Alleluia Chorus at Macy's...

     A flash mob hit Macy's in downtown Philadelphia...
650 vocalists who, unknown to shoppers, had arranged to burst into song at noon. A must-see from the City of Brotherly Love.
     Alleluia. Praise God.

Funny Guy Friday... I smell bacon...

     Cheryl and I got all dressed up and attended a 50th wedding anniversary party for some friends last Sunday evening. These folks are very nice people, and it was a joy to share in their celebration. We had a great time.
     Afterward, we decided to go shopping at Sears, which was having a "Friends and Family" night. They were staying open later than usual so only special people (i.e. anyone who showed up) could shop late and get a discount on their purchases.
     We arrived at Sears at about 8:15 and discoverd that it was to close at nine o'clock, so we hustled to purchase a few things, and we checked out a little bit after nine. The very nice folks at Sears had to unlock the doors for us to leave, and we proceeded to our car which was the only car left in that section of the parking lot.
     As we approached our car with our purchases in hand, I saw a police car in another section of the lot, and as I always do when I see a police car, I said, "I smell bacon... Act like we ain't doing anything illegal."
     Cheryl did what she always does and ignored me.
     As I pulled off, I noticed that the officer had turned around and followed us out. Of course, because a police officer was behind me, I did everything that I don't normally do... I buckled up, I used my turn signals, I went the speed limit, and I didn't smoke the joint that I had hidden in my console.
     As I turned left, the officer turned left. As I turned right, the officer turned right. When I came to a red light, he was directly behind me, and I just knew he was running my tags. This is when the fun started.
     I asked Cheryl, "Did I speed?" No. "Did I not use my signal?" No. "Did I light up a joint?" No. "Did you light up a joint?" No.
     My always-positive wife assured me that nothing was wrong and he was not going to pull us over. I, being a clever innocent person, decided to check out her theory.
     There was a two or three car-length space between our car and the car in front of me. Why was there a two or three car length space between our car and the car in front of us, you ask? There was a cop behind me, remember, so I wasn't going to pull right up on some stranger's bumper like I normally do. Anyway, I decided to pull the car up a bit to see if the officer also pulled up. He did. I pulled up some more. So did he. Then my fears were confirmed, but Cheryl assured me once again, it was nothing.
     As I pulled out onto the highway, the officer's lights and sirens went off, and he did pull me over. Clearly, I was irritated. Cheryl, of course, was wrong... but as always, she was calm. She assured me that it was still nothing.
     You know... in Cheryl world, the police pull you over to make friendly inquiries about your health and welfare.
     He took about ten minutes before he got out of his car. During those ten minutes, Cheryl reminded me that I did say, I smell bacon, which really was not a nice thing to do. Great... We got pulled over by Robocop with superhero hearing. She also reminded me that police officers lay there lives on the line for us every day, so I should stop with my attitude.
     Let me be clear, I understand and I apppreciate what police officers do. But no officer is laying his life on the line by pulling over the middle-aged couple wearing a party dress and a suit & tie, driving the family Pilot as the getaway car. This officer's biggest hazard would probably be getting a paper cut as he handed me whatever ticket he was about to give me.
     When he did get out of the car, he took another thirty seconds or so, flashing his light throughout the back of our car. I have a pretty good grasp of how these traffic stops work, so I was careful to place my hands on the steering wheel so the officer could see them as he approached, and to either have my license and registration ready or to ask if I can move my hands to get my license and registration.
     Again, I get what they go through. I also know that they don't normally shine a light throughout your vehicle for as long as he did unless they have something else on their mind. At that point, I was more irritated.
     Suddenly, he popped up over on Cheryl's side of the car. I have to say I was a bit relieved because it looked like she was the one that broke the law, not me. I thought to myself, She must have flipped him off when I wasn't looking.
     The officer, who looked about eighteen years old, asked why we had pulled out of the Sears parking lot after we saw his vehicle. My response was a short and curt, "We have to go home."
     "Well, you saw my car and then you immediately turned quickly in the opposite direction and took off." Maybe he did hear my little bacon joke. 
     "We live in the opposite direction and we were shopping at Sears," I assured him. He informed us that Sears closes at six o'clock and we were there after nine. Uh oh, he had us now. We always get all dressed up before we knock off a Sears. You should see what we wear when we rob Nordstroms.
     By this point, I was even more irritated because the kids were home by themselves on a school night and should have been in bed by now... and I was sure that they weren't... so I knew I would have to beat them... and this guy was delaying all of that.
     At that point my lovely, calm wife explained the whole Friends and Family deal with the extended store hours, and even relayed the fact that we had three kids that we were desperately trying to get home to see so we could "tuck them into bed." I think she even told him that if we could get them to bed early enough, we would sit and read some scripture together. She was smooooth.
     I was able to squeeze in the fact that I am a lawyer and I understand why he did what he did and why he stopped us. I think he was a bit embarrased because he told me my brake light was out, quickly returned my license and registration, and told us to have a nice evening.
     That was it. No ticket. No warning. No nothing. We beat the rap. However, I was still a bit irritated.
     After the officer left, Cheryl said she was dissapointed in herself for not thanking the officer for all that he does. What? He had just delayed the beat down at the house and you want to thank him? We are hardly Bonnie and Clyde! 
    Then it occurred to me... If I had received a ticket, she would probably testify against me and in favor of this officer at the trial. I could see her going on and on and on, after taking the stand:
     State's Attorney: Could you please state your name and address for the record...
     Cheryl: My name is Cheryl and let me get right to it, your Honor. My husband... the Defendant sitting over there in the nice suit... Isn't he cute?... did make a deragatory comment about law enforcement, and almost as soon as he saw the officer's patrol vehicle, told me to act like I did not do anything illegal. 
     I knew that I had not done anything illegal, so I recall thinking at the time that if I hadn't done anything illegal, my husband must have. 
     In addition... I can't say for certain whether or not he was speeding because my head whipped back as he skidded away from the police officer, so I could not see the speedometer jump. 
     He never wears his seat belt, and he usually speeds, but I think he was on his best behavior that night... because that nice young officer was watching him the whole time. 
     Once we were stopped, he continued to act suspicious, again going on and on about, and I quote, "What is this knucklehead doing? I just hope I get one of the judges that knows what he is doing when I go to trial." I am sad to say, he did not mention your name, your Honor. 
     One final thing... I know this has nothing to do with this case, but he never hangs up his suits. Thank you, your Honor, for this opportunity to testify on behalf of the State, and please thank that fine young officer for keeping our streets safe and our stores secure. God bless us all.
     Then a final thought occurred to me. I bet the guy whose party we just attended, who stayed married for fifty years, was never pulled over by a police officer leaving Sears late on a Sunday evening.

