CRONYISM

 


George Offerman


Headlines on many news sites are reporting the just released e-mails sent by then Solicitor General Kagan to Professor Lawrence tribe concerning the Health care bill: “I hear they have the votes, Larry!!  Simply amazing” this is a very telling admission to her bias towards this law, and now that it is in the Supreme Court’s docket, ‘Justice’ Kagan needs to recuse herself from this case.  (But I would bet my next 100 paychecks this will not happen).

The following is a regulation that clearly mandates behaviors of Justices if a conflict of interest arises:

According to 28 USC 455, a Supreme Court justice must recuse from “any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” The law also says a justice must recuse anytime he has “expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy” while he “served in governmental employment.”

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/kagan-tribe-day-obamacare-passed-i-hear-they-have-votes-larry-simply-amazing 

For anyone paying attention to the preceding hearings and subsequent elevation of Kagan to the Supreme Court, this should come as no surprise.  It should also be of concern for those who call themselves Christian and pro life, that this woman will rule on a law that is immoral as well as unconstitutional in that it mandates a citizen to purchase a service from another or a corporation.  It is the epitome of collectivism and is another step towards this one world order Obama and his cronies are pushing us into.

It is so amazing that not many of our fellow citizens care about this.  Unfortunately, it is also no surprise, and when all hell breaks lose in health care, there will be no one to blame but themselves.  Too many people in the health care field have been blowing the trumpet in warning, but too few listened.  Many who did have concerns stated “It seems illegal, so the court will strike it down”.  That is just another attempt at pedaling off responsibility onto another’s shoulders, and leads to a very dangerous precedent, in allowing a select few, or ‘elites’ to make decisions for the masses.

One can grow weary from fighting and warning against the constant barrage of rights taken away with little help from fellow citizens.  It seems that after awhile, people stop listening and want to go off into their own dream world, and leave the mess for someone else to clean up.  The problem is, then those who want to clean up the mess, put all their buddies into positions of power, and soon, it becomes such a corrupt system that no one can get out of it without selling out their soul to them.

These people are not going to stop until they get what they want: total control over every aspect of our lives.  If it takes cronyism, then they will do it.  Conflicts of interest will occur everywhere, and the elites will continue stacking the deck against the masses until they get what they want.  Because they are getting so close to their ultimate control, it seems they don’t even care if anyone notices, because it is getting to the point that the masses will not be able to do anything about this cronyism.

What a sad state of affairs things are in now.  We have had such an escalation of lawlessness and blatant disregard for proper procedure that is acculturated into the psyche of the masses.  It seems very few even care anymore, and would rather concentrate on football and Survivor than their own survival and well being of their families.  I can imagine that soon, we will be very aware of this loss of freedom, but by then it may be too late.

WHAT IS TO BE LEARNED FROM ALL OF THIS?

George Offerman

The ongoing and ever deepening scandal at Penn State is really shaping up to be one for the ages.  There are so many dynamics going on in this story, that it is difficult to know where to start.  This is also a hotly debated topic almost everywhere, and it seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.  As I discuss this with those close to me, we seem to come to more of a consensus about a couple of topics with the idea of football and sports and how they have taken a near deity level in this country.  Then there is the point of personal responsibility and what should have occurred.

There are many now coming out of the woodwork that want to point how coach Paterno has or had a near deity status at College Station.  There seems to be no doubt that the Coach has made a tremendous difference in the lives of the young men he has coached over his 46 year career.  And it is no surprise that many alumni and family members of these players are very grateful, and are demonstrating this gratitude by getting behind Coach Paterno and showing their support.  So, it was a great shock that most of the Penn State students, Alumni and fans felt when hearing of the abrupt firing of this coach, and anger came out in many different ways.

The question is, how far can gratitude remove one from the responsibility of dealing with real life issues and matters that are of utmost importance?  Or on an even larger scale, how often do sports figures get a ‘free pass’ on all sorts of behaviors because they are famous and ‘well liked”?  It seems many have allowed athletes and elite sports programs a great deal of leeway when it concerns matters of morals and questionable practices.  It has been this way for decades, and it possibly has now finally run its course.  The extent of this abuse will come out in the coming weeks and months, and it may ultimately result in long prison terms for several of these once hallowed individuals who ultimately chose football over what was right and moral.

