He Makes All Things New Again

A friend sent me the link to this wonderful and powerful song and video probably several years ago. I thought it appropriate to share during this Holy Week.

The song is sang by two of my very favorite country artists, Brad Paisley and Sara Evans, and as is typical, they do a superb job.

The video is primarily excerpts from Mel Gibbson's Passion of the Christ. If you have not seen the movie, be mindful that some of the scenes in the movie and this video are very realistic of the crucifixion and may not be something that everyone may want to watch, although I personally think everyone should watch Mr. Gibbson's movie.

I heard it said that when the Pope was given a private screening of the movie, he reportedly said, "It is as it was." And indeed, it does follow the Word of the Lord as recorded in the Gospels.

May God bless all people this Holy Week!

The Beginning of Holy Week

After Palm Sunday yesterday, Holy Week begins and I think it is important that I put aside earthly matters for far more important things during what is the most important and holiest week of the year for Christians.


Thursday this week is the celebration of Christ's last supper with his disciples and from where the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is given to us.


(From the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2o.)

"19 Then he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.'

20 He did the same with the cup after supper, and said, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you.' "


This Friday is Good Friday and commemorates the day of the crucifixion of our Lord on the cross at Calvary so that all of mankind's' sins may be expiated, even my own many many sins.


This Saturday is the Easter Vigil and on this day we will welcome 43 new people that have spent the better part of the past year going through RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) with classes every Tuesday, rites and retreats, in order that they could learn the Christian Catholic faith and partake of the sacraments of baptism (if not already baptised), confirmation, and first communion. It is a very beautiful and wonderful Mass that these people have journeyed towards for a long time now. Their faith journey this far in their lives has taught me much about my own journey.


And of course on Sunday is Easter when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Holiest day of the year and the culminating and apex event of the Christian world.


I did not want this week to be just like any other week, because it absolutely is not. So for this week, I will not direct my attentions away towards politics or other comparably frivolous matters, but rather will direct my heart, soul, and the prayers that come forth from them towards God during this holiest of weeks. I pray that all that read this will have a blessed week also during Holy Week.

LT. Brian Chontosh - Hero

It strikes me as very sad what popular culture today worships as their "heroes". I am often saddened, if not disgusted by many of the Hollywood stars and the professional athletes nowadays. I have never been one that has been much impressed by celebrities anyways.

It is those who have a code that they live by, a sense of honor, a sense of duty, a willingness to serve and sacrifice for others. Those are the people that are my heroes. Christ is my ultimate hero.

It is really too bad that the media chooses to celebrate the former rather than the latter these days. It is the policeman, doctor, fireman, preacher, and of course our uniformed military men and women that are most deserving of our respect and admiration.

With that being said, here is just one more hero that the pop culture generations have overlooked. His name is Lieutenant Brian Chontosh, and I guarantee that his fellow Marines who's lives his actions probably saved recognize him for the hero he is. Of course, in my opinion, everyone that wears such a uniform and willingly puts himself in harm's way in service of others is the very definition of a hero.

With that being said, below is the text of the citation presented to Lieutenant Chontosh for his being awarded the Navy Cross, which is the second highest honor awarded in the Navy or Marine Corps. Sadly, many of the men that are awarded this medal are done so posthumously.

Thankfully, Lieutenant (now Captain) Chontosh lived to tell about his endeavors and having known some Marines in my day, I suspect he doesn't really consider what he did anything heroic, rather only necessary at that precise moment in time.

Semper Fidelis, Captain Chontosh! You are amongst the list of my heroes, sir! Below is the citation for his awarding of The Navy Cross.

