Religious Cleansing a Paradigm Shift of Political Correctness

With Egypt spinning out of control the chaos echoes a growing shift of intolerance not only for Egypt but around the world including the United States.  The Middle East in large part is so ingrained in their system of beliefs that they become so blind to other views and ideas.  Extremism breeds fear and hardens the hearts of those seeking power.  This not only becomes unproductive as a human race but it becomes extremely dangerous as pride and separatism grows.

With the recent outbreak of violence in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt came a movement against Christianity.  Dozens of churches have been burned, looted or destroyed.  Christians have been murdered without remorse and their fate is viewed as nothing more than collateral damage of the greater problem that "somebody else" created. Mimicking the mindset in the United States there is no personal responsibility.  Just a cancerous inward pride that eventually grows to deadly proportions.

On the basic level Christianity upholds personal responsibility and traditional values that have made this country strong in the past.  I'm talking about the United States in years past but not so much in recent history.  It's not just Christianity but for this post of religious cleansing taking place around the world we'll keep this pace.  The foundation of Christianity holds true that you are responsible for your own actions as well as your productive pursuit of happiness.  These precepts have held the fabric of society together for many years.  Without them this country would not have survived past the Civil War if even to then.  However, in reflection on our own actions and thoughts does our society emulate or desecrate these values?

I believe that the demographics of the United States have helped cause a paradigm shift in the attitude of Christianity and by extension personal responsibility as well.  With our borders as porous as can be we've invited the inevitable ends to this country.  Without requirements and expectations for citizenship a nation will eventually fall into a welfare state.  That is where we are today.  The economic balance has greatly added on the side of the needy.  With unchecked borders we've inherited millions of men and women not industrious enough to strive toward increasing their wealth in order to provide jobs and services as well as contribute to the nation by adding to the tax base.  With welfare comes irresponsible behavior.  The inherent discipline to handle financial means in a proper manner wanes and perpetuates the dependency.  Without this discipline what shifting mindset ensues in the people?  This cannot be refuted as it is seen everyday from the small towns to the large metropolitan areas.  When people receive their allotments the tendency is to succor the wants instead of the needs.

Eventually a backlash against those who exhibit traditional values and personal responsibility erupts.  Usually this is propagated by officials in governing bodies who continue to seek power through demographics.  Yet, it is carried out by the people who've already joined the throng of "disadvantaged consideration."  Public assistance is good and a compassionate sign of any people.  However, assistance is meant to "assist" in bringing the person or family into a state of independence.  It should never be designed to trap a family into a system without hope of independence.  This backlash is really not an aim at the affluent or even those openly striving to better themselves.  Instead it is actually a reaction to how the self has not done all he/she can do to better themselves.  The great travesty is that this last statement will never be admitted to.

I don't believe this is the case with Egypt.  These are thoughts on the United States and our shifting values.  Yet, like Egypt, a shift against Christian values is taking place.  The violence has manifested from the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi who was just democratically elected to the position just several weeks earlier.  Now, in the wake of this event we have Morsi supporters protesting and clashing with anti-Morsi factions.  As usual in the Middle East and North Africa regions these disputes always erupt into religious realms.  Unfortunately, Christianity is and has been the target of destruction by those not truly interested in peaceful prosperity.

This post is not designed to slam, demean or single out any particular religion.  We all have claim on the right to worship as we see fit.  We should, however, take issue when religious edicts are used to undermine and murder other people.  We should take issue when people act out the religious cleansing of entire peoples all in the name of their god.

The destructive events in Egypt particularly against Christians is disturbing indeed.  Yet, is it possible that this may be the seen coming to a street near you?  Take caution and never say never.  The divide in the United States continues to grow.  As the economic divide grows so does intolerance and suspicion of other faith systems.

Let us not look upon Egypt as the future of America but rather a warning and a gift to us to correct our political and social course.

Shenandoah Iowa Water Rate Hike in Shadow of Water Plant Revenue Concerns

The residents of Shenandoah, Iowa, may soon shoulder a water rate hike in the wake of the findings from Ruan Securities at the City Council meeting last evening.  In the evening of Tuesday, 13 August, 2013, it was revealed to us as the City Council and the city in general, that a rate hike is necessary to meet our obligations to secure the paydown of the eventual SRF loan for our much needed new water plant. 