A closer look at the Food Safety Bill...

     A bill currently before this lame duck session of Congress is called the Food Safety Modernization Act. It seems there is another crisis that absolutely must be addressed immediately. The Senate has closed debate, and the bill is awaiting a vote in that chamber.
     Once again we are looking at a one-size-fits-all, top down effort to centrally manage our lives... this time it involves expanded FDA regulations to control the food supply and what we should be feeding our kids. Small farmers and proponents for local food growers are worried. Read here.
     The price of food is already predicted to rise due to inflation. Locally grown food could help to keep costs down. However, the extra layer of regulation will necessarily drive up costs for local growers, too.
     As with any new piece of legislation that I think could be counterproductive to liberty and our economy, I have begun to research who supports the legislation. This food bill is being pushed by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. See who they fund. It tells me all I need to know. Remember the fruit of the poisonous tree?
     We already know that the so-called Stimulus was written by the Tides Foundation's Apollo Alliance, and the so-called Healthcare Reform Law took its lead from the book, The Progressive Agenda for Structural Change, and is admitted to be redistribution of the wealth.
     Once you start looking into where these sweeping policies come from, you soon realize where they are taking us.

Go green and redistribute the wealth...

     For anyone who still thinks the whole global warming thing is about environmental policy, think again. Read it in their own words here, from The Blaze, and here, from Romantic Poet.
     There's that whole redistribution of the wealth thing again. Hmmm.
     It appears the global green movement is more about greenbacks than anything else.

No money from me for the CCHD...