The President of the United States
Takes Pleasure in Presenting
The Navy Cross
To

Brian R. Chontosh
First Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps

For Services as Set Forth in the Following



Citation:
For extraordinary heroism as Combined Anti-Armor Platoon Commander, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 25 March 2003. While leading his platoon north on Highway I toward Ad Diwaniyah, First Lieutenant Chontosh's platoon moved into a coordinated ambush of mortars, rocket propelled grenades, and automatic weapons fire. With coalition tanks blocking the road ahead, he realized his platoon was caught in a kill zone. He had his driver move the vehicle through a breach along his flank, where he was immediately taken under fire from an entrenched machine gun. Without hesitation, First Lieutenant Chontosh ordered the driver to advance directly at the enemy position enabling his .50 caliber machine gunner to silence the enemy. He then directed his driver into the enemy trench, where he exited his vehicle and began to clear the trench with an M16A2 service rifle and 9 millimeter pistol. His ammunition depleted, First Lieutenant Chontosh, with complete disregard for his safety, twice picked up discarded enemy rifles and continued his ferocious attack. When a Marine following him found an enemy rocket propelled grenade launcher, First Lieutenant Chontosh used it to destroy yet another group of enemy soldiers. When his audacious attack ended, he had cleared over 200 meters of the enemy trench, killing more than 20 enemy soldiers and wounding several others. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, First Lieutenant Chontosh reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

Now doesn't such a hero warrant the media attention that has been wasted on Tiger Woods and Jesse James' sexual exploits as of late? Or have we as a nation truly lost touch of what is important and what constitutes a hero?

That Cadillac Feel

We were out shopping yesterday for a new ride. Just for fun, the wife and I took a Cadillac Escalade out for a test drive. I wanted to sense that Escalade "feel" before they become extinct...

The salesman sat in the back seat describing the car and all its wonderful options.

The seats were of particular interest. He explained that the seats directed warm air to your butt in the winter and directed cool air to your butt in the summer heat.

I stated the car must be a Conservative car.

Looking a bit angry, he asked why I thought it was a Conservative car. I explained that if it were a liberal car, the seats would blow smoke up your ass year-round.

We had to walk back to the dealership...

The Health Care Law and Your Lack of Freedoms

I saw this small litany of the freedoms that we no longer enjoy thanks to the passage of the unconstitutional health care bill this week. I thought it was worthy of posting here just to give everyone an idea of why I say this is NOT about health care but rather the expansion of government control.

We let congress do THIS instead of fix the actual problems with our health care system. Now we will all suffer the costs of this unless there is enough ground-swell of public support to repeal this monstrous law and replace it with something that actually addresses the problems we have with health care and its insurance.

1. You are young and don’t want health insurance? You are starting up a small business and need to minimize expenses, and one way to do that is to forego health insurance? Tough. You have to pay $750 annually for the “privilege.” (Section 1501)

2. You are young and healthy and want to pay for insurance that reflects that status? Tough. You’ll have to pay for premiums that cover not only you, but also the guy who smokes three packs a day, drink a gallon of whiskey and eats chicken fat off the floor. That’s because insurance companies will no longer be able to underwrite on the basis of a person’s health status. (Section 2701).

3. You would like to pay less in premiums by buying insurance with lifetime or annual limits on coverage? Tough. Health insurers will no longer be able to offer such policies, even if that is what customers prefer. (Section 2711).

4. Think you’d like a policy that is cheaper because it doesn’t cover preventive care or requires cost-sharing for such care? Tough. Health insurers will no longer be able to offer policies that do not cover preventive services or offer them with cost-sharing, even if that’s what the customer wants. (Section 2712).

5. You are an employer and you would like to offer coverage that doesn’t allow your employers’ slacker children to stay on the policy until age 26? Tough. (Section 2714).

6. You must buy a policy that covers ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices; laboratory services; preventive and wellness services; chronic disease management; and pediatric services, including oral and vision care.
You’re a single guy without children? Tough, your policy must cover pediatric services. You’re a woman who can’t have children? Tough, your policy must cover maternity services. You’re a teetotaler? Tough, your policy must cover substance abuse treatment. (Add your own violation of personal freedom here.) (Section 1302).

