Hills, California. Joni is not only an international disability advocate but an artist and the author of numerous bestselling books, including Pearls of Great Price, Diamonds in the Dust, More Precious Than Silver, the Platinum award-winning Joni, Heaven: Your Real Home, When God Weeps, and The God I Love.

Here is one of Joni’s latest interviews — her injury, her despair, her hope. And her husband, Ken.

What can one say about a woman such as this? She has had difficulties we can’t even imagine. Recent surgery and chemo for breast cancer just added to her challenges.

On November 27 Joni publicly disagreed with Dr. Phil McGraw in the Huffington Post:

We are joining together to express our disappointment in Dr. Phil for a recent program focused on euthanasia.

Is this a topic that needs to be discussed? Definitely! Is this an issue about which more Americans need to be informed? Most certainly. However, what I must disagree with is how the topic was treated. It must be presented in a responsible manner, with a variety of opinions, beliefs and facts from a diverse range of sources.

Joni Eareckson Tada draws beautiful pictures with her mouth. You can go on line and buy her drawings and her Christmas cards. Joni Eareckson Tada is herself a beautiful work of art. Ken Tada, I would love someday to read your life story!

Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs. He, too, has a story and a life. He also has a DVD, well worth viewing.

What hath God wrought?

November 22nd, 2012

CHERISHED

According to Toni Morrison (on Oprah) the true test of maternal love is when your eyes light up when your child enters the room. As the mother of seven, I doubt very much that my eyes lit up every time each of the seven entered the room but, since I loved each one dearly, it is my hope that at least sometimes they could see in my eyes that they were cherished. “Cherished” is my favorite word lately.

I think a child knows somehow instinctively if it is welcomed and loved. My dear departed friend, Dr. Herbert Ratner, said that the focal distance of the eyes of the newborn baby is just the distance of the child at the breast to the mother’s eyes. It is by the feel of her arms and the look in her eyes that the baby knows that it is special and cherished. God in his goodness helps us warm to our babies with the maternal hormone, oxytocin, the “cuddle chemical.” Face it, babies are a bother. Some people choose not to have them lest they interfere with their lifestyle. Happily there are others who are willing to accept them, bother and all, and even delight in their wonderfulness. It is in being loved that a child learns how to love.

When my fifth child was two I wrote a poem about him. I even put the poem on a wooden plaque with cartoons of Linus and his blanket.   The last lines went thus:

He drags his blanket to me
To wrap him up and hold –
He is neither child nor baby
He is just a two-year-old.

We all need someone who, at least sometimes, is willing to wrap us up and hold us and make us feel cherished.

My friend, Alice, has been in a nursing home for several years now. She never refers to the nursing home as “home.” She calls it, rather, “the place where I live.” Alice has nine children, some of whom are quite well off. There was a time, after her accident, when she really needed convalescent care, but now she is up and about and lucid for the most part and she wishes she could be with family. Yes, she will tell you, it’s a very nice facility. Yes, the people there are very kind and accommodating. And family visits at least once a week.

Some nursing facilities smell and are understaffed. You might say the occupants are “housed.” Others, like Alice’s, are clean and staffed with good-hearted people who are paid to do the job. You might say Alice and the others there are “cared for.” I think the trouble is that Alice, while well-cared for,  doesn’t feel “cherished.”  She is no bother to anyone in the family  while in the nursing home and the state picks up the expense.  Why not?

That’s cherished.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love –
I have called you, and you are mine.”
That’s cherished,

Once, long ago  — SOMEONE — poured himself out on a cross for us. That’s cherished.

And he’s waiting.

It’s Thanksgiving Day!

 

“A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” – John 15:20

For “not cherished”  click here.

November 21st, 2012

SAL LEAPS UPSTREAM AT 87

You are RE-invited to drop into my blog www.leonachoy.blogpost.com and graze at your leisure anytime—hopefully regularly. I don’t post every day, but quite often, sharing excerpts from my writings in progress. Lately I’ve been posting selections from another of my books-in-progress: SINGING ON THE SUMMIT, Finishing Up with a Flourish. It is the 4th book (??) in my autobiographical TRILOGY. There must be some term to designate a fourth book in a series !? A recent post is below. I hope you will catch up on some of my previous encouraging goodies now stored in the Archives. Comments from my viewers are always welcome at my email address: leonachoy@comcast.net.

