Category: take action

politics, social justice and ways you can make a difference in the world around you.

Praise God for his grace, mercy and protection

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Received an update on Kathryn from Matt and her mom late last night…

PRAISE THE LORD AND HALLELUJAH!!!
I hope all of you’ve heard the miraculous way in which the Lord answered our prayers for Kathryn and the Buckner team. Ron and I have been away from our email most of the day and are just now able to send our tremendous thanks to you for your prayers. Please pass it on to others who were also praying.
Please continue to pray for the team, for one-on-one conversations with the kids, and for Kathryn’s arm and wrist that has been hurting since she arrived in Russia. Your prayers are part of the way in which GOD IS WORKING! Please keep it up.
For those who may not have heard, here’s a brief account of the results:
The government officials came out and had a great conversation with one of the Buckner staff members. The official apologized for everything and the caregiver was fired. The Buckner team had a really great day with the kids. Keep praying for this time for the team to present God’s love and salvation to these precious children. Please also keep praying for SVETLANA’s salvation, the caregiver who was fired.

“Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of thy redeeming love.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for thy courts above!”

Wow. I can’t even read the lyrics of that hymn now without tearing up.
What great words of encouragement and grace and mercy.

Lady Bird Johnson dead at 94

Claudia Alta Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson, former US First Lady from Texas died today at the age of 94.
She was an alum of the University of Texas and married Lyndon Baines Johnson on November 17, 1934, at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas.
She spent years working towards ending poverty, beautifying Texas and US Highways and served as a great ambassador for the state.
Thoughts and comments:
Capital Annex
Thoughts from various Texas politicians via the WDL
Wikipedia entry

Free slurpees?!

WOW oo00oo
FREE SLURPEES TODAY!?
Wouldn’t have known except for a DIY blog post.

Alright kids, it’s time to go get your favorite cool-tasty beverage from 7-Eleven. That’s right, Slurpees are FREE today. Why, you ask? Because it’s 7/11 of course! The Slurpees are small, at just 7.11 ounces, but whose complaining – it’s free, right? Start at the north end of town and hit every 7-Eleven within a 20 mile radius. But get down there quick, because the deal ends at 11pm (of course).

Sheehan plans to challenge Pelosi

(Former) Iraq war activist, Cindy Sheehan began a nearly two-week trek toward Washington D.C. on Tuesday with her sights set on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Sheehan officially announced her run against Pelosi in 2008 if the San Francisco congresswoman doesn’t move to impeach Bush by July 23.
From the AP:

Sheehan first told The Associated Press on Sunday about her plans to challenge the top-ranking Democrat. She made it official Tuesday at Camp Casey, named after her 24-year-old who was slain in Iraq and whose death first led Sheehan to Crawford in 2005 to demand a meeting with Bush.
In response to Sheehan’s plans to run, Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said Sunday that “July will be a month of action in Congress to end the war, including a vote to redeploy our troops by next spring.”

Nine out of 10 candidates support preemptive war?

A video on YouTube claims that nine out of 10 GOP candidates support preemptive nuclear war.
The video asks the question, “is this the moral Christian response?”
Watching the video you only see three or four GOP candidates, including several clips from Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, in which he opposes war to expand America’s ideals.
I’m wondering what source the video’s maker uses to say nine out of 10 GOP candidates support preemptive war.
I’m not saying it’s true or not true, just wanting more sources (a.k.a proof) before believing the stat.

How fair is fair?

Greg Cruey reports that Rudy Giuliani was booed in Daytona over the weekend after he said he would not support a “flat tax.”
Cruey goes on to explain his thoughts and concerns with the “fair tax” and asks, how is the fair tax is really fair?

I’ve always struggled with the definition of the word “fair.” I can’t give you a definition of that term that satisfies me. Most people think of everyone being treated the same.
We don’t treat all kids the same at the school where I work:

  • Some of them we make pay for their lunch; others we give lunch to for free.
  • Most have to take their math tests in silence and have half an hour; a few, though, get 45 minutes and some help reading the test.
  • Some students at my school we make read their books without any sort of devices to help them; others we let wear glasses.

What’s “fair” mean?
I do know this: poor people (and many in the lower half of the middle class) generally spend every penny they get just to make it from month to month. Rich people don’t have that problem. So under the new “fair tax,” a couple in their thirties raising two point four children in the burbs will pay taxes on almost every penny they make just because they spend it while the doctors and lawyers in more affluent neighborhoods, even if they pay more in actually taxes, could get by with paying tax on half or less of their income. Then when you look at the government’s money and you talk about what portion of it came from the wealthy and what part of it came from the average American who’s just try to make ends meet while they raise their kids, you’d find that the “fair tax” reduced the percentage of the Federal budget that was paid for by the more well to do. Rich people will be happy about that.
I’ll ask rhetorically, “how is that fair?” And I expect that someone will explain it to me whether the question is intended to be rhetorical or not…

Thoughts, explanations – I’m interested in an answer as well. Maybe someone from the Mike Huckabee campaign would drop us a note and fill us in. He appears to be the “voice crying out in the desert” when it comes to the fair tax.