Sunday, February 28, 2010

Ash Wednesday services kick off 40 days of Lent

.
.


By Cheryl Anderson • Post-Crescent staff writer • February 17, 2010



Christians today kick off a 40-day observance that is at the heart of their faith.



Ash Wednesday services at Christian churches mark the beginning of Lent, the holy season that leads to Easter and the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Lenten season follows the 40 years the Hebrew people wandered the desert and the 40 days Jesus fasted in the desert before beginning his public ministry.

"Lent provides a wonderful chance for us to take stock of those places in our lives that are not as strong as we might like them to be," said the Rev. Ty Stoneburner, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church of Cicero, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.

Lent also affords Christians the opportunity to concentrate on their personal relationship with God.

"If it were not for God's power over the grave, Jesus' death would have been futile," Stoneburner said. "Jesus did the dying, but God did the raising."

While the exact date varies each year, Ash Wednesday is a time of fasting, penitence and self-denial in preparation for Easter, which this year occurs April 4.

Although the Seventh-day Adventist Church does not celebrate Lent, the faith mirrors the concepts of the Christian observance.

"The Christian faith offers one great hope in Christ's coming, but also a sober, righteous and godly lifestyle pattern that helps us to joyfully prepare for it and witness to it while still in this present age," said the Rev. Samuel Garbi, pastor of Seventh-day Adventist Church Fox Valley Region in Neenah.

The sixth Sunday of Lent is known as Palm or Passion Sunday, signifying Christ's Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before his death on Good Friday and resurrection Easter Sunday.
.

Source: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20100217/APC0101/2170484
.

Bolds and Highlights added for emphasis.
.

What's cooking at school? Chef Kevin's specials


Article Photo removed by Newspaper...


Chef Kevin Fonzo is greeted by students of the Orlando Junior Academy. Fonzo is a celebrated chef, but when he learned about a small private school that didn't have any cafeteria service this year, he volunteered to cook for the school and work with their small budget. Now the kids are eating butternut squash lasagna and Portobello mushroom burgers. (Ricardo Ramirez, Orlando Sentinel / February 23, 2010)




By Linda Shrieves, Orlando Sentinel

February 25, 2010

At most schools, lunch is the kids' favorite time of the day.

But at Orlando Junior Academy, lunch is everyone's favorite time of day now – including teachers, administrators and parents, who show up regularly hoping to get a taste of the school lunch.

And no wonder. The menus include portobello mushroom burgers, butternut squash lasagna, grilled eggplant sandwiches and whole-wheat quesadillas topped with caramelized onions, tomatoes, black beans and guacamole.

The reason? The man working the stove in the cafeteria is Kevin Fonzo, acclaimed chef behind two well-known College Park restaurants, K and Nonna Trattoria ed Enoteca.

"School lunch has become very popular," said principal Nicole Agbonkhese. "The hospital chaplain brought his staff to a lunch meeting here. The pastors come and volunteer now."

And the kids – who are usually most finicky - rave about the food.

"It's all great," said eighth-grader Wesley Jordan, 14, as a plate of spaghetti, served with a Caesar salad and baguette came out of the kitchen. "See that? Now that's just delicious!"

The story behind the marriage of the chef and the school of 220 kids is a tale of one man trying to create change – and a school that needed help.

"I'm a big believer that we shouldn't be feeding our kids crap," said Fonzo, 45. "I wanted the kids to eat real food, including as much organically grown food as possible – not just the empty carbs and sugars that kids get in most school lunches."

So when Fonzo learned from one of his customers – a parent at the school -- that the small Seventh Day Adventist school had a cafeteria, but no food service, he volunteered to help out.

The former cafeteria cook retired last year, leaving principal Agbonkhese with no hot food service – and parents who wanted healthier options for their kids. Even though Seventh Day Adventists follow a vegetarian diet, not all the lunches were healthy.

Brad Jones, one of Fonzo's regular customers and a school board member, and Agbonkhese asked Fonzo if he would help the school develop a healthy menu. Even better, perhaps he could teach a new employee how to make dishes like grilled eggplant sandwiches?

Instead, Fonzo volunteered to cook the food himself. Now he cooks most of the food in his restaurant kitchen and brings it to the school Monday through Thursday (Friday is pizza day – sacred even to these kids). Fonzo doesn't earn anything on the deal – the $4 that each student pays provides for the food and the cost of a dishwasher.

What he gets back, he says, is a break from the pressures of the restaurant business and a chance to hang out with kids, even the preschoolers who call him "Baldy."

"I love kids," said Fonzo. "I think that if I ever leave the restaurant business, I'd like to become a teacher."

From parents, the praise is effusive.

"Kevin is basically doing this out of the goodness of his heart," said parent and board member Denise Butler, who spent lunchtime on Wednesday dishing up Caesar salads and manning the window where students pick up their lunches. "Can you imagine having a James Beard-nominated chef cooking in your school cafeteria?"

But the best reviews come from the diners.

"One day I forgot to bring my lunch and I had to get a Chef Kevin lunch," said Jonathan Dobias, 11. "It was chili and all I can say is: It was good, awesome, delicious and scrumptious."

For Kahlil Josephs, 10, nothing compares to Chef K's interpretation of "haystacks," a vegetarian version of taco salad.

"It's a pile of wonder," said Kahlil. "That's the best way to describe it."

Linda Shrieves can be reached at lshrieves@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5433.
.


My opinion on Chef Kevin Fonzo's menu:

Chef Kevin Fonzo is doing a formidable job; But, "Portobello Mushroom" burgers? Does Chef Fonzo know that a mushroom is a fungus, and has no notable nutritional value? Sure, for the trained epicurean palate that enjoys such things as Sushi (raw fish) or escargot (snails), it might be a treat; However, growing children need not be exposed to such creature comforts or whims. By the way (as stated in article) most Seventh day Adventists are vegetarians, some are specifically 'vegans'. Why would the chef offer pizza on Friday? Cheese is a product of cow's milk that possesses all types of hormones and diseases that humans, or their young would be better off not consuming.