Leona a.k.a. “SAL”

It’s short for SALmon!

I don’t remember how it started, but in writing to friends for the past year I have been
signing “Sal” as my informal signature. I refer to myself as “God’s SALmon still swimming/leaping upstream in life, only somewhat more slowly due to chronological factors.” The main factor is my current age of 87.

A little background on the salmon analogy first.

Alaska salmon have a most interesting life. One that takes them from the rivers
and streams of Alaska’s wild frontier an incredibly long distance to the high seas
of the Pacific Ocean—and back again. In fact, right back to the very place they
were born. They find their way from the immensity of the ocean by their amazing
created instinct from God. Salmon swim from fresh water to salt water and back
again!

 

Hatched from small eggs in a stream bed, their journey downstream towards the
ocean takes a couple of years. After that, they head out to the salty ocean for up
to 4 more years. They swim and feed more than 2000 miles throughout the northern
Pacific Ocean. Their journey is hazardous at every point as they are constantly hunted
by seals, whales, and fishermen.

When fully mature, the adult salmon will swim back to their original stream or river
re-adapting to fresh water. Downstream was relatively easy; returning upstream
dangerous and requiring great strength and risk. They swim against the strong current
through rugged rivers to leap up miles of rapids and rocky waterfalls, traversing fish
ladders, avoiding nets and hooks of fishermen, and staying clear of fierce and hungry
bears.

Those that survive and finally reach their natal stream breed and lay their eggs. Their life
cycle is complete. After spawning they generally die in a week or two, fertilizing the
stream and creating a nutrient-rich environment for the new infant salmon about to hatch.

An analogy to myself?

Like the salmon, I too have been on a long adventurous life journey of many
decades various geographical scenarios and under challenging conditions both
physical and spiritual.

Obstacles and hazards and adversities have been overcome or have passed
or I am accepting and managing them with the help and strength of our loving
God. I hope I have matured in wisdom while I have been weathered by the
different seasons of life and shifting circumstances. At times I felt that the
change from life’s fresh waters to salty waters was impossible to endure. But one adapts. And God brings me back to refresh me with abundant fresh-water-blessings.

Violent bear and whale attacks both material and spiritual have been frequent
in my life. The hooks of the enemy often came too close. The battles have been
fierce but not terminal—some wounds and scars remain. It seems that I’ve often had to swim against the current; at times also in deep waters and stormy seas. The distances to accomplish the goals of my life which I’ve felt the Lord gave me often seemed daunting. Sometimes I have lost my direction in the vast ocean of life. Time and again God helped me readjust my compass to align with His will and sent me on my way once more to the destination He planned.

 

At times I’ve been exhausted, worn and weary by the length of the life’s lonely
journey. Retirement beckoned invitingly. Why not stay in the perceived shelter
of the familiar ocean and drift with the tide to some easier Finish Line? Swimming upstream and leaping rapids is just too difficult anymore. That’s meant for the young. Been there, done that.

 

Nevertheless, the vision and destiny which God planted in my heart from my
youth, like the inborn instinct of the tiny salmon hatchlings, impelled me to
first head downstream into the thick of ocean life in my prime years, and then
in maturity to struggle upstream again. “I press on [keep leaping upstream] in
order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ
Jesus.” And I press on [keep leaping upstream] toward the goal for the prize of
the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 12,14).

 

As long as God generously provides for me His life and breath and strength
and opportunities through my spoken or written or published words, I will
keep leaping the rapids. In these days of my advanced maturity I want to be faithful wherever and however and whenever I can to reproduce the Christ-life in others.