Many have been debating whether Coach Paterno did enough concerning this case.  While it is a fair question, and will be debated most likely forever, there ought to be more focus on the graduate student/assistant manager Mike McQueary, who upon witnessing this event, evidently did nothing to stop this while it was occurring.  Despite the fact there will be lots of blame to go around, it is Mr. McQueary’s lack of actions that keep coming back to me as the most disturbing aspect of this whole story.

Mr. McQueary claims he happened upon the coach and a 10 year old boy in the shower while putting away equipment from a practice.   One would find it hard to believe that Mr. McQueary, upon seeing this most disgusting and criminal activity, that he did not make some effort to intervene.  If this graduate student was fearful of being thrown out of the program, he could at least have shut the lights off, indicating someone had walked in, and most likely this horrible event would have stopped.  Most people would have been so incensed, that they most likely would have beat the pulp out of this very sick assistant coach, and the majority of people would have supported this action.  But Mr. McQueary did nothing, and simply reported it to the head coach, who did not witness this first hand.  If anyone is most responsible for this particular action going nowhere, it is Mr. McQueary.  As a direct witness, it is Mr. McQueary who had the most responsibility to report this, and he did not.  Yet he remains on staff and continues to coach.  This is the greatest injustice of the whole matter.

This man knew about this situation for nearly nine years, and only when it becomes public, does Mr. McQueary ‘grow a set’ and demonstrate anger.  It is disingenuous, and Mr. McQueary should do the right thing, and resign from his position.  Whatever his excuse is for not reporting this, it cannot justify the continued employment at the same location in which Mr. McQueary demonstrated gross negligence.  This happens too often in our society: people getting a free pass when they ought to be held accountable for sins of omission.

Mr. McQueary, if you have any sense of decency, you should resign immediately.  Don’t be putting out any disingenuous emotions of anger, when you sat on this for nine years.  Do the right thing and get out now.

GOOD FOR YOU JESSE VENTURA

George Offerman


“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety”

Benjamin Franklin



Jesse Ventura’s court case against the TSA was thrown out last week, and as Gov. Ventura promised if this occurred, he would leave this country.  Gov. Ventura then announced immediately, he would be going to Mexico and will no longer stand for the National Anthem but turn his back and raise his fist.  Governor Ventura also stated emphatically that America is Fascist and he is no longer going to participate in such atrocities any more.  And this is all over what some would consider a ‘trivial inconvenience’ of being groped at airports in the name of ‘national security’.

It is simply inconceivable that a behavior is considered ‘legal’ at an airport that literally done anywhere else in this society would be considered a felony, and would require the perpetrator to register as a sex offender the rest of his life.  Janet Napolitano, in her infinite bureaucratic wisdom, made this statement some months ago: “no one is traumatized by this action, the TSA is professional and everyone understands this is of national security”.  No, Ms. Napolitano, in fact it is very traumatic for many people, but you, like Obama and others of your ilk are too stupid to even begin to know how stupid you really are.

That being said, being groped goes against anything we believe in, and no matter how it is colored, it is groping and a gross violation of one’s right to freely move about and to practice their God given right to freedom.  However, it seems that most Americans don’t want to be bothered fighting this, but will comply as sheep and continue to have rights taken away as these Fascists see fit.  It seems inconceivable that a parent would allow a stranger to touch their child under any circumstances, yet there are many who have been interviewed that look at this situation as being for ’security’.  Really, did you plant a bomb in a diaper or put a box cutter in your child’s scivvies?

Governor Ventura has decided enough is enough.  The Governor is demonstrating by his actions what most Americans ought to be doing, voting with their feet.  Unlike most of the complacent, the Governor is making this an issue in which he is willing to fight for and has spelled out the consequences of losing this fight.  It’s good to see someone of the Governor’s stature taking up this fight, but without good follow up, it will simply be forgotten in the days and weeks ahead.  The lessons pertaining to the loss of real freedoms will simply fade away in the midst of the mindless drivel and endless sporting events thrust upon us, to distract us from the real happenings in society.