If a lactating woman were to offer you a cup of her own (human) milk; Would you drink it? Yet, you drink the milk intended for a cow's calf?

Chef Fonzo reminds me of the saying: "Beware of strangers bearing gifts".

He's doing an altruistic duty..feeding ..The Children.

But, at what cost?

Could he be perverting the Health Reform that the parents of many of these youngsters instill in them; Or, that the SDA movement has as one of its fundamental pillars: Health Reform.
You are what you eat! Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; Therefore, keep it holy (wholly).

Arsenio.
..

Seek ye the LORD


Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD's anger come upon you.

Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger.

Zephaniah 2:2,3.
.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

False Teachers Misplace Prophecy


False Teachers Misplace Prophecy.
--In our day as in Christ's day, there may be a misreading and misinterpreting of the Scriptures. If the Jews had studied the Scriptures with earnest, prayerful hearts, their searching would have been rewarded with a true knowledge of the time, and not only the time, but also the manner of Christ's appearing. They would not have ascribed the glorious second appearing of Christ to His first advent. They had the testimony of Daniel; they had the testimony of Isaiah and the other prophets; they had the teachings of Moses; and here was Christ in their very midst, and still they were searching the Scriptures for evidence in regard to His coming. And they were doing unto Christ the very things that had been prophesied they would do. They were so blinded they knew not what they were doing.

And many are doing the same thing today, in 1897, because they have not had experience in the testing messages comprehended in the first, second, and third angel's messages. There are those who are searching the Scriptures for proof that these messages are still in the future. They gather together the truthfulness of the messages, but they fail to give them their proper place in prophetic history. Therefore such are in danger of misleading the people in regard to locating the messages. They do not see and understand the time of the end, or when to locate the messages. The day of God is coming with stealthy tread, but the supposed wise and great men are prating about "higher education." They know not the signs of Christ's coming, or of the end of the world.-

- Manuscript 136, 1897.


Evangelism, E. G. White, pp.612-613.
.

Tsunami hits French Polynesia after Chile earthquake


From correspondents in Papeete From: AFP February 28, 2010 7:41AM


TSUNAMIS struck French Polynesia overnight but there was no major damage or casualties, as traffic in areas close to the sea was suspended in an alert following the quake in Chile.

Huge waves struck the Gambier archipelago at 6:30 am (local time), the high commissioner's office in Papeete said, as the tsunami raced across the Pacific.

The Marquesas islands, northeast of Polynesia, were hit between 7:00 and 8:00 am by a series of two-metre waves which damaged some boats but no one was hurt, officials said.

A four-metre wave hit Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, officials said.

Schools across the region were closed, the port in Papeete was evacuated and thousands in Tahiti's hillside areas were transported from their homes to safer areas.

However many residents along the coast refused to leave, fearing lootings.

Between the waves the sea withdrew around 15 metres causing rip currents.

Sirens wailed in French Polynesia and PA systems woke up residents early this morning to alert them about the impending waves.

The high commissioner's office in Papeete put the islands on alert at 2:00 am.

A flight run by Air Tahiti Nui, due to arrive in Tahiti today, was diverted to Hawaii.

In Tahiti all traffic was banned within 500 metres of the coast.

The tsunami could also be as high as two metres on Rurutu in the Australes, the authorities said, while warning people to climb to at least 10 metres above sea level.

Tsunamis generally come in several waves of which the first may not be the highest.

A huge arc of Pacific nations from New Zealand to Japan went on tsunami alert following the 8.8 magnitude Chilean earthquake, readying emergency plans instituted after the Indian Ocean disaster of 2004. .

.



.

Argentina struck by earthquake

Article from: NewsCore

February 28, 2010 02:29am

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck near Salta, Argentina, hours after a devastating quake that hit neighboring Chile earlier in the day, the US Geological Survey said.

The tremor hit at 12.45pm local time (2.45am AEDT) at a depth of 23.7 miles (38.2 kilometers). The epicenter was about 13 miles (20 km) from Salta, close to the Bolivian border in the north of the country.

At least 122 people were killed in the Chile quake, which has sparked tsunami warning across the Pacific.

There have been numerous aftershocks following the 8.8-magnitude that hit Chile in the early hours yesterday.


Source: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,26785203-5003402,00.html?from=public_rss
.

Have faith in the LORD your God; have faith in His prophets


And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.


2 Chronicles 20:20
.

Tsunami Warning: Sirens Put Hawaii on Alert Ahead of Waves

Hawaiians Stock Up on Food, Gas as Waves Prepare to Hit at 11 a.m. Local Time
By DEVIN DWYER
Feb. 27, 2010

Hawaii is bracing for a potential tsunami in the wake of Chile's early morning earthquake, sounding alarms to evacuate coastal areas for the first time in 16 years.


A shopper pushes a cart full of emergency supplies at Safeway grocery store early Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010, in Honolulu. Hawaii braced Saturday for a tsunami, after a massive earthquake off Chile sent waves across the Pacific Ocean.
(Marco Garcia/AP Photo)


Civil defense sirens blared in each county of Hawaii starting at 6 a.m. Hawaiian time as residents and tourists calmly began leaving their coastline homes and resorts and moving to higher ground.

Grocery stores faced a crush of residents eager to stock up on food, water and batteries. Long lines of cars snaked through many islands' streets near gas stations as drivers filled their tanks.

Red Cross officials are urging people to gather food and supplies to remain self-sufficient for at least three days.

"We've got a lot of things going for us," Charles McCreery, director of the center, told The Associated Press. "We have a reasonable lead time. The evacuation should all take place during daylight hours, and wave impact should be during daylight hours."