That is my calling. And God’s calling has no expiration date—it is for a lifetime.
There is no retirement program if one’s focus is to do the will of God “on earth
as it is in heaven.” Continuing to serve God is not a burden. It’s a joyous upstream adventure all the way!

 

By signing “Sal” I guess I remind myself of the Lord’s continuous upward call on my life—without respect to my chronological age.

November 15th, 2012

WINTER OF MY LIFE

(this came today via email – no author, nice pictures which unfortunately didn’t copy along with the text)

You know. . . Time has a way of moving quickly
And catching you unaware of the passing years.
It seems just yesterday that I was young,
Just married and embarking on my new life with my mate.
And yet in a way, it seems like eons ago,
And I wonder where all the years went.
I know that I lived them all…
And I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams…
But, here it is… The winter of my life and it catches me by surprise…

How did I get here so fast?
Where did the years go and where did my youth go?
I remember well…
Seeing older people through the years and thinking that those
Older people were years away from me and that winter was so far off
That I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like…
But, here it is…
My friends are retired and getting grey…
They move slower and I see an older person now.
Some are in better and some worse shape than me…
But, I see the great change…
Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant…
But, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those
Older folks that we used to see and never thought we’d be.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day!
And taking a nap is not a treat anymore… it’s mandatory!
‘Cause if I don’t on my own free will… I just fall asleep where I sit!
And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared
For all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability
To go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!!

Yes, I have regrets.
There are things I wish I hadn’t done…
Things I should have done, but indeed,
There are many things I’m happy to have done.

It’s all in a lifetime…
So, if you’re not in your winter yet…
Let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think.
Whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please do it quickly!

Don’t put things off too long!!
Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can today,
As you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!
You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life…
So, live for today and say all the things you want your loved ones to remember…
And hope they appreciate and love you for all the things
You have done for them in all the years past!!

Life is a gift to you.

The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after.
Make it a fantastic one.

~ And, Remember ~
“It is health that is real wealth
And not pieces of gold or silver

Sometimes we need an angel for ourselves,
Sometimes we are destined to be an angel for others.

November 15th, 2012

RESCUE REVISITED

I have written about the Rescue Movement before.  Sometimes when saying the rosary my mind wanders to past events and I began to wonder whatever possessed me to travel to Atlanta GA in 1988 just to get arrested.  And I also wondered whether, today, in 2012, there would be anything at all on the internet about the Rescue Movement which essentially began in 1988.  A friend assured me that the world wide web existed even before 1988 so I did a little background check for the purpose of gathering some of that old data in one place.

Here is what I found:

Orlando Sentinel, August 15 1988

Under Terry’s supervision, Operation Rescue protesters are well- disciplined in their non-violence. For the most part, they remain silent except for singing hymns. At an Atlanta demonstration, one protester was admonished by another for getting into an argument with a clinic staffer.

It is the hope of the anti-abortion organizers that by taking to the streets in large, peaceful demonstrations, Operation Rescue will change the American public’s views on abortion, as well as preventing the abortions themselves.

”Any change in America has come about by civil disobedience — gay rights, rights for women, civil rights,” said Patricia Mondl, 34, a protester in Atlanta. ”This is how things are changed in America.”

But the shift in protest tactics toward peaceful non-violence is also a concession by Operation Rescue strategists that other pro-life efforts have failed.

”If we had already been effective as a movement there would be no abortion,” said Judie Brown, president of the American Lobby for Life in Stanford, Va. ”We are praying that these rescue missions will do something to the American psyche that has not been done previously. Maybe rescue missions will be the way to finally crack the ice.”

This is a snippet from an interview with Baby John Doe who turned 66 while imprisoned.

“We had a couple of Baptist ministers from out-of-town here last week. When they came in they were convinced no Catholic could be saved. When they left, they hugged us and admitted they believed we were saved.”

“We have people in here from 19 states,” the prisoner revealed in a telephone conversation Aug. 3. Of all denominations, they range in age from people in their 20s to a man 78.

Jailed “Baby Johns” and “Baby Janes” include a retired Army colonel who was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, school teachers, nurses, attorneys, a symphony’s first violinist. “I wouldn’t be in any other place. The morale is very high,” no. 212 insisted.