We will never have true security, because the powers that be don’t want us to.  Their intention is to constantly scare the populace with make believe ‘terrorism’ or other ‘isms’ that will come to the forefront when convenient or needed.  People feel most empowered when they have some stake in the matter, and as our ever developing police state shows, it is being taken from us on a never ending plane of problems and issues not of our making.  So stress and anxiety will continue to mount as time goes on, and the only solutions forwarded will be those of the nanny state dictating the terms of day to day life to those who have been trained to not think for themselves.

WAKE UP!

IS REVELATION ABOUT TO START?

George Offerman

It’s been quite a while since I did any of my hermeneutics postings and so this posting will be somewhat  like that.  I have had a few people ask me what I thought about this 2005 yu55 asteroid that is supposed to pass by the earth on November 8th.  So, I thought I would look into this matter and see what is being said about it.  During my research, I also happen to run into the story about a comet Elenin, and what initially peaked my interest in both stories is an asteroid and comet would fulfill the second and third trumpets to a ‘T’.

I also ran into several sites that brought up some interesting points.  According to at least one of them, it is making the claim that NASA has given misinformation pertaining to the asteroid, and is actually anticipating a pacific strike, somewhere between Alaska and north of Japan.  A water strike is what is prophesized, and it would definitely be within the realm of possibility.  I have also heard several people involved in Government clearly state on matters of emergency, such as nuclear war, that the ‘official’ policy taken by the government is to not warn the citizenry, in order to alleviate panic and chaotic situations.  So, one may make the argument that it is not beyond the possibility of such ‘disinformation’ to be forwarded.

These things being said, I did my research and it appears these matters mentioned do not seem to be as dire as many may think.  According to pictures and visuals of the comet Elenin taken by many amateur astronomers around the world, it appears to have broken up and is now wandering into the dark and deep space, not to return for almost 12,000 years.  There are sites claiming this is not true, but these sites also minimize or deny the hundreds of eyes watching it and the mathematical trajectory work and observations that have proven it is out of our way.  With this being the case, we can eliminate this candidate fulfilling the third trumpet.

There, then is another difficulty with this asteroid fulfilling the second trumpet.  Preceding the second trumpet is the great earthquake and the first trumpet.  So far, neither has occurred, and I suppose technically speaking we do have 6 days before this asteroid would strike, but that would sure crunch the timeframe into a little opening, and it seems very unlikely that it could happen.  (We will definitely know this to be a fact in the next few days).

We would also need to see the appearance of the 144,000 and two witnesses.  And if these did not appear, we would at least need to hear from a prophet concerning these matters, and this as well has not manifested itself.  So, as we look at the differing aspects of the prophecy it seems to draw a clear picture that the conditions that are needed to fulfill Revelation are not present.

I know there are some that are anticipating such an event.  As I have repeated ad nauseum, no one in their right mind would want to see Revelation fulfilled in their lifetime.  But that being said, it does not mean it cannot happen and one should not attempt to fit an event, such as an asteroid hitting the earth into the prophecy if the preceding conditions have not been met.  We simply have to take a methodical look at what is going on, and use proper hermeneutics to determine if current events fulfill prophecy as written in its totality.

I don’t believe we will even see an asteroid strike until Revelation.  The reasons I have, of course, are total speculation, but it is scripturally based.  Jesus continually compared Revelation and the second coming to Noah, and Jesus made clear the event of the flood had never been witnessed in human history up to that time.  If we had an asteroid impact outside of Revelation, it may have too strong of a possibility of watering down the message of Revelation, as we would find we survived the impact, and would not see these events as ‘earth stopping’.

So, as far as I’m concerned, November 8 will come and go without mishap.  This will be one more time I have been the ‘wet blanket’ for those who want to be sensationalists and predict things that will not come to pass.  This is the way prophecy ought to be handled: God gave prophecy for the explicit reason of preparing those of the faith of His movements and an explanation of why and what is to come so believers can know it is from God.  We live in difficult times as it is.  We should not be adding additional burdens to those already stressed out and concerned about day to day survival, by talking about nonsense that will not come true.

