Portent of things to come in the USA?

Iraqi Christians tone down Christmas

BAGHDAD (UPI) -- The number of people attending Christian services in Iraq has dropped sharply since a suicide attack on a church in October, religious leaders say. 

Many churches canceled Christmas Eve services and others went easy on Christmas decorations, The New York Times reported. 

While the number of Christians still in the country has dropped sharply, exact figures are still unclear. About 500,000 remain, down from 1.4 million before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. And this is the area where the Disciples went first.  This is an ancient Christian culture, just as the Coptic Christians are in northern Africa.

More than 1,000 people may have left Iraq since the October bombing or headed to the comparative safety of the semiautonomous Kurdish area. 

The Sacred Church of Jesus, home to a Chaldean Catholic congregation in Baghdad, had a tree decorated with stars. They carried pictures of the 60 people killed at the Church of Salvation. 

"Yes, we are threatened, but we will not stop praying," the Rev. Meyassr al-Qaspotros said in his Christmas Eve homily. 

"We do not want to leave the country because we will leave an empty space. Be careful not to hate the ones killing us because they know not what they are doing. God forgive them." 

This is me, Sarut.

Here is all about me. PLEASE CROSS POST AND URGE YOUR FRIENDS TO CROSS POST: 


Sarut needs your help. She has not had an easy start to life. 


In her 6.5 years on this earth so far she has known nothing but filth, cruelty and abuse. Her tiny 12 pound body endured more than it's share of neglect. 


Sarut is in danger of losing both her eyes.    She is currently on expensive medication to try and save them. 


Sarut had a dental when she was spayed and besides the 5 missing teeth she had already she had 17 more extracted and is on pain medication for this. 


As if her emancipated body had not had enough hardship she also has mange and is being treated for that. 


This little girl is a fighter and wants to live a good life. She can't do that without your help, won't you please consider becoming a guardian angel for Sarut? 




The link to become a guardian angel is... http://www.cairnrescue.com/rescue/sponsor.php 


or you can give through ChipIn via http://bit.ly/Sarut


====================================


"All of us who are the workers and volunteers for Col. Potter so very much appreciate all your kind words and donations.  This is greatly appreciated.  Sarut will be in her foster home for as many months as it takes us to get her nursed back to health and recover from any surgery she may need.  WE OWE THIS TO ANY of our dogs we take in who have already been through a lifetime of hurt and pain due to abuse.  I CANNOT imagine EVER having a 6.5 year old dog with totally rotten and now almost all missing teeth, her eyes, infected ears and mange ALL at the same time.  HUMANS could not go through this, it's amazing that dogs are stronger at times in being able to forgive.  Danielle"
To see the comment thread, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?photo.php&fbid=1590897823776&set=a.1152603666696.2023013.1575780819&mid=384660aG5af32c892cd6Gaf95a7G10&bcode=p5qpk&n_m=dolcebagley%40att.net

PUPPY MILL MOMMA NEEDS HELP! - SARUT

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=179897022039005&set=a.102401063121935.5392.100000561263700&bcode=Nyyek

Please include Sarut in your prayers and if, in the coming days, (yes I know Christmas bills will appear) you can ekeout an extra dollar or even two, added together they will help mitigate the evil and inhumanity heaped on this little rescued mill momma who cranked out puppies for profit for the mill, the broker who transported puppies too early and for the 'pet stores' that sell "8 week old" puppies who were ripped from their mothers too early for good health.... all the the name of worshiping the monetary exchange medium. 

New International Version (©1984)
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

<< 1 Timothy 6:10 >>

And the griefs aren't always human.... we have done this to so much of the Creator God's works...  Sarut is but that evil made manifest to our eyes.  I hope your hearts (and wallets) are moved to help

To send a tax deductible contribution to Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network special needs kids:

CPCRN : Sponsor a Cairn

http://www.cairnrescue.com/rescue/sponsor.php

Thank you

I'll have to give this a try...

I'll have to give this a try... I want to ask each of you to consider doing the following when you are talking on the phone to any US customer service representative that is based in a foreign country (like India ).  I have done this twice and it works!  Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, charter communications, health insurance, insurance, you name it) and you are transferred to a representative (like in India), please consider doing the following: After you connect and you realize that the customer service representative is not from the USA (you can always ask if you are not sure about the accent), please very politely (very politely - this is not about trashing other cultures) say, "I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the United States of America ."  The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say, "Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the USA ."  YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED to a rep in the USA .  It only takes less than one minute to have your call re- directed to the USA .  Tonight when I got redirected to a USA rep, I asked again to make sure - and yes, she was from Fort Lauderdale .   Imagine if tomorrow, every US citizen who has to make such a call and then requests a US rep, imagine how that would ultimately impact the number of US jobs that would need to be created ASAP.  Imagine what would happen if every US citizen insisted on talking to only US phone reps from this day on.  If I tell 10 people to consider this and you tell 10 people to consider doing this - see what I mean...it becomes an exercise in viral marketing 101.    Remember - the goal here is to restore jobs back here at home - not to be abrupt or rude to a foreign phone rep.  If you agree, please tell 10 people you know and tell them to tell 10 people they know....etc...etc...