 

According to Martin Luther King, Jr., who was arrested 22 times for civil disobedience.

An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.

 

No pro-life action has been so misunderstood by the public, the pro-aborts, and even Christians as rescue missions.

A rescue is not organized to make a statement; it is not a mere “sit-in;” it is an actual and earnest attempt to save lives!

A rescue mission is mounted to save unborn lives and mother’s health by placing oneself between the victims and the killer the abortionist. The philosophy of rescue is as simple as that.

A rather comprehensive overview of the Rescue movement can be found here.  It includes a section of directions to pro-abortion folks  on how to deal with the rescuers:

It is very interesting to read a typical pro-abortion clinic tactics manual (obtained during depositions for a lawsuit) to see how escorts are encouraged to physically assault rescuers and “bully” picketers off the public sidewalks.

The overview mentioned above is extraordinarily well-done and anyone really interested in understanding the Rescue Movement will find it very worthwhile.

~~~

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong. — Voltaire

November 7th, 2012

ROSARY OVER CHICAGO

ROSARY OVER CHICAGO

 

 

 

A giant 75-foot  rosary floated gracefully over Chicago ‘s busy tourism district on Friday as thousands looked on. The six-foot gold cross hanging from the rosary sparkled in the sunlight as it very slowly ascended between the Tribune tower and the Wrigley building. The rosary of helium-filled yellow balloons bearing the word LIFE then floated down Michigan Avenue over the Hancock Tower and past North Ave Beach . Cameras and cell phones flew into action as people responded to the unexpected sight.

“There was an excitement all around us and there were people in tears at the sight of the rosary.  I think we often take it for granted the power of a simple witness to the faith,” said a camp counsellor. A passerby tweeted, “A balloon rosary in the air. My faith confirmed :)”, while another surprised Chicagoan wrote, “what the… giant balloon rosary, with cross, just floated heavenward from the Michigan avenue bridge.” The rosary was the craft of 20 imaginative elementary school-aged girls and their counsellors participating in a summer camp at a Chicago Catholic Parish. The girls prayed the rosary in front of the Washington Blvd. Family Planning Associates asking Our Lady for an end to abortion.   Read more.

 

 

 

 

Marian devotion, particularly the holy Rosary, leads us closer to Christ. Blessed John Paul II’s favorite prayer was the Rosary, which astonished many people. He was a brilliant man with a double doctorate, had an exceptional IQ and could speak 27 languages. Yet his favorite prayer was the Rosary, which he called “the school of Mary.” –Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz

 

 

November 7th, 2012

GAY MARRIAGE – WHY NOT?

Dan Savage has quite a presence on the internet as a defender of gay sex and an advocate for gay marriage.  To anyone who watches any of these three videos, which are presented as a kind of overview, I would beg them not to miss my commentary at the end of the post.  In the third video, a debate between Dan Savage and the head of the National Organization for Marriage, Brian Brown, I think something important is missing which I will add at the end.

 

Dan Savage and his “spouse,” Terry, talk about their family:

Dan Savage discusses bullshit in the Bible about homosexuality at High School Journalism Convention

Dan Savage and Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage debate gay “marriage” over the dinner table (mediator: Mark Oppenheimer of the New York Times)

Towards the end of this dinner table debate the moderator asks Brian if he could imagine some evidence that could be brought forth that would make him change his opinion about gay marriage. Brian talks about the beautiful complementarity of male and female and says something to the effect that he could no sooner accept gay marriage than he could call a circle a square. I wish he could have made much more clear the fact that man and woman were made – designed – for each other. They fit together like a key in a lock.  Their togetherness is appropriate, functional, and normal.  It is in the very nature of a male to have sex with a female, of a man to have sex with a woman.

What is unnatural is usually also harmful.  The anus is an exit, not an entrance. Anal sex is not only disordered, it is unhealthy. Ask any proctologist. AIDS was originally called the gay disease because the HIV virus is much more easily spread homosexually than heterosexually. See this  Lancet article of July 20, 2012,  titled HIV in Men Who Have Sex With Men.

When certain persons were first referred to as “queer” it was because they were instinctively recognized as abnormal, or disordered, or dysfunctional. To recognize something as abnormal does not mean one hates it.   The abnormality is simply a matter of fact and stating a fact is a truthful rather than a hateful thing.   We are all peculiar in our own  way and bullying anyone because they are somehow different is not acceptable.

Two men or two women can love each other.  In fact, we are called to love each other as ourselves.  Expressions of affection between two humans who love are normal and natural.  But however much they love, TWO MEMBERS OF THE SAME SEX  CANNOT MATE!   And marriage has always been about an agreement to mate.  Whatever else they may do in search of an orgasm, it is not mating.

 