7. Do you want a plan with lots of cost-sharing and low premiums? Well, the best you can do is a “Bronze plan,” which has benefits that provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60% of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan. Anything lower than that, tough. (Section 1302 (d) (1) (A))

8. You are an employer in the small-group insurance market and you’d like to offer policies with deductibles higher than $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families? Tough. (Section 1302 (c) (2) (A).

9. If you are a large employer (defined as at least 101 employees) and you do not want to provide health insurance to your employee, then you will pay a $750 fine per employee (It could be $2,000 to $3,000 under the reconciliation changes). Think you know how to better spend that money? Tough. (Section 1513).

10. You are an employer who offers health flexible spending arrangements and your employees want to deduct more than $2,500 from their salaries for it? Sorry, can’t do that. (Section 9005 (i)).

11. If you are a physician and you don’t want the government looking over your shoulder? Tough. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to use your claims data to issue you reports that measure the resources you use, provide information on the quality of care you provide, and compare the resources you use to those used by other physicians. Of course, this will all be just for informational purposes. It’s not like the government will ever use it to intervene in your practice and patients’ care. Of course not. (Section 3003 (i))

12. If you are a physician and you want to own your own hospital, you must be an owner and have a “Medicare provider agreement” by Feb. 1, 2010. (Dec. 31, 2010 in the reconciliation changes.) If you didn’t have those by then, you are out of luck. (Section 6001 (i) (1) (A))

13. If you are a physician owner and you want to expand your hospital? Well, you can’t (Section 6001 (i) (1) (B). Unless, it is located in a country where, over the last five years, population growth has been 150% of what it has been in the state (Section 6601 (i) (3) ( E)). And then you cannot increase your capacity by more than 200% (Section 6001 (i) (3) (C)).

14. You are a health insurer and you want to raise premiums to meet costs? Well, if that increase is deemed “unreasonable” by the Secretary of Health and Human Services it will be subject to review and can be denied. (Section 1003)

15. The government will extract a fee of $2.3 billion annually from the pharmaceutical industry. If you are a pharmaceutical company what you will pay depends on the ratio of the number of brand-name drugs you sell to the total number of brand-name drugs sold in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the brand-name drugs in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2.3 billion, or $230,000,000. (Under reconciliation, it starts at $2.55 billion, jumps to $3 billion in 2012, then to $3.5 billion in 2017 and $4.2 billion in 2018, before settling at $2.8 billion in 2019 (Section 1404)). Think you, as a pharmaceutical executive, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 9008 (b)).

16. The government will extract a fee of $2 billion annually from medical device makers. If you are a medical device maker what you will pay depends on your share of medical device sales in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the medical devices in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2 billion, or $200,000,000. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for R&D? Tough. (Section 9009 (b)).
The reconciliation package turns that into a 2.9% excise tax for medical device makers. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 1405).

17. The government will extract a fee of $6.7 billion annually from insurance companies. If you are an insurer, what you will pay depends on your share of net premiums plus 200% of your administrative costs. So, if your net premiums and administrative costs are equal to 10% of the total, you will pay 10% of $6.7 billion, or $670,000,000. In the reconciliation bill, the fee will start at $8 billion in 2014, $11.3 billion in 2015, $1.9 billion in 2017, and $14.3 billion in 2018 (Section 1406).Think you, as an insurance executive, know how to better spend that money? Tough.(Section 9010 (b) (1) (A and B).)

18. If an insurance company board or its stockholders think the CEO is worth more than $500,000 in deferred compensation? Tough.(Section 9014).

19. You will have to pay an additional 0.5% payroll tax on any dollar you make over $250,000 if you file a joint return and $200,000 if you file an individual return. What? You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9015).
That amount will rise to a 3.8% tax if reconciliation passes. It will also apply to investment income, estates, and trusts. You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Like you need to ask. (Section 1402).

20. If you go for cosmetic surgery, you will pay an additional 5% tax on the cost of the procedure. Think you know how to spend that money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9017).