The first wave is expected to hit the Big Island by 11:19 a.m. local time, 4:19 p.m. ET. The wave will then move north to the other islands.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning -- its highest alert -- early Saturday morning, warning of damage along the shores of all islands in the state.
.
.
.

Crews scramble to restore power in Northeast

3rd blizzard in a month pummels region, causing travel and electricity chaos


A driver stops as a tree hangs over a power line over a road in Farmington, N.H., on Friday. More than a million homes and businesses in the Northeast were left without power after an overnight storm with high winds knocked down trees.







View images from the two snowstorms that blanketed the Northeast in two days.


NBC News and news services
updated 8:57 a.m. ET, Sat., Feb. 27, 2010


ALBANY, N.Y. - Utility crews pushed through deep drifting snow, fallen trees and downed power lines Saturday to restore electricity to more than a million homes and businesses that lost power a day earlier as a slow-moving winter storm pounded the Northeast with heavy snow, rain and hurricane-force winds.

Snowfall amounts varied throughout the Northeast, but nearly every state was left to deal with the fallout of powerful, gusting winds that created near-blizzard conditions in some areas that have faced three strong storms this month.

Power failures were severe and widespread, ranging from more than 330,000 in New Hampshire, to over 200,000 in Connecticut and New York and more than 100,000 in Maine and Massachusetts at the storm's peak.




Huge quake hits Chile, sparks tsunami alert

More than 120 dead; dangerous waves threaten countries around Pacific


Marco Fredes / Reuters
Cars are overturned after the highway they were on in Santiago was destroyed in the earthquake.



Breaking news

NBC, msnbc.com and news services
updated 15 minutes ago

SANTIAGO, Chile - A devastating magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and spawning a tsunami that threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.

Chileans near the epicenter were tossed about as if shaken by a giant. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the country in 50 years and one of the strongest ever measured anywhere. President-elect Sebastian Pinera said more than 120 people died and the toll could climb higher.

Local radio reported 100 people were missing in a collapsed building in the hard-hit city of Concepcion. Firefighters were working to put out fires throughout the city, and most of the buildings in the city center were destroyed.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck 56 miles northeast of the city of Concepcion at a depth of 22 miles at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. ET).

The quake shook buildings in Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires, and was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 1,800 miles to the east.

Blazing buildings

At least 23 aftershocks were reported, including one registering at 6.9 on the Richter scale.

TV Chile reported that a 15-story building collapsed in Concepcion, where buildings caught fire, bridges collapsed and cracks opened up in the streets. Cars turned upside down lay scattered on one damaged highway bridge.

In the town of Talca, about 65 miles from the epicenter, Associated Press journalist Roberto Candia said it felt as if a giant had grabbed him and shaken him.

Map locates offshore epicenter in Chile


The town's historic center, filled with buildings of adobe mud and straw, largely collapsed, though most of those were businesses that were not inhabited when the quake struck. Neighbors pulled at least five people from the rubble while emergency workers, themselves disoriented, asked for information from reporters.

Many roads were destroyed, and electricity, water and phone lines were cut to many areas — meaning there was no word of death or damage from many outlying areas.

In the capital of Santiago, 200 miles northeast of the epicenter, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.

The jolt set off a tsunami that raced across the Pacific, setting off alarm sirens in Hawaii, Polynesia and Tonga. Tahitian officials banned all traffic on roads less than 1,600 feet from the sea and people in several low-lying island nations were urged to find higher ground.

Hawaii could face its largest waves since 1964, according to Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

"Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property," the Warning Center said in a bulletin. "All shores are at risk no matter which direction they face."

Tsunami waves were likely to hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores within 24 hours of the earthquake. The U.S. West Coast and Alaska, too, were threatened.

Reuters reported that a tsunami caused by the quake caused "serious damage" to Chile's sparsely populated Juan Fernández Islands, where Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk was marooned in the 18th Century inspiring the novel Robinson Crusoe.

Santiago's international airport was closed as the quake destroyed passenger walkways and shook glass out of doors and windows.

In the moments after the quake, people streamed onto the streets of the capital, hugging each other and crying.

Several hospitals suffered structural damage and were evacuated.

'Houses were really shaking'

In the coastal region of Parral, huge waves rushed inland, sweeping cars full of people out to the ocean, ADN Radio reported. Parral’s hospital was partially collapsed.

"We don’t have a single service. It is as if you were sitting in a small boat in the middle of a gale," said Maria Elizabeth Soto in Chillan, a rural area near the epicenter. "It is incredibly complicated, all the houses are full of cracks, we have no communication," she told ADN Radio.

Simon Shalders, who lives in Santiago, told Sky News: "There was a lot of movement. The houses were really shaking, walls were moving backwards and forwards, and doors were swinging open.

"Santiago has got a history of earthquakes and basically there's not a lot of old construction in Santiago because of these earthquakes.

"The new buildings in Santiago are designed to withstand fairly strong quakes and they probably held up pretty well."

There were blackouts in parts of Santiago and communications were still down in the area closest to the epicenter.

Santiago resident Leo Perioto told CNN that "windows were wobbling a lot" in his six-story building.

"The whole building was shaking," he added. "We could feel the walls moving from side to side."

Early Olympics homecoming

Chile's athletes and coaches planned to skip the Olympics closing ceremonies in Vancouver, Canada, to get home as soon as possible.

Chile has three alpine skiers representing the country at the Vancouver Games. They've all finished competing, so they won't miss any events.

An earthquake of magnitude 8 or over can cause "tremendous damage," the USGS said. The quake that devastated Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12 was rated magnitude 7.

According to a 2002 census, Concepcion is one of the largest cities in Chile with a population of around 670,000.