Sarah Rowe stands for marriage in Anti-Marriage Defamation League.  And she pays for it.

November 2nd, 2012

ELECTION COLLECTION

What’s not to hate?

Judge Jeanine Pirro has much to say about the terrorist attack at Benghazi, Libya, on 9/11/l2.

Government is not the solution to the problem; government IS the problem.WILL YOU VOTE FOR BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA AFTER READING THIS?When Obama wrote a book and said he was mentored as a youth by Frank, (Frank Marshall Davis) an avowed Communist. People said it didn’t matter…When it was discovered that his grandparents, were strong socialists, sent Obama’s mother to a socialist school, introduced Frank Marshall Davis to young Obama, People said it didn’t matter…

When people found out that he was enrolled as a Muslim child in school and his father and step father were both Muslims, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama wrote in another book he authored “I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction”. People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama admittedly, in his book, said he chose Marxist friends and professors in college, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama traveled to Pakistan, after college on an unknown national passport, People said it didn’t matter…
When it was learned that Obama was a follower of Saul Alinsky, a famous 60’s Marxist radical, and taught Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” to ACORN and other organizations in Chicago, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama signed his first executive order immediately upon election to seal his records, People said it didn’t matter…
After years refusing to produce a birth certificate, and then eventually a “birth certificate” that was proven to be a phony, Photoshop-forged certificate, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama joined the socialist New Party in Chicago, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama sought the endorsement of the Marxist party in 1996 as he ran for the Illinois Senate, People said it doesn’t matter…

When Obama sat in a Chicago Church for twenty years and listened to a preacher spew hatred for America and preach black liberation theology, People said it didn’t matter…

When an independent Washington organization, that tracks senate voting records, gave him the distinctive title as the “most liberal senator”, People said it didn’t matter…

When the Palestinians in Gaza, set up a fund raising telethon to raise money for his election campaign, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama’s voting record supported gun control, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan and Muammar Kaddafi and Hugo Chavez, People said it didn’t matter…

When it was pointed out that Obama was a total, newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary, unrepentant terrorists, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama’s voting record in the Illinois senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama refused to wear a flag, lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, People said it didn’t matter…

When people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama surrounded himself in the White house with advisors who were pro-gun control, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual marriage, anti-capitalism, anti-free markets, pro-government control over everything and wanting to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama aired his views on abortion and a host of other unpopular issues, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama said he favors sex education in Kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama’s background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama’s first act as President, literally within 5 minutes of taking office, he signed executive order #13489 that sealed his own records, People said it didn’t matter…

When the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, and continues to spend millions in court to keep the material sealed, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezco, born in Aleppo, Syria, a man of questionable character, who is now in prison for 10 years and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home, People said it didn’t matter…

When it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get Obama elected, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama started appointing czars that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist/Communist, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama stood before the nation and told us that his intentions were to “fundamentally transform this nation” into something else, People said it didn’t matter…

When it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama told “Joe the Plumber” that he planned to “spread the wealth,” the first tenet of Socialism, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama appointed a cabinet members and several advisors who were tax cheats and socialist, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama appointed a science czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama appointed Cass Sunstein as regulatory czar and he believes in “Explicit Consent”, harvesting human organs without family consent, and to allow animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama appointed Kevin Jennings, and organizer of a group called gay, lesbian, straight, education network, as safe school czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama appointed Mark Lloyd as diversity czar and he believed in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth and admires Hugo Chavez, People said it didn’t matter…