What seems to be the common thread in the above provisions of this wonderful law? Basically if you want to exercise your freedom of choice in how you care and provide for yourself and your family's health care... TOUGH!

When Obama Told the Truth

Seems like Obama's ambition got the better of his principles and common
sense. Too bad for our country's sake! How much better off would we be
now if he had followed his own statement?

The Transformation of America

Despite the fact that President Obama claimed he was a pragmatic just-left-of-center kind of guy during his presidential campaign, anyone that took the time to do even a minute amount of research would see this for the lie it was. Obama had one of the most liberal voting records of all legislators during his short tenure in the senate. He never moved to the right to compromise on any legislation and yet talked incessantly about being bipartisan. He claimed to represent the view of a majority of Americans but associated with former terrorists (Bill Ayers), racists (Reverend Wright), and all manner of extreme left-wing socialist types (like Acorn). Despite all of his window-dressing in order to win the election though, he was truthful about one thing. He claimed that he wanted to fundamentally transform America.

Many of those good people that naively voted for the man are now waking up to see exactly what President Obama meant by that. His idea of transformation was not to work in a bipartisan atmosphere and to salve the bitter wounds inflicted during the course of partisan law-making. He would only do that IF the conservative elements in congress would compromise by moving towards Obama's position on all things socialistic.

Obama did not lie when he said he wanted universal health care. This weekend's passage in the House of the illegal and liberty-usurping senate health care bill is the first step in that process. You see, this bill is not what Obama and the far left factions of the Democrat party truly wanted. This bill does not go far enough for many of them in achieving a completely government-run single payer universal health care system. Obama, as he candidly admitted years ago, would be patient though and work towards this end through incremental means.

Pelosi, Reid, and Obama know that this health care plan, if it miraculously passes Constitutional muster, (and there is NO legal way it can) will eventually bankrupt private insurance companies. In the end, the federal government will be the last insurer standing, since they do not have to make a profit, nor do they care about expenses. After all they can always raise taxes, borrow money from China, or simply just print more money. Being patient will pay off for these Marxists and the next step in their incremental takeover of our medical system will be at hand.

This bill was never about health care. It is about expanding government control over a huge part of the economy and the ability to dictate from a federal post how we are to run our lives. Make no mistake; as the rationing of services begins (as it inevitably must) the government will dictate to we the people which of our behaviours are unacceptable as being excessive burdens on the health care system.

Those that partake of tobacco, transfats, red meat, or any other politically incorrect item or behaviour will be taxed additionally or have their benefits further curtailed. Don't believe me?

It is already happening in some of the most liberal states in the union such as in New York City where transfats are now recently outlawed. Talks abound about a enacting a junk food or "Twinkie tax" in some jurisdictions back east.

It was only back in 1993 that we assumed federal health care would never be implemented as Hillary-care was sent packing. Fast forward 17 years and our worst Marxist nightmares are about to be possibly realized. Hopefully the Supreme Court of the United States and its lower courts will stick to the clear principles enumerated in the Constitution. The federal government nowhere within the Constitution is permitted to levy fines against people for failing to follow a law to purchase something against their will simply for the fact of being alive.

One of the other overlooked items to this monstrous health care bill is the fact that all student loans will be handled by the federal government only. Private loans for the purpose of college education are no more. This should scare the heck out of any freedom and truth loving person.

The federal government basically can now dictate to any university what and how it can teach history, science, sociology etc to fit with the government's agenda. If a university fails to do so, the government can restrict the amount of loans granted to students wishing to attend that university. What better way to indoctrinate our young so that the chances of throwing off this yoke on our freedoms is greatly reduced.

If you think this couldn't possibly come to fruition, just remember that many in this country as recently as a year ago couldn't fathom that they would be FORCED under the penalty of law to have to purchase health care insurance. Wake up my fellow citizens so that we can stop this evil transformation and begin to undo the excesses of our liberty-stealing socialistic friends.