This news brought an immediate lull in the atmosphere of Council chambers as we are at all times accountable to the public by whom we are elected to tender important decisions affecting the city of Shenandoah.  As we go forward it is important to take a step back and look at the larger picture.  From what I gathered from the meeting this stemmed from conditions manifest since the decision was made some three or four years ago initially to raise rates.

The rates were smartly raised initially to bring down the eventual SRF loan amount that would be needed from the State of Iowa.  This was projected to bring in excess revenues to fund this endeavor.  It was projected to lighten the burden on the Shenandoah tax payer yet provide quality water for it's residents and industry for many years to come.  At first this worked and we seemed on track.  As revealed in Tuesday's meeting, climate conditions in the area have impeded on the cash flow.  With the initial rate hike coupled with the drought conditions residents were more conservative last year in their water usage.  It's a two-edged sword for any City Councilman.  It's good to be conservative and it's what we've advocated in our time of water shortage.  Yet, on the flip side this brings in few dollars for this needed fund which is used to pay contractors. 

In addition, the many water studies and activities that we've had to undertake in an effort to secure a reliable water source has also added to our burdens.  This problem was unforeseen, yet has manifest over the past couple years during the planning phases of the new water plant.  These costs are above and beyond any contingency funding that I'm aware of. 

So now we are where we are.  Dilemma one, is that we desperately need a new water plant.  Dilemma two, is that any new water plant takes capital to produce.  Dilemma three, is that in smaller communities like Shenandoah it takes greater innovation and greater sacrifice on the part of residents to fulfill such high dollar projects.  Dilemma four, we've got to pay for this water plant project!

There are no clear answers to any of the above listed dilemmas.  This is something I've learned quickly in the year-and-a-half I've been on the City Council of Shenandoah, Iowa.  You can't please everybody when you humbly make difficult decisions with the taxpayer funds.  To me these are sacred funds.  They represent the livelihood of families and the personal efforts to provide them quality services in their chosen community. 

We as the City Council members didn't come away from our meeting with any degree of happiness.  We are residents who are also bound by the very taxes we uphold.  Many unforeseen things came about to bring us where we are.  Yes, rates will go up - probably significantly.  Most communities experience these types of hikes when they prepare for a new water plant.  Yes, our rates will be on the high end for some time.  When the next city is confronted with their own water plant problems they will probably take their own turn for notorious water rates.  That doesn't make it any easier when we live with the fact that Shenandoah is not an overwhelmingly affluent community with loads of cash on reserve.  These are delicate decisions that the City must make on your behalf.  Please keep these facts in mind as we continue to magnify your faith in whom you've elected. 

 

How to Prepare for a Terror Threat Against US Interests

This article will be short and to the point.  Terror threats against U.S. American interests spawn frequently from the Middle East, North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula regions.  The enemy has never been more deadly as they no longer wear common uniforms of the jungles of Vietnam or even the apparel of the Civil War.  Nonetheless, it has been proven time and again especially since 9/11 that the threats are real.  Yet, what precautions should we in the free world take when a threat warning is issued from the State Department?  There are simple things that one can do maintain the integrity of the freedoms and liberties that they enjoy.
FEEDING TERROR THREATS
Most important to discuss is attitude.  With a prospect of death comes a certain frenzy or adrenaline to quicken one's pace and thoughts.  The paramount result is to turn one's own thoughts inward toward the self instead of the neighbor next to you.  The media love terror threats because they feed off this same fear and the foes of America rely on this heavily to achieve their agenda end game.  Instead of wearing yourself out in distress over a terror threat the best thing anyone can do is to first deny yourself of all self interest.  Modern terrorism is built upon hate and fear.  The greatest weapon is the simplest - love.  Extending selfless service to others in an increasing manner can act as a petition to a Higher Power for the protection of all people.  In addition, the compounding affects of these selfless acts of random kindness are far more powerful in scope than any nuclear bomb or arsenal made by mortal man.  Deny yourself to giving in to fear and chaos and serve others all the more heartily.

As an extension of service it is vital to maintain the integrity of your home's spiritual atmosphere.  You have the power and authority to create peace in the home.  You also have the power to maintain that peace.  Constantly watching terror threat developments on the cable networks or the Internet is damaging to the health and welfare of your home.  Your top priorities in this life is you, your spouse and then your children - thus constituting the home.  Be informed but hold the reigns on your reactions to the information.  Also, govern closely the exposure your family receives from these media outlets.  Overload can be quite damaging when not kept in check.