When Valerie Jarrett was selected as Obama’s senior White House advisor and she is an avowed Socialist, People said it didn’t matter…

When Anita Dunn, White House Communications director said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama appointed Carol Browner as global warming czar, and she is a well known socialist working on Cap and Trade as the nation’s largest tax hike in history, People said it doesn’t matter…

When Obama appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as green energy czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, People said it didn’t matter…

When Tom Daschle, Obama’s pick for health and human services secretary could not be confirmed, because he was a tax cheat, People said it didn’t matter…

When as president of the United States, he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama’s actions concerning the middle-east seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time friend, People said it doesn’t matter…

When Obama took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States , People said it doesn’t matter…

When Obama upset our European allies by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, People said it doesn’t matter…

When Obama played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops the Field Commanders said we had to have to win, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, to the tune of 6 trillion dollars, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions and individuals that got him elected, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama forced the takeover of insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy resources in the United States through Cap and Trade, People said it didn’t matter…
When Moody downgraded the US credit rating for the first time in US history during Obama’s tenure, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama totally wasted 534 million dollars of our money on Solyndra, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama gave money to 7 other “green” energy companies that also went bankrupt, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama denied oil drilling permits in our country but gave 2 billion dollars to Brazil for their oil drilling, People said it didn’t matter…
When the unemployment rate went up to and remained around 10%, People said it didn’t matter…
When it was announced that there were 23 million unemployed people in the US, People said it didn’t matter…
When 6.4 million new people went into poverty during Obama’s 4 year tenure, People said it didn’t matter…
When home prices dropped by 15% during Obama’s four year time in office, People said it didn’t matter…
When medium family income dropped by an average of $4200, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama took 716 billion dollars from Medicare to finance ObamaCare, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama told business owners that “You didn’t build that,” People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama imposed hundreds of job-restricting regulations, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama caused more racial tension and division in our country than any other president in our history, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama stated his support for the Occupy Wall Street trouble-makers, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama added millions to the food stamp program, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama said he was going to give amnesty to illegal immigrants, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama abandoned NASA, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama declared “war” on coal companies and oil drilling, People said t didn’t matter.
When Obama announced he was returning the masterminds of 9-11 to New York City to stand trial as ordinary criminals — not war criminals — and thus allow them the benefits from our system of jurisprudence, The mainstream media loved it and the people said it didn’t matter…(Oh really? Go ask an FDNY FF, NYPD Cop, NY EMS, NY Port Authority Cop or Transit Worker, or a 9/11 Families member who was at the World Trade Center 9/11/2001 and see if it matters…)
When Obama’s DOJ sold thousands AK-47s to Mexican drug cartels, which was responsible for the death of a US border officer and hundreds of innocent Mexican citizens, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama’s AG, Eric Holder, told his DOJ staff that they were no longer going to pursue cases of complaints on minorities by white victims, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama supported the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt, People said it didn’t matter…
When a US ambassador and 3 navy seals were killed by a planned terrorist attack on 9-11-2012 after the ambassador requested and was denied more security, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama and his WH staff tried to cover up the embassy attack, People said it didn’t matter…
When gas prices shot up to over $4.00 a gallon and remained there, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama forced ObamaCare down our throats without any congressional debate or public input which also gave us 21 new taxes, People said it didn’t matter…