     This Sunday, the second collection at Mass in many parishes across America will again be used for the USCCB's Catholic Campaign for Human Development, "the domestic anti-poverty, social justice program of the US Catholic bishops."
     For 40 years, the CCHD has collected more than $450 million from Catholic collections. But the donations do not go directly to those in material need for things like food, clothing or shelter.
     No. The money goes to fund a vast network of community organizers, working for societal, political and economic transformation, in the name of "social justice."
     Community organizing is a method of social agitation, confrontation and infiltration. Taking its lead from the teachings of communist Saul Alinsky, it is intended to fan the flames of discontent in communities, for the purpose of seizing public power.
     "Saul Alinsky explained his community organizing tactics in his book Rules for Radicals. His game plan was to divide the community into the Haves and the Have Nots, make the Have Nots believe they are unjustly treated by the Haves, build resentment against the American social and economic system, use church congregations to mobilize street agitators, and lobby government for higher taxes and big-spending welfare programs in order to confiscate the wealth and power of the Haves and turn it over to the Have Nots. Alinsky dedicated his book to Lucifer, "the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom." Discover the Networks 
     Over the years, the CCHD collection has funded some organizations that conduct or support activities that directly oppose the teaching of the Catholic faith. Their connection to Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Call to Action, and ultimately, George Soros, are troubling.
     Under fire from faithful Catholic groups, the CCHD has made some reforms. But the USCCB's reform document highlights groups that still hold dubious alliances. The Coalition of Imolokee Workers is a member of the US Human Rights Network; FOCUS is part of the PICO network; and COPS is one of Saul Alinsky's Industrial Areas Foundation projects. Those are just the first three grantees promoted in the CCHD reform document.
     There may be some CCHD grantees this year that will do some good work, especially if the list includes (for the first time ever) crisis pregnancy centers. But the CCHD has not yet made available the list of recipients for this year's grants.
     Let me be clear... Many people involved in the CCHD may have good intentions; but, it is my belief that no bad tree can yield good fruit (Matthew 7). For me, the Saul Alinsky genesis has tainted the whole project.
     That said, in and around every archdiocese, there are some very worthy local charities whose good works support the true teaching of the church. This year, once again, I will choose one of those, and give to it directly.
     To learn about the roots of the CCHD, its ties to Saul Alinsky, and the evil it has abided for 40 years, click here, to watch Real Catholic TV's March broadcast of Catholic Investigative Agency.
     For more recent information, see the report from the group Reform CCHD Now, here, and see a list of links to CCHD-related articles from LifeSite News here, especially this one about the apparent backpedaling on the CCHD reforms in Chicago, and this one, regarding the CCHD praise for the Coalition of Imolokee Workers.

     They said to one another, "Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire." They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth." LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men had built. Then the LORD said: "If now, while they are one people, all speaking the same language, they have started to do this, nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do. Let us then go down and there confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says." Thus the LORD scattered them from there all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. Genesis 11

     I pray that this network be defunded by Catholics, and scattered by God.
     Please pray for the CCHD program, that true reform will happen, and that any money received will be faithfully used for the glory of God.

Top down, bottom up and inside out...

     The fundamental transformers of America are playing a serious game. The radicals are in place at the top of what is left of our Republic. And they are encouraging chaos from the bottom up. Then they will turn our Republic inside out.
     When you see insurrection and chaos from the bottom, please be aware that it is being orchestrated from the top.
     And it could be frightening to some who are caught by surprise.
     And the unsuspecting middle will beg the top to make it stop. And they will be happy to oblige.

"See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,’ and 'The time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky." Luke 21

     Stock your food pantry. Cotton is at an all time high, so clothing will become much more expensive. Think of what you may need and stock up.
     Prepare now. And be a shelter for others.
     For more on this, click here.

End the Fed...

     Click here for another great article from American Thinker, entitled, "Fed up with the Fed." Here is an excerpt...

      "Not only is the Fed insulated from accountability to the voters, that very unaccountability may be unconstitutional.  The Constitution designates the people's elected representatives as the guardians of their money ("Congress shall have Power...To coin Money, [and] regulate the value thereof..."-Article I, Section 8.)  Indeed, Thomas Jefferson noted in 1791 that Congress has no authority to create a bank and give it a monopoly over our money, because such actions "are not among the powers specially enumerated" in the Constitution.

     "Almost 30 years ago, I spoke with a young congressman (later the governor of his state) after he had given a talk in which he asserted that Congress' hands were tied, in terms of economic policy, by the Fed.  I responded that, at least in my universe, the creator controls the creation, and that since the Fed was created by an act of Congress, it could be reformed or abolished by an act of Congress.  This made the congressman visibly uncomfortable and he fell silent.  Clearly, he had no stomach for challenging the Fed.

     I recommend you read the whole article.
     Inflation is coming because of the Fed. It is time to put a stop to the destructive manipulation of our currency.

Funny Guy Friday... Free Ice Cream...