The United States economy is a very fragile and reactive organism.  Small disruptions can have a profound ripple affect throughout the market and may even affect other industries.  It would take very little to offset trade routes or shipping lanes carrying any product or service.  For the oil industry can you foresee a 100% overnight increase in the price of a barrel due to a significant incident?  I certainly can, and what do you think the ripple affect would be throughout the United States - immediately?  The same can be said for anything from food supply to infrastructure of water and other utilities.

This leads me to my final thought for terror emergency preparedness.  We should always be prepared for emergencies.  Believe it or not preparedness for most all emergencies requires mostly the same things.  Items may include: water, food, hygiene and sanitary products, blankets, fire production products, medicine, radio and many other items.  Most items to prepare for a terror threat correlate with the items to prepare for a job loss or even tornado damage.  I would highly recommend stocking up on these supplies.  Do so over time in a responsible manner.  We have enough goods in the United States to stock every household several times over for any emergency.  What runs the shelves at the store out is when we fall victim to the fear frenzy at the last minute and all head to the grocery store at once.

Be responsible in your home's preparation.  If you have an extra $5 then consider buying a couple gallons of water for storage.  If you have only a couple bucks then how about a box of matches.  It doesn't take long to acquire these life essentials if you just impose a little discipline on your financial expenses and prepare.

Nobody wants to encounter an emergency in their life especially a terror incident.  However, we all know that life carries with it the inherent truth of emergencies.  The only real question for any of us to ask ourselves is, "Am I prepared?"

Terror Threat Against U.S. American Interests Heightened

A terror threat against American interests, namely our embassies on foreign soil, has recently been announced.  Since 9/11 we've been getting these warnings off and on from the State Department on a rather regular basis.  This time it is targeted toward our Middle East and North Africa embassies.  Though we should take this threat gravely seriously are there other things, other salts in the wound, that exacerbates the ongoing threats against the United States?  Are there other factors that the Muslim Brotherhood and even al-Qa'ida patiently watch for in planning their next attack?

In evaluating this question I want to switch gears and view things from the enemy perspective.  Remember that in any scenario there will always be an immense deep envy or jealousy against the United States for it's prosperity and economic power.  Because of this it has thrust billions into the idea that the U.S. is the "dragon" and that the evil abomination must be destroyed.  Yes, that is a very powerful incentive to cause a terror threat indeed.  No matter how charitable this nation has been in providing food, shelter, education and even military supplies that hatred still and will always exist.  No matter how you slice it, you cannot force a nation to be free and enterprising unless it's population carries the heartfelt desire for liberty, and the desire to grow and expand in influence and competition.  So the industrious nature of the United States is at the heart of the terror threats overall.  All other additives and sparks are secondary but may not be realized by the American population.  A few of these are what I want to discuss.

Information has never been more easy to acquire about anything around the world.  Be rest assured that our enemies have made a career of gathering information about American interests and money movement off the Internet as well as through infiltration of people onto American soil.  From an enemy's perspective I would relish watching the political divide taking place in this country.  Never before in U.S. history has an administration in the White House been so socialist in it's views and policies yet at the same time so succored and tolerated by the people over whom this White House governs.  As never before, liberties and freedoms have been stripped right from our loins in front of our eyes without sincere uprising or demand for justice.  From an enemy's standpoint this is all fuel for the fire and shows the deep disconnect between the powers in Washington and the nation being governed.  This makes it easy to create fear and chaos when the bombs detonate.  A nation divided opens doors to infections that can destroy it.

With the Benghazi attack and murder of our four Americans, and it's scandalous cover-up, it is evident that we're not as secure as we image ourselves to be.  With the IRS scandal we show the world that even the "powers that be" in Washington target it's own people contrary to the Constitution of the United States which it claims it so deeply cherishes.  Our enemies love seeing an uncontested, unprecedented, immense amount of power allocated to the U.S. federal government to legislate it's people's health care.  An overwhelming percentage of Americans do not advocate Obamacare yet there is no true uprising.  The Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qa'ida love seeing this developing cancer because it shows the vast lack of faith in the ingenuity of the American people by the Administration to provide it's own health care in a low cost competitive and privatized atmosphere.  All these and many many more serious issues on the federal level are good developments for our enemies abroad.  It is leverage to destabilize the infrastructure of our country, the United States, and to weaken the courage and resolve of the American people.
OBAMACARE VIDEO
Family is the central unit of society.  It is what provides morals, values and principles by which to live by.  It is what was relied on to function our farms in times past.  It is what creates men and women of enterprise who create jobs.  It is what produces responsible husbands and fathers to rear and protect their own families.  It is what produces wives and mothers who genuinely love their children and teaches them compassion, charity and the essentials to live by in a human society.  The family is what has made the United States of America great.