In 1960, Chile was hit by the world's biggest earthquake since records dating back to 1900.
The 9.5 magnitude quake devastated the south-central city of Valdivia, killing 1,655 people and sending a tsunami which battered Easter Island 2,300 miles off Chile's Pacific seaboard and continued as far as Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.

Msnbc.com staff, NBC News, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
.
.
.
.

Fishers of Men


I will make you fishers of men,
Fishers of men, fishers of men,
I will make you fishers of men,
If you follow Me.
If you follow Me, if you follow Me,
I will make you fishers of men,
If you follow Me.





8.8-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Central Chile

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: February 27, 2010


RIO DE JANEIRO — A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, shaking the capital of Santiago for 90 seconds and sending tsunami warnings from Chile to Ecuador.

Associated Press
A television image of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who declared a “state of catastrophe.”
At least 47 people were killed, Reuters reported. with the toll expected to rise.


The quake downed buildings and houses in Santiago and knocked out a major bridge connecting the northern and southern sections of the country.

It struck at 3:34 a.m. local time and was centered about 200 miles southwest of Santiago, at a depth of 22 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The epicenter was some 70 miles from Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, where more than 200,000 people live.

Phone lines were down in Concepcion as of 7:30 a.m. and no reports were coming out of that area. The quake in Chile was 1,000 times more powerful than the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that caused widespread damage in Haiti on Jan 12, killing at least 230,000, earthquake experts reported on CNN International.

The U.S. Geological Survey and eyewitnesses reported more than a dozen aftershocks, including two measuring magnitude 6.2 and 6.9.

“We have had a huge earthquake,” said Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s president, speaking from an emergency response center in an appeal for Chileans to remain calm. “We’re doing everything we can with all the resources we have.”

Mrs. Bachelet said that the government had dispatched three emergency response teams to coastal areas. She confirmed an initial death total of six people, five of them in the Maule region and one in the Araucanía region.

“Without a doubt, with a quake of this kind, of this size, of this magnitude, we can’t rule out that there are other deaths and probably injuries,” Mrs. Bachelet told reporters.

Eyewitnesses on Facebook and Twitter reported that the quake was felt from Japan to Argentina. The quake struck at the end of the Chilean summer vacation, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to be traveling back home this weekend.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Chile and Peru, and a less-urgent tsunami watch for Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Antarctica. It said a tsunami could also hit Hawaii later in the day, the Associated Press reported.

Lying along the mountainous Andean coast, Chile is accustomed to earthquakes. The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area as Saturday’s quake on May 22, 1960. That quake, which registered a magnitude 9.5, killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless. The tsunami that it caused killed people in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines and caused damage to the West Coast of the United States.


Charles Newbery contributed reporting from Buenos Aires, Argentina

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/world/americas/28chile.html
.

Huge 8.8-magnitude quake hits Chile, 6 dead


Huge 8.8-magnitude quake hits Chile, 6 dead


Alonso Soto
SANTIAGO, Chile
Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:12am EST
Factboxes
Factbox: Chile
2:50am EST
Factbox: Earthquakes and magnitude
3:51am EST
Factbox: Deadliest earthquakes on record
4:12am EST

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - A massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck south-central Chile early on Saturday, killing at least six people, triggering a tsunami and rattling buildings in the capital Santiago.

President Michelle Bachelet said six people were killed and that more deaths were possible. Telephone and power lines were down, making a quick assessment of the damage difficult in the early morning darkness.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck 56 miles northeast of the city of Concepcion at a depth of 22 miles at 3:34 a.m. (1:43 a.m. ET).

Local television stations said there was damage to buildings in the historic center of Santiago, which lies about 200 miles north of the epicenter.

People streamed onto the streets of the capital, hugging each other and crying, and there were blackouts in parts of the city.

An earthquake of magnitude 8 or over can cause "tremendous damage," the USGS says. The quake that devastated Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince on January 12 was rated at magnitude 7.0.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the Chile quake generated a tsunami that may have been destructive along the coast near the epicenter "and could also be a threat to more distant coasts." It issued a tsunami warning for Chile and Peru, and a tsunami watch for Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Antarctica.

According to a 2002 census, Concepcion is one of the largest cities in Chile with a population of around 670,000.

Chile's main copper producing region and some of the world's largest copper mines are in the far north of the country near its border with Peru, but there are also copper deposits near Santiago.
Chile produces about 34 percent of world supply of copper, which is used in electronics, cars and refrigerators.

In 1960, Chile was hit by the world's biggest earthquake since records dating back to 1900.

The 9.5 magnitude quake devastated the south-central city of Valdivia, killing 1,655 people and sending a tsunami which battered Easter Island 2,300 miles off Chile's Pacific seaboard and continued as far as Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.

(Reporting by Alonso Soto and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Kieran Murray)

Friday, February 26, 2010

Oh, Canada!


Women gone gold wild!
.
Fifteen minutes of fame / Quinze minutes de (renommee) gloire?
.

Members of Team-Canada Women's Hockey Team "celebrating" the gold medal at Vancouver Winter Olympics 25-Feb-2010.
.

For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry


31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;

33Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.

34For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

35Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

36For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

37For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

38Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

39But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
.

Hebrews 10:31-39.

.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

World stocks slide on Greek debt, US jobs fears


By PAN PYLAS
AP
posted: 10:14 AM 02/25/10


LONDON -Greek shares led a retreat in world markets Thursday as investors worried that credit ratings agencies may downgrade the country's government debt further. Disappointing U.S. jobs data added to the gloom, sending Wall Street sharply lower at the open.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 67.30 points, or 1.3 percent, at 5,275.62 while Germany's DAX slid 76.98 points, or 1.4 percent, to 5,538.53. The CAC-40 in France was 55.79 points, or 1.5 percent, lower at 3,659.89.

The worst performing main index in Europe was the composite index in Athens, which was down 3.3 percent at 1,863.8.

