The Valley of Vision

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,
Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells, the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
they riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

LaRouche Lunacy

Imagine my surprise upon opening the latest EIR (Executive Intelligence Review) of 28 Nov 2008 to see the assistant to the managing editors opening remarks say: "Thus, the danger that he (Barak Obama) will be assassinated during the transition period between now and Jan 20, 2009, is extremely high. With their system crumbling, the British empire..." Identified by LaRouche to be the "world financial markets" which are centered in London. "...is desperate to crush the most powerful nation-state in the world,once and for all." Wow, this is one fine piece of intelligence. I continue to be amazed at the LaRouche movement's devotion to unjustifiable fanatical claims by an man whose sanity has obviously left him. I was not to be disappointed to read the next sentence: "The chaos that would follow an assassination would prove precisely those conditions needed to impose dictatorship in a U.S. still under the reign of Bush-Cheney."
Well, there you have it...no matter what happens, this reality challenged movement continues to think that the Bush-Cheney team are our to establish a dictatorship. over the past few years, I have engaged the local LLYM individuals at the train station (normally they show up on Thursdays). They have a single line of thought, progressive in nature in which they as the smart people (headed of course by their messiah Lyndon) would restore order and greatness to America and the World (of course).
The prescription for this country has already been written. The constitution of the United States. Subverted over the years by a progressive judicial theocracy, and enabled by progressives in congress and the white house, the Constitutions restraint on the power of government is essential to life,, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Christmas @ Longwood

During visit to parents for Thanksgiving and at the recommendation of an old friend, we went to Longwood Gardens (www.longwoodgardens.org) near Kennett Square PA. A true delight, we were somewhat limited in time, so we spent a couple of hours going through the conservatory. A cranberry bog and fountain display was fabulous, and the principal reason my friend recommended going. A pallet of cranberries (1000#), a few inches of water and some small fountains made for a reflecting pool (minus the reflecting part) to Christmas trees on either end. My favorite part was the Orchid Extravaganza. Lots of colorful and unusual orchid blossoms. It really had me in an "ooh - ahh" mode! Pictures at the bottom of the Blog...

Foreshadowing?

Volunteering to help the Manassas Republicans at the polls on Tuesday, I arrived at the polls shortly after 4:30am to find one hearty soul already forming the line, and several in their cars. By the time I had placed signs and set the table and chairs provided, around thirty folks had arrived, and i passed out the sample ballots to an estimated 30 people. Everyone was in good spirits, and i talked with several folks about various items. The man in charge of the polls came out and verified I had placed my materials legally (40 feet from the door of the polling place). around 5:15 the first democrat worker showed up and revealed himself with a snarly "I am a democrat and i already voted" when offered a sample ballot. After making small talk, he warmed up. I was eventually joined by two other Republican volunteers and two other Democrat volunteers. I chatted briefly with each of them to confirm they were citizens of Manassas, and we cordially worked alongside each other.

Sometime after 5, I noticed a gentleman standing the in parking lot, just looking on. I approached him and asked if he would like a sample ballot. he asked "where are the democrats" were, i said they were "everywhere." "How many are there" he asked, and i responded "hundreds, millions" and then said "all sarcasm aside, how can I help you?" He indicated he had worked every election here for the past 20 years, and they had not called him, he had to call them. They indicated they had lots of help and would need his assistance this election. I pointed out both of the democrat workers present, and he went to talk with them. That is when i saw "Machinists" on the back of his jacket.

When the polls opened at 6am, there were over 200 people in line, and the pace kept up for another hour or so before the rush ended.

Then...a woman showed up who immediately and loudly said "That is illegal, they cannot do that" as she looked at my table set up. I assured her i had verified my position with the polling place guy in charge. She grabbed the arm of one of the democrats working the poll and moved to the side (i guess she thought her conversation was privileged or something). Showing her true colors, and unfamiliarity with our fine city, she remarked "this does not appear to be a very diverse area." One of the democrat workers immediately responded with "your wrong, we have (and then cited a list of nationalities represented in our little town). I looked at her and said, yes, we are a diverse area. She then chastised the other democrat for speaking so loudly. He responded with a humorous, "you may not like what I say, but I will say what I want." I have referred to her as the 'wicked witch of the west.' She specifically collared the "Voter Protection" unit that came out of the polling place, who obviously were in charge of ensuring every vote was counted (dead or alive). She wanted them to know she was there and how to contact them should something happen that she would need their services.

There were lots of paid poll workers in town this year. They were visiting our fine city, casting aspersion on our character and treating us like second class citizens. This is what the Obama campaign brought us, Chicago machine politics. These people may not be evil, but they can certainly see it from where they live and are comfortable with that fact. I hope this does not foreshadow our future.

F&F failure blame

Denial...complete...utter!

Our wonderful MSM continues to ignore "progressive's" complicity in failure of Fannie & Freddy. Long a bastion of progressives to use as they see fit to reward operatives and siphon off tax payer dollars, Fannie and Freddy are failing. (the most famous - to me - Jamie Gorelic (sp?) was general counsel for one of the F&F folks after creating the Clinton Administration "wall of separation" policy that prevented law enforcement inter-communication and directly resulted in 9-11...but ignored by the bi-partisan(?) 9-11 commission!!!)

The MSM will wait for failure before doing the necessary work to review and communicate to America who has been running the show at F&F, and what their policies caused. It will be easier to wait for failure and then be able to point the blame at W.

Fortunately for the MSM, 'W' has shown neither the vision or guts to point out to America where the real problem lies...the "Great Non-Communicator," W will allow the MSM to perform a classic drive by and then watch the world run all over him.

Father-Daughter Valentine's Banquet

I took Sara (my youngest daughter) to a Valentine's Father-Daughter Banquet at church. We had a fabulous time. Sara had her hair prepared by Susan (older Sister). It took almost three hours and was beautiful. After dinner a local ballet dancer did an interpretive dance to the song "Butterfly Kisses" as a tribute to her dad (who was present). Sara sat in my lap and we held each other for it. Afterward, we enjoyed slow, swing and regular dancing (don't move the feet, just look cool Dad!), as well as the usual fun dances (Hokey-Pokey, Chicken dance and conga line). My little girl is growing up!

daily commute!

Ahhh, public transportation. Riding Virginia Rail Express (VRE) for the majority of the trip, i find it is an excellent opportunity to decompress. Whether reading material of my choice (good book, Bible, or Wall Street Journal) or mindlessly completing the Sudoku i picked up in the free paper downtown DC this morning, it is better than going postal in the not so fast lane on I-66 heading home. Yeah, traffic is a bear, and we can use some more lanes on the highway, the folks who have decided to drive have made their own bed. either you think in advance how you will get to the office and buy in a location that you can use mass transit, or you resign yourself up to the slow lane. meanwhile i am relaxing with a venti mocha listening to the daily rush limbaugh show on line and laughing my tail off...