Our unfriendlies love the fact that the family is breaking down in America.  Yes, they do search out the stats on this on the Internet as well.  They see the breakdown of traditional characteristics of valor as out-of-wedlock births skyrocket among all races in this country.  Though it's at an epidemic level among the African American community, we all should be alarmed that there is a deep lack of urgency to create and maintain a healthy family unity with a husband and wife duly wed and children born within that vow.  Please accept the idea and probably fact that there are those in secret corridors commissioned by our enemies to monitor the breakdown of the family and the very thread of the American society.

There are many other areas that our enemies watch but as a final note I do mention energy.  Money talks, and though White House administrations and Congress have proclaimed energy independence for the past 40 years our dependency has grown.  Obviously, the cliches and rhetoric is only a superficial lollipop to make the American public happy now and then.  Sane Americans aside, there are few in Washington who truly want to make the hard transition, the lucrative business dissolutionment, of producing our own energy independence.  The money is vast and the ties are hand shaken with spit and blood.  Our enemies on foreign land, their own soil, know that they sit on the very hand cuffs that encircle the hands of the United States.  As long as this remains so, they know that no matter how devastating their bombshell terror attacks may be, the American resolve by it's administration will never be at full potential to rectify justice.

BioProcess Algae in Shenandoah, Iowa

We are in complicated times.  People are exposed to more resources than ever before.  Unimagined by our ancestors, people are able to instantly network around the globe and rally to a common cause.  With this power extremism and hatred can be harnessed and emboldened.  This now often results in destructive and deadly ends.  It results in brutal gruesome beheadings designed for YouTube and other media outlets.  It results in heartache and a lull in spirit and resolve.  Helplessness and depression set in to enslave a people to ideals which they feel they cannot conquer.

Our enemies have this power and resources and they use it against us.  They monitor the growing divides in America and do all they can to canker it further.  What then is our responsibility and by what tools to we carry it out?

Our Fathers have already given us the tools to repair the United States of America.  Through the inspired document of the Constitution we are provided the means to correct our own government.  Yet, it can only be done by us - We the People.  We are provided broad boundaries in which the track was originally filled with liberties to provide the pursuit of happiness.  We can be enterprising with unoppressive taxes.  We can have as many children as we choose to and own farms and businesses.  We can be inventors and engineers.  We can travel state-to-state and even abroad.  We can serve as elected officials and even serve humanitarian missions in the name of pure charity and the love of Christ.  The groundwork for recovery is there in the documents and inspired intents of those who formed this country.

If we can latch on to the spirit of what this country was built on then there is no need to fear al-Qa'ida, the Muslim Brotherhood or even the Chicago mob.  The liberties to pursue happiness produce just that - happiness.  Correct the government and heal the family by accepting basic human responsibilities, and we'll be on the road to greater prosperity as a country.  We'll have a greater influence of good around the globe.  With a responsible government who represents the goodwill of America we can have transparent and good relations around the globe.  Good will always triumph over evil.  If we as Americans choose to expand our good that light will eventually vanquish the darkness that seems to wrap around us.

No, this post did not offer any "cut and dry" solutions to all our problems or to terrorism against American interests.  I do believe that excess aid, especially military, is far too freely given to countries who do not share views of liberties for it's people.  This kind of relationship as with Egypt, Syrian rebels or others can only lead us down a path of dependency on our resources to appease foreign conflicts that are not our fight to begin with.  That's neither here nor there because it is just another set of cheeks for our enemies to sit on the hand cuffs.

I offer no solutions but what the Constitution of the United States bears out.  I believe it is in there that the future of our national security lies.  I believe it is in there that the future of our liberties and freedoms lie.  I believe it is in there that the future of our economy lies.  I believe it is in there that we can find the will and power to carry out our own recovery and secure the future of this country for posterity for generations to come.

I believe it is in there that the future of our innocence as a people lies.....