And on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was 145.78 points, or 1.4 percent, lower at 10,228.38 soon after the open while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 15.91 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,089.33.

Worries about Greece continued to be the main talking point in markets, overshadowing more assurances from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that borrowing costs will stay at rock-bottom lows for a while yet.

Any hopes that Greece could slash its budget deficit by four percentage points to 8.7 percent of GDP this year were diminished as leading credit rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's warned that they may downgrade the country's debt even further in the coming weeks or months.

A two-notch downgrade would take S&P's rating on Greece to BBB- — the lowest level accepted by the European Central Bank as collateral for loans to banks. Moody's current rating on Greece is A2, but that looks like it could be a matter of history soon.

"This morning Moody's warned that it may cut Greece's credit rating unless the government provides reassurances that it will not significantly deviate from plans to cut its budget deficit," said Jane Foley, research director at Forex.com. Foley cited Wednesday's wide-ranging strikes in Greece against the government's austerity program.

"With strike action suggestive of public opposition to deep fiscal cuts, the market remains skeptical of the ability to manage this," said Foley.

The euro was once again on the retreat in the wake of the latest developments over Greece's debt crisis — by mid afternoon London time the euro was down 0.4 percent at $1.3484, not far off its nine-month low of $1.3444 hit earlier this month.

Aside from Greece, investors are also increasingly concerned that the global recovery from recession is proving to be less buoyant than previously thought, meaning that share prices could be too high.

Weekly U.S. jobless data did not nothing to assuage those fears, which were stoked earlier this week by awful U.S. consumer confidence figures.

The Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment insurance rose by 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 496,000, largely because of heavy snow on the Atlantic Seaboard. The consensus in the markets was for a decline to 455,000.

"The downward trend in jobless claims appears to have flattened out at a still historically high level," said Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. "That is not good for the employment outlook."

Investors are also monitoring Bernanke's testimony to the Senate, though there are doubts whether he will say anything different to what he relayed to the House of Representatives Wednesday.

Bernanke told the lower house that low rates were needed "for an extended period" to help keep the economic recovery on track and Americans hard-hit by high unemployment and falling housing prices.

Earlier in Asia, the Nikkei 225 stock average fell 96.87 points, or 1 percent, to 10,101.96. Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. edged down 0.2 percent after president Akio Toyoda, appearing before U.S. lawmakers, apologized for safety lapses that have led to deaths and widespread recalls.

South Korea's Kospi lost 1.6 percent to 1,587.51 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.3 percent to 20,399.57.

Elsewhere, Australia's market dropped 1.2 percent while Shanghai's benchmark defied the downward swing, rising 1.3 percent.

Oil prices fell sharply, alongside stocks, with benchmark crude for April delivery down $1.93 at $78.07 a barrel.



AP Business Writer Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

.
Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/article/world-stocks-slide-on-greek-debt-us-jobs/646657/?flv=1

.

Government Health Insurance Company


Sometimes it feels like,
--- somebody's watching me...
( Bumper music, a sample of Rockwell's song in the backgound)
.
It feels like someone's staring at me.
.
Oh, you mean a stack of money with googly eyes?
.
Yeah, a bunch of counterfeit 'bills' with a couple of plastic circles.
.
That's the money you could be saving with GHICO*.
*(Government Health Insurance Company)
.
Arsenio.
.

God's Messengers


[SPECIAL TESTIMONIES TO MINISTERS AND WORKERS (SERIES A, NO. 11, 1898), PAGES 2-13.]


The Lord would have His people divested of everything unscriptural in regard to the ministry. The men called to the ministry should not be made idols of; they should not be looked upon with superstitious reverence; and because of the power vested in them through their office, sin in them should not lose its offensiveness. Their very office makes sin in them more exceedingly sinful, for in committing sin they make themselves the ministers of sin, the agents of Satan, through whom he can work with success to perpetuate sin.

All should bear in mind that Satan's special efforts are directed against the ministry. He knows that it is but a human instrumentality, possessing no grace or holiness of its own. He knows that it is an agent that God has ordained to be a powerful means for the salvation of souls and is efficacious only as God, the eternal Spirit, makes it so. He knows that the treasure of the gospel is in earthen vessels, that it is God's power alone that can make them vessels of honor. They may cultivate the vineyard, a Paul may plant and an Apollos water, but God alone can give the increase.


God has never left His church without a witness. In all the scenes of trial and proving, of opposition and persecution amidst moral darkness, through which the church has passed, God has had men of opportunity who have been prepared to take up His work at different stages and carry it forward and upward. Through patriarchs and prophets He revealed His truth to His people. Christ was the teacher of His ancient people as verily as He was when He came to the world clothed in the garments of humanity. Hiding His glory in human form, He often appeared to His people and talked with them "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." He, their invisible Leader, was enshrouded in the pillar of fire and of cloud, and spoke to His people through Moses. The voice of God was heard by the prophets whom He had appointed to a special work and to bear a special message. He sent them to repeat the same words over and over again. He had a message prepared for them that was not after the ways and will of men, and this He put in their mouths and had them proclaim. He assured them the Holy Spirit would give them language and utterance. He who knew the heart would give them words with which to reach the people.

The message might not please those to whom it was sent. They might not wish for anything new, but desire to go right on as they had been doing; but the Lord stirred them up with reproofs; He rebuked their course of action. He infused new life in those who were sleeping at their post of duty, who were not faithful sentinels. He showed them their responsibility, and that they would be held accountable for the safety of the people. They were watchmen who were not to sleep day nor night. They were to discern the enemy, and give the alarm to the people, that everyone might be at his post, that the watching foe might not obtain the least advantage.