 

Conservative or Liberal?

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be very liberal, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs.

The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the conservative side of the fence."

If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between conservative and liberal or progressive or neocon I'm all ears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!)

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."

How Christmas works

I volunteer with Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network.  We work to rescue and rehome those 'Toto dogs'.  We not only pull or take surplus dogs from overburdened shelters, but we rescue those from 'puppy mills'.  I  promise to write a separate blog on that evil soon but right now, I wanted to let the world know that we also use our collective experiences and resources to help the '2-legs' a.k.a 'humans', even ones we have not met and known.

I am posting the plea and the letter of thanks here in this blog because it involves a serviceman and his family.  Within 24 hours, a flood of suggestions and resources as well as checks flowed in.  What a wonderful bunch of people are in Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network.  Some wrote that their families had enough and that they would send checks for what they were thinking of spending for gifts and explain it to their relatives what they'd done.

A plea came to our 'list' that read as following:

The plea:

I know I don't post here often. I'm more of a lurker and reader and help when I can-ner. A situation has come up and frankly I've run out of ideas to help.

My sister, Elizabeth (who helped Kathy Hunt with a transport once) is in dire need. She and her husband live with her Iraq war veteran son (my nephew Matt) in a little frame house in Dixon, MO. Mike is a schoolteacher and works a 2nd job driving a cab at Fort Leonard Wood. 

Elizabeth got laid off from her job of 9 years at a local bank, and due to her severe C-spine and leg swelling issues cannot get employment anywhere else. Matt suffers from polytrauma (TBI, PTSD, etc.), and is waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting for the VA to grant his disability. 

In the meantime, they have fallen behinder and behinder on bills to the point where they now have NO HEAT in their house. They are behind on their propane bill and the propane company will not even do a partial fill until they pay the past due balance. They don't live in a big municipality, so they don't fall under the laws protecting people from having utilities turned off. I was able to get an Edenpure heater donated to them, and that keeps the pipes from freezing, but that's about it. She has a gas stove so no cooking other than in a crock pot, electric skillet or microwave. They don't qualify for utility assistance because Mike makes too much gross pay as a schoolteacher (but the mandated teacher retirement takes out 14% of his pay automatically). I have contacted every agency I could think of (Salvation Army, churches) ... 

I even posted requests for donations online (yes, I'm not above begging in this instance). It is 19 degrees there tonight, howling wind and snow. Does anyone know of any agency, organization or anyone who can help them? It's a crying shame that in this day and age a veteran who has served his country honorably is either homeless or living in a house without heat while the VA drags its feet until April or May to decide to award his disability. 

Sorry to vent here ... I'm just so upset and feel so helpless ... sigh.

Everyone here is so resourceful at ferreting out information ... I've looked until my looker is sore and am running into one brick wall after another. Any ideas???


The Update: 12.15.10

Little did I know when I posted my request for ideas to help my sister, her husband and their Iraq war veteran son with their heat emergency what would result. Thanks to the generosity and kindness of multiple CP volunteers, Elizabeth and Mike's past due propane bill has been paid, and enough funds paid to the gas company that they are coming out either today (or tomorrow morning) to put enough gas in the tank to get them through the winter.



Words simply cannot express both my (and Elizabeth's) appreciation to the greatest group of people I have ever known. You helped in the names of nephews and grandsons who are also serving in the military (like Matt), or just because. Those who wrote with ideas and links to websites, or just to express their outrage over this situation - you were able to find more avenues to explore that I had not, and for that I thank you.



When I was talking with Elizabeth just last week about what she, Mike and Matt wanted for Christmas. I really hadn't gotten the Christmas spirit - it seemed so inane to me to buy them gifts when (as Elizabeth said), all they wanted for Christmas was to be warm. Well thanks to the CP elves, they will be warm, and Elizabeth will be able to bake a turkey in the gas oven that has stood idle for over a year.


Elizabeth was talking to Sandra at the gas company, who was not aware of CP or cairn rescue. Elizabeth lives in the middle of puppy mill central (mid-Missouri), and now one more person knows about CP and its good work. Sandra was simply amazed at the generosity and thoughtfulness of people whom Elizabeth has never met. She is considering contacting the television station and newspaper in Springfield (the local newspaper is pretty useless) to tell this story.



Thank you, thank you, thank you CP. I am inordinately proud to be part of such a wonderful group of people.

Mary
Olathe, KS


POSSIBILITY OF LEGAL SANITY???

Federal judge strikes down health care law

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A federal judge in Virginia has declared the Obama administration's health care reform law unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson is the first judge to rule against the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed the lawsuit challenging the law's requirement that citizens buy health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014.

He argues the federal government doesn't have the constitutional authority to impose the requirement.

Other lawsuits are pending, including one filed by 20 states in a Florida court. Virginia is not part of that lawsuit.

The U.S. Justice Department and opponents of the health care law agree that the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final word