When health care premiums went up 23%, People said it didn’t matter…
When Obama pumped billions of dollars into phantom “shovel ready” projects and later arrogantly joked that “they weren’t so shovel ready as he thought” and still has not said where the money is now, People said it didn’t matter…
When the misery index went up by 65%, People said it didn’t matter…
When the US global competitiveness went from 1st place to 4th place under Obama, People said it didn’t matter…

When Arizona wanted to enforce the illegal immigration laws, Obama sued the state, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama turned down the Keystone pipeline which would have created thousands of jobs, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama made drastic cuts in our military during all the unrest and threats from the Middle East, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama required Catholic organizations to provide contraceptives to women upon request against centuries church-held policy, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama took credit for killing OBL when it was, in fact, the continuation and culmination of years of work by the Bush administration, People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama bailed out GM and later had his friend, the CEO of GM, make TV commercials that GM was making a profit and paid all the bailout money back, which was later shown to be a big LIE! People said it didn’t matter…

When Obama finally completes his transformation of America into a Socialist State, people finally might think all this matters, but it will be too late…

When you vote on November 6th will it all matter then?
Tom Cooper
Linda Zembry
Matt Bruce

November 1st, 2012

ALL SAINTS DAY MUSING

The sun has just broken through, for the first time in a week.  It has been a harrowing time.

Some have noticed that I haven’t been blogging much of late but it is not because I have died as did my dear blogger friend, Barbara Curtis, a couple of days ago.  That was the day another blogger friend, Leona Choy, wrote to tell me that  Barbara’s husband, Tripp, has called to say Barbara was going to be removed from life support as she had suffered a deadly intracranial bleed.  Both Leona and Barbara lived in Virginia and the two had actually met, becoming close friends.  Both were Protestants turned Catholic, both were published authors – Leona, like me was in her 80’s and considerably older than Barbara  but they had much in common and would meet regularly at Applebee’s for lunch.   I’ve followed Barbara’s blog, www.mommylife.net, for years.  I was so impressed with her story, her conversion, her 12 kids including four with Downs Syndrome (one natural, three adopted), her Montessori history, her online following, her wisdom, the whole Barbara package.  We communicated somewhat over the years but had never actually met.  A friend  posted the news of her death on her website.  Many commented on how much Barbara had meant to them and I soon learned that I was not the only one brought to tears by the death of someone I had only admired from afar.  Barbara was a force for Christ and I cannot but imagine that she is even now among the Saints, enjoying the beatific vision.  Pray for us,  Barbara, we who are still slogging and blogging away down here.   Leona, thank you for your beautiful heartfelt, heartbreaking letter.

GO WITH GOD, BARBARA

Here is a photo of the shrine that Barbara’s family made for her.

Need I say that the news of this death arrived right after the monster storm named Sandy hit the east coast, especially New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.  There were the days of watching Sandy’s progress towards us, the getting prepared with food and flashlights and a bathtub full of water,  waiting for the storm to reach us, the gradually decreasing atmospheric pressure and increasing wind, the night of wondering what it would be like in the morning.  We personally fared pretty well but all around us here in Connecticut suffered (and are still suffering) power outages and downed trees and ravaged seacoasts.  And bad as it was in Connecticut,  there was the TV depiction of utter UTTER devastation in New York and New Jersey.  Huge areas in total darkness; streets and tunnels filled with water; boardwalks and beachheads totally demolished. Airports closed.  Ships not allowed to dock. Gas stations either without gas or without electricity.   “Unthinkable” in the words of Governor Christie.  Words fail one.  Recovery cannot possibly be anything but slow.

It was so good to finally get back to morning Mass and see that old friends are OK.  So good now to see the sun again!  Some of my personal people are still without power but seem to be doing well otherwise.

The period of bright sunshine was short, but so enjoyed. Tomorrow, if all goes well, I will visit the store and see what is still on the shelves.  I understand that people are flocking to Starbucks.  Not for coffee, for WiFi.

Speaking of WiFi it has been my iPad that has kept me in touch with the world since my computer was felled by a virus.  Oddly enough, Facebook has provided me with some of what I thought I’d gain from blogging, i.e., interaction with others on subjects of import.  So, to anyone who wants to engage on the subject of Obama, abortion,  marriage, God or the non-existence thereof, etc.,  I’m on Facebook.  Come to the fray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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