Responsibilities of God's Watchmen

And today the Lord declares to His watchmen that if they are unfaithful and do not warn the people who are in peril, they will be taken away in their sins. "His blood," He says, "will I require at thine hand." But if His messengers lift up their voices in reproof and warning, to turn men from their wicked ways, and those souls will not hear, then the watchman is clear; the offender against God will be taken in his sins; his blood will be upon his own soul.

These solemn matters are set before me in clear lines. God has appointed apostles, pastors, evangelists, and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith. God declares to His people, "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." There must be a continual advancement. Step by step His followers must make straight paths for their feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. Those who would labor for God must work intelligently to replenish the deficiencies in themselves and glorify the Lord God of Israel by standing in the light, working in the light of the Sun of Righteousness. Thus they will carry the church forward and upward and heavenward, making its separation from the world more and more distinct.

As they assimilate their character to the divine Pattern, men will not guard their own personal dignity. With jealous, sleepless, loving, devoted interest, they will guard the sacred interest of the church from the evil which threatens to dim and cloud the glory that God intends shall shine forth through her. They will see that Satan's devices have no place or countenance in her by
encouraging faultfinding, gossiping, evilspeaking, and accusing of the brethren; for those things would weaken and overthrow her.


The Controversy Waxes Stronger

There never will be a time in the history of the church when God's worker can fold his hands and be at ease, saying, "All is peace and safety." Then it is that sudden destruction cometh. Everything may move forward amid apparent prosperity; but Satan is wide-awake, and is studying and counseling with his evil angels another mode of attack where he can be successful. The contest will wax more and more fierce on the part of Satan; for he is moved by a power from beneath. As the work of God's people moves forward with sanctified, resistless energy, planting the standard of Christ's righteousness in the church, moved by a power from the throne of God, the great controversy will wax stronger and stronger, and will become more and more determined. Mind will be arrayed against mind, plans against plans, principles of heavenly origin against principles of Satan. Truth in its varied phases will be in conflict with error in its ever-varying, increasing forms, and which, if possible, will deceive the very elect.

Our work must be an earnest one. We are not to fight as those that beat the air. The ministry, the pulpit, and the press demand men like Caleb, who will do and dare, men whose eyes are single to detect the truth from error, whose ears are consecrated to catch the words from the faithful Watcher. And the Spirit from the throne of God will make itself felt upon a degenerate Christianity, a corrupt world, ready to be consumed by the long-deferred judgments of an offended God.


Hatred of Reproof

There is danger now of men's losing sight of the important truths applicable for this period of time, and seeking for those things that are new and strange and entrancing. Many, if reproved by the Spirit of God through His appointed agencies, refuse to receive correction, and a root of bitterness is planted in their hearts against the Lord's servants who carry heavy, disagreeable burdens. There are men who teach the truth, but who are not perfecting their ways before God, who are trying to conceal their defections and encourage an estrangement from God. They have not the moral courage to do the things that it is for their special benefit to do. They see no necessity for reform, and so they reject the words of the Lord and hate him who reproveth at the gate.


This very refusal to heed the admonitions which the Lord sends gives Satan every advantage to make of them the bitterest enemies of those who have told them the truth. They become falsifiers of those who have borne to them the message from the Lord.

The man who rejects the word of the Lord, who endeavors to establish his own way and will, tears to pieces the messenger and message which God sends in order to discover to him his sin. His own inclinations have influenced his conduct, and he has built himself up in a wrong way. The divine rule is, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." But he would not do this. As a man thinketh, so is he. From within, out of the heart, proceed evil thoughts inspired by Satan. He begins to quibble at technicalities and manners. The spirit of Satan links him up with the enemy to bear a word of criticism on less important themes. The truth becomes of less and still less value to him. He becomes an accuser of his brethren, etc., and changes leaders. The outside world has a greater weight with him than has the flood of light that God has poured in upon the world in messages that he has given, and which he once rejoiced in.

Oh, how many things have developed since he became so full of hatred against God because his dangers and wrongs were brought before him! He has allowed wicked thoughts to strengthen and prevail because, day by day, he has not eaten of the flesh and drunk of the blood of the Son of God, because he has not become a partaker of the divine nature. The things which come from within defile the man. How corrupt then must be the source from which these evils have taken their rise!


The Fatal Choice

Unsanctified ministers are arraying themselves against God. They are praising Christ and the god of this world in the same breath. While professedly they receive Christ, they embrace Barabbas, and by their actions say, "Not this Man, but Barabbas." Let all who read these lines, take heed. Satan has made his boast of what he can do. He thinks to dissolve the unity which Christ prayed might exist in His church. He says, "I will go forth and be a lying spirit to deceive those that I can, to criticize, and condemn, and falsify." Let the son of deceit and false witness be entertained by a church that has had great light, great evidence, and that church will discard the message the Lord has sent, and receive the most unreasonable assertions and false suppositions and false theories. Satan laughs at their folly, for he knows what truth is. {TM 409.2}

Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much. "If thou hadst known," said Christ, "even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes."


The Light of Truth

Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure. The Lord knoweth them that are His. The sanctified minister must have no guile in his mouth. He must be open as the day, free from every taint of evil. A sanctified ministry and press will be a power in flashing the light of truth on this untoward generation. Light, brethren, more light we need. Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm in the holy mountain. Gather the host of the Lord, with sanctified hearts, to hear what the Lord will say unto His people; for He has increased light for all who will hear. Let them be armed and equipped, and come up to the battle--to the help of the Lord against the mighty. God Himself will work for Israel. Every lying tongue will be silenced. Angels' hands will overthrow the deceptive schemes that are being formed. The bulwarks of Satan will never triumph. Victory will attend the third angel's message. As the Captain of the Lord's host tore down the walls of Jericho, so will the Lord's commandment-keeping people triumph, and all opposing elements be defeated. Let no soul complain of the servants of God who have come to them with a heaven-sent message. Do not any longer pick flaws in them, saying, "They are too positive; they talk too strongly." They may talk strongly; but is it not needed? God will make the ears of the hearers tingle if they will not heed His voice or His message. He will denounce those who resist the word of God.