     The other night, I was home with the kids, while Cheryl went to a dinner with a church group. As she drove off, I went to retrieve the mail.
     As a kid, I used to love to get mail, but now it is just bills and advertisements. Nobody uses the US Postal Service anymore, so there is nothing that really gets me excited. I did not anticipate anything different on this day.
     As I flipped through the day's junk, I found a postcard addressed to our six-year-old son. I assumed it was an invitation to a birthday party, or a thank you for some gift that he had taken  to last week's birthday party. This was a good assumption because once you hit first grade, everybody is your best friend, and the whole class gets invited to everything.
     This postcard was from Friendly's restaurant. Cool... a Friendly's party... I will volunteer to take him to this party... I love ice cream.   
     As I read it a bit closer, I could see that it was a congratulatory card advising my son that he had won an art contest. My little man is an artist... always has been. He will tell you, "I am an artist, I am not a cleaner upper." This we have heard on more than one occasion.
     He is not great in baseball, but he will draw the heck out of a baseball player. Anyway, the last time we were at Friendly's, about four months ago, he colored a picture, and it was hung on the wall with a bunch of other clearly inferior pictures. His was chosen as the winner, so he will receive a free meal.
     Not that there are "winners" and "losers" in art, but I think you know what I am saying. My son blended colors perfectly, in such a way that the picture came to life, and he is what I have loosely referred to as a "winner." The other little pretenders were lucky to keep their colors inside the lines, and would be what I have loosely referred to as the "losers." It turns out that in the jungle-like art world, the winners eat, and the losers keep trying.
     As I think about this in the context of sports, I am a little concerned. If he eats the meal, will he lose his NCAA art eligibility. This could result in an awful scandal if he wins the NCAA National Art Championship and they find out he was once compensated for his work. I will have to check on this before we partake in the feast. Even if we don't partake, we all know my boy WON!
     Both Cheryl and I really do believe that he has a special talent. In fact, when his ten-year-old brother did a nice little art project of his own, I told him it was "really good, I mean it looks like something Noah would do." He did not understand... I was paying him a compliment by comparing him to his little brother.
     Now, I think we may have to consider sending Noah off to a special school like the one in Fame. We will miss him, but we feel we must share his talents with the world. This Friendly's "award" confirms what we have known all along, and we didn't even have to send in a drawing of a donkey on the back of a napkin to some matchbook company to prove his skills.
     The following day, I told my secretary about my boy's award-winning masterpiece, and told her of his special gifts. She advised me that her son had attended the Art Institute of Philadelphia and was also quite an artist. I am sure that he is okay... but nothing like my boy.
     The next day, she brought in a large professional-quality case with paper and art supplies that had been sitting in her closet since her son had bought it years ago. Isn't it always the case, the great ones get all the goodies, and the losers get squat. Poor losers. If they are lucky, they may get a chance to slobber at the window of my son's studio, and watch as he creates. 
     Well, today I came home and as I typically do, I again grabbed the mail and began to sort it into the "throw away now" and the "throw away later after it sits around for five days" piles. In the middle of this process, I came across another postcard from Friendly's. Another masterpiece, another winner. Noah is incredible.
     As I flipped it over, I was shocked to find it was addressed to my daughter. Wait a minute, her drawing stunk. What is going on here? Does every kid win? This can't be right. Don't tell me that this is just some advertising ploy to get me to come back to their restaurant!
     Well, this changes everything. I guess we don't have the next Picasso. He is just like every other kid. Ouch!
     Well it is not all bad news, we have one more kid left who also did a drawing, so it looks like one more free meal... and as you may know... I love ice cream.

Monetizing the debt...

     Our government is monetizing our debt. They call it quantitative easing.

“'Monetizing' debt, by the way, is larceny on the grandest scale. Rather than honestly repaying what it has borrowed, a government merely prints up extra currency and uses it to pay its loans. The debt is “monetized”…transformed into an increase in the money supply, thereby lowering the purchasing power of everybody’s savings." The Daily Reckoning

     The Fed is devaluing the dollar by printing hundreds of billions of dollars to buy our own debt, and the government is a willing accomplice. I believe it is completely intentional. See my post about George Soros. He has called for a "managed decline of the dollar."
     The amount the government has printed in the past two years is about two trillion dollars...  with 600 billion more pledged over the next eight months... and another probable 250-300 billion after that... that we know of. We don't know for sure because the Fed won't open its books. Some Fed officials are voicing concerns. China is worried, and has downgraded our credit rating. Other countries are angry.
     What the government is doing is theft. It is the same thing as saying, We need the money, and so we will reach into your bank accounts and take it... Because monetizing our debt will lead to hyperinflation, and the price of everything will go up. It is only a matter of time before we have food inflation. For a summary of all of this, please read this, from the American Thinker.
     Did you know that under a command economy, the ever-growing needs and objectives of the state are met... at the expense of lower living standards for We the People.
     Buy food. Stock up. Be prepared.

More about George Soros...

     Go to The Blaze, for more information about George Soros... his destructive financial agenda... his political control... his misdeeds... his plans to destroy America as he has done with other "oppressive" regimes, including Great Britain... all in his own words.
     The Soros people have resorted to releasing a video promoting his Open Society Institute, to try to prop up his image. They recognize that the word is getting out. And they are desperate to still try to fool us.
     Read more about Soros's Open Society Institute, here, from Discover the Networks.
     George Soros is the head of the snake.
     Glenn Beck is doing an expose on George Soros, all this week at 5pm on Fox News. But don't take his word for it. Or mine, for that matter... Do your own research.