Men of Opportunity

Satan has laid every measure possible that nothing shall come among us as a people to reprove and rebuke us, and exhort us to put away our errors. But there is a people who will bear the ark of God. Some will go out from among us who will bear the ark no longer. But these cannot make walls to obstruct the truth; for it will go onward and upward to the end. In the past God has raised up men, and He still has men of opportunity waiting, prepared to do His bidding--men who will go through restrictions which are only as walls daubed with untempered mortar. When God puts His Spirit upon men, they will work. They will proclaim the word of the Lord; they will lift up their voice like a trumpet. The truth will not be diminished or lose its power in their hands. They will show the people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.

.

Testimony to Ministers and Gospel Workers, Ellen G. White, pp.404-411.
.

Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh


Galatians 5

1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

2Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.

3For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

5For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

6For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

7Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

8This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.

9A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

10I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.

11And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.

12I would they were even cut off which trouble you.

13For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

14For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

15But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

18But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

19Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

26Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

1 killed in whale attack at SeaWorld Orlando’s Shamu Stadium

A pair of killer whales practice for a show at SeaWorld in this file photo.

Orange County Fire Rescue responded to the theme park.

A SeaWorld employee died this afternoon during an incident at SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium, an Orange County Sheriff's Office official confirmed.

SeaWorld, rescue personnel and the Sheriff's Office are not revealing the identity of the victim, although a local TV station is reporting that it was a female employee who was killed after she was grabbed by one of the theme park's whales at the start of a public show.

Park guest Victoria Biniak told Local 6 that the trainer was a veteran of SeaWorld and had just finished explaining to the audience what they would see during the performance.

At that point, Biniak said, the whale came up from the water and grabbed the woman.

"He was thrashing her around pretty good. It was violent,'" Biniak told Local 6.

The whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off."

She said sirens went off and everyone was forced to leave the stadium.

Guests were evacuated from the area, and the whale show was cancelled. The park is not shut down.

Orange County Fire Rescue personnel arrived on scene within five minutes of receiving a 911 call for an unknown medical condition just prior to 2 p.m., a spokesman said. The woman was dead when rescue officials arrived.

The Sheriff's Office is on the scene.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration dispatched an investigator from Tampa to investigate, an OSHA spokesman said.

Local 6 is reporting that the whale involved in the incident is named Tillikum, and that whale has been involved in at least one other incident at the park.

Tillikum, nicknamed "Tilly," has a controversial past. The large whale was blamed for the drowning of one of his trainers in 1991 while he was performing at Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia.

Sold to SeaWorld as a stud in 1992, the whale was involved in a second incident when authorities discovered the body of a naked man lying across his back in July 1999.

Authorities later concluded the man, who had either snuck into SeaWorld after hours or hidden in the park until it closed, most likely drowned after suffering hypothermia in the 55-degree water.

But they also said it appeared Tillikum had bit the man and tore of his swimming trunks, likely believing he was a toy to play with.

SeaWorld has had incidents with its killer whales in the past. In 2005, a trainer was injured by what park officials called an "overly excited" whale that bumped the trainer during a live performance. The injuries were minor.

Many animal-rights activists have long criticized SeaWorld and other marine parks for keeping orcas and other wildlife in captivity. Russ Rector, a former dolphin trainer in Fort Lauderdale, said keeping the animals captive makes them dangerous.

"Captivity is abusive to these animals. And the abuse mounts up. And when these animals snap -- just for a minute -- they're so big and can be so dangerous that it's like a shotgun," Rector said. "It does an incredible amount of damage in just a moment."




Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/os-seaworld-orlando-shamu-injury-20100224,0,5560011.story

Technical Issues Resolved

I believe that the computer issues that I was having have finally been fixed.

So far, so good!
.

The Love Of Money


For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.


1 Timothy 6:10


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Cuba’s Free and Fabulous Healthcare


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Cuba’s Free and Fabulous Healthcare
by Humberto Fontova


Back in August 2009 BB (Before Scott Brown) CNN was frantically producing infomercials for Obama’s healthcare plan. Lucky for them Michael Moore had a handy supply of valuable footage from his infomercials for Castro’s healthcare plan.

So on the August 6 edition of CNN’s “Newsroom,” while Morgan Neil “reported” on location from a Potemkin Havana hospital, gushing about Cuban healthcare's "impressive statistics!" the broadcast included clips from Michael Moore's Sicko, adding much oomph to the propaganda montage. CNN's "Cuba's infant mortality rates," reported Neil, "are the lowest in the hemisphere, in line with those of Canada!"

"Amazing!" probably gasped the type of person who watches CNN nowadays "No wonder Colin Powell said "Castro had done some good things for his people!" No wonder Barbara Walters hailed Castro for “bringing great healthcare to his people!” No wonder Michael Moore catches so much grief from those insufferable Miami Cubans! Before Castro only they could afford doctors, as Cuba's huddled masses languished in sickness and poverty!"

And indeed, according to UN figures, Cuba's current infant mortality rate places her 44th from the top in worldwide ranking, right next to Canada (the lower the rate the higher the ranking).
What CNN left out is that according to those same UN figures, in 1958 (the year prior to the glorious revolution), Cuba ranked 13th from the top, worldwide. This meant that robustly capitalist Cuba had the 13th lowest infant-mortality rate in the world. This put her not only at the top in Latin America but atop most of Western Europe, ahead of France, Belgium, West Germany, Israel, Japan, Austria, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Today all of these countries leave Communist Cuba in the dust, with much lower infant mortality rates.

And even plummeting from 13th (Capitalist) to 44th (Communist), Cuba's "impressive" infant mortality rate is kept artificially low by Communist chicanery with statistics and by a truly appalling abortion rate of 0.71 abortions per live birth. This is the hemisphere's highest, by far. Any Cuban pregnancy that even hints at trouble gets "terminated."

In April 2001, Dr. Juan Felipe García, MD, of Jacksonville, Fla., interviewed several recent doctor defectors from Cuba. Based on what he heard, he reported the following:
"The official Cuban infant-mortality figure is a farce. Cuban pediatricians constantly falsify figures for the regime. If an infant dies during its first year, the doctors often report he was older. Otherwise, such lapses could cost him severe penalties and his job."

This might lead a few people to question Cuba's official infant-mortality figures. But such people would not get a Havana bureau for their news agency, much less a visa to film a documentary.
According to a report by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, more than 75% of “doctors” with Cuban “medical degrees” flunk the exam given by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates for licensing in the U.S. Most Cuba-certified doctors even flunk the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates’ exam for certification as “physician assistants,” making them unfit even as nurses. None of this is meant to disparage these hapless men and women who were simply cursed by fate to be born under a Stalinist tyranny.

Ninety-nine percent of Cubans have no more experience with hospitals like the one Michael Moore featured in Sicko and CNN's Morgan Neill visited, than Moore has with a Soloflex. Most Cubans view these hospitals the way teenage boys used to view Playboy magazine and husbands view a Victoria's Secret catalog: "Wow! If only. . ."

The Castroite propaganda in Sicko so outraged people cursed by fate to live in Castro's fiefdom that they risked their lives by using hidden cameras to film conditions in genuine Cuban hospitals, hoping they could alert the world to Moore's swinishness as a propaganda operative for a Stalinist regime.

At enormous risk, two hours of shocking, often revolting, footage was obtained with tiny hidden cameras and smuggled out of Cuba to Cuban-exile George Utset, who runs the superb and revelatory website The Real Cuba. The man who assumed most of the risk during the filming and smuggling was Cuban dissident -- a medical doctor himself – Dr. Darsi Ferrer, who was also willing to talk on camera, narrating much of the video's revelations. Dr Ferrer worked in these genuinely Cuban hospitals daily, witnessing the truth. More importantly, he wasn't cowed from revealing this truth to America and the world. (A recent samizdat reports that the black Dr. Ferrer is currently languishing in a Cuban prison cell --not far from Gitmo, by the way-- undergoing frequent beatings.

Originally, ABC's John Stossel planned to show the shocking smuggled videos in their entirety, during a 20/20 show. Alas, on Sept. 12th 2007, the 20/20 show ran only a tiny segment on Cuba's "real" healthcare, barely 5 minutes long and with almost none of the smuggled video footage. What happened?

Well, the Castro regime got wind of these videos and called in ABC's Havana bureau for a little talking-to, stressing that ABC's "bureau permit" might face "closer scrutiny" if they showed the blockbuster videos. ABC wimped out.

Enter Fox News, and Sean Hannity in particular. Your humble servant here contacted Hannity's producers regarding the smuggled videos and they immediately requested a look. Within hours they jumped on them and produced a blockbuster of a show. Seen here. And here. Fox viewers saw naked patients covered with flies while lying on "hospital beds" consisting of a bare mattress. They saw a building that would be condemned by the health board of any U.S. municipality serving as "hospitals." They saw and heard Dr. Darsi Ferrer along with other Cubans who described their inability to obtain something so basic as aspirin.

In case some have forgotten, Cuba is a totalitarian state almost perfectly patterned on the Stalinist model. I say "almost" because in the early stage Castro and Che deviated somewhat by actually jailing more political prisoners per-capita than Stalin. As such, material rewards are granted exclusively by the regime and relentless police-state control is the regime priority.
"Health care" is important only so far as a function to bamboozle foreign press agencies, academics and filmmakers (which has proven a laughable cakewalk). So the rewards issued by Castro's Stalinist regime to Cuba's doctors (a monthly salary of $22) are dwarfed by those awarded to the dedicated and intrepid staff of Cuba's Ministry of the Interior. (spies/secret police.) These latter perform the vital functions in maintaining the viability of Castro’s fiefdom.

.

.

Did I mention...




Did I mention the joke about the Health Care Overhaul?

,

.

But Enough About Jobs, Have You Heard About My Health Plan?



By Ed Carson
Mon., Feb. 22, '10 3:24 PM ET


President Obama is engaging in a risky strategy with his latest health care push. Democratic plans have been unpopular. But just as important, Obama’s health care monomania keeps Washington’s focus off the economy and jobs.

Half (49%) of Americans say the economy is the country’s top issue, with health care a distant third at 11%, according to January’s IBD/TIPP poll. Among independents, 54% say the economy should be the No. 1 priority vs. just 8% for health care.

In his State of the Union address last month, Obama suggested he would focus on jobs. The Senate is moving on a modest jobs package. But House legislation passed in December is far bigger and lacks the hiring tax credit. It may take a while for a bill to reach Obama’s desk. Of course, economists question whether the various proposals would have much impact on hiring. Administration officials implicitly reinforce that impression by stressing health care day after day.

Obama and the Democratic Congress are sending a message to voters: “We will ram through a gigantic health bill that you do not want and ignore your concerns about jobs.”

This is the same strategy that the White House and Nancy Pelosi followed last year. Election expert Charlie Cook says that was a huge mistake.

Instead of immediately pivoting back to the economy when unemployment proved to be worse than anticipated, Obama plowed ahead with health care reform, all but yelling, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” That enraged voters still more.

Obama does not seem to have learned his lesson from his first year in office. Instead of moving to limit his party’s electoral losses in November, he seems determined to continue antagonizing voters.

Source:http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/index.php/home/35-politics/1420-but-enough-about-jobs-have-you-heard-about-my-health-plan

.