ALL SAINTS DAY

George Offerman

For those Catholics out there, this is one of those feast days that shows the triumph of our faith.  It’s a time to celebrate the lives of those who came before us and who lives such exemplary lives, that we can model our own lives after them.  For those of you who have taken the time to study some of these saints, it can be a great source of comfort, as well as a challenge.  The stories of the saints are meant to give us hope and direction in uncertain times such as these, as well as pass on the concept that God is always there for those who put their faith in him.

I have personally read many accounts of saints and their lives, but probably not enough of them.  It seems the most common feature these remarkable people demonstrate, is their ability to persevere when nearly all around them either want to give up, or actually give up.  These people seem to be able to fight through a great amount of rejection, and very often, the rejection came from the hand of the Faith they were actually attempting to live.  It seem so easy to look at many people today who very well may be living saints, and heap criticism or scorn on them because they don’t seem to be as ‘glamorous’ as those who are recognized as saints.

Our church teaches it is our duty to strive for living sainthood, through sanctified living and daily communion with our Savior.  While I am sure there are many people living today that meet this qualification, it would seem most don’t and it is so necessary to have people like this to spur the rest of us on to live in this way, and bring honor and glory to our God.  It also appears that those individuals, who reached such a sanctified state, also experienced levels of joy and peace that are nearly nonexistent in our current age.   These people seemed to have reached a level that can only be surmised and speculated about and is very difficult to understand.

It definitely seems that to live a sanctified life today would put one on a direct firing line, between dealing with the amount of darkness in the world, and the ever growing hostility with the Christian way of life.  It definitely will challenge any level of comfort and convenience, and most likely will result in alienation from most people.  But on the other hand, it would be of great value, as it would bear witness that anyone can live the Christian life at any point in history and it would definitely attract some to the ranks.  Is that not a large part of our mission while here?

We definitely could use the inspiration of these men and women who paved the w ay for the faith to continue.  We would benefit greatly from knowing and emulating their bravery and courage when presenting the faith, and being very unapologetically in the method we go about passing on what we know to be true.  We can be like them and it is only a decision away.  Too many contemporary folks believe these people are too high on a pedestal, and thus don’t want to even try to live such sanctity.  We need to have the urgency that our saints had when spreading the Gospel.  It is what is needed at this time in history, and the torch is in our hands.

TEENAGE SUICIDE

George Offerman

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

   Neither are your ways my ways,”

            Declares the LORD.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

   So are my ways higher than your ways

   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

Last week, a good acquaintance of my teenage son committed suicide.  This boy was 17, and it appears, like many suicides of young people, there was not a lot of warning and it caught everyone off guard.  Needless to say, there are many questions and even more anger, frustration and sadness over how this boy did not reach out for anyone’s help, nor did it appear that many people reached out to him during this time.  My son is very distressed over this and has been, and still is, trying to make sense of this.  It is one of his main concerns that will be the subject of this posting, as he has alluded to how the Catholic Church, at least in some of the comments he has heard, states people who suicide commit mortal sin, and thus are condemned to hell.

This is what the Church teaches about mortal sin:

1)      Its subject must be a grave (or serious) matter.

2)      It must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense (no one is considered ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are inborn as part of human knowledge, but these principles can be misunderstood in a particular context).

3)      It must be committed with deliberate and complete consent, enough for it to have been a personal decision to commit the sin.

Suicide is one of those matters in which the Church has debated over the centuries, and it has culminated with the most recent teachings by Blessed John Paul II that those committing suicide most likely have not committed a mortal sin, due to the person not necessarily being of the right mind, and thus, incapable of giving full consent to the action.  We know through millennia of observation, that preservation of life is the strongest force known to mankind.  To go against this innate knowledge in and of itself, is an act of insanity.  Insanity precludes clarity of thought and full consent as these are quite absent with people in this condition.

This I can also verify personally.  I’ve been in the mental health field for 26 years, and unfortunately, have had too many people I have known or personally worked with that have committed suicide.  When a person becomes suicidal, he is absolutely convinced he has no other options and because the internal pain appears so intense and never ending, killing oneself seems like the ‘saner’ option between the two positions.  It is not seeing other options that is at the crux of the problem for those who are feeling suicidal, and as long as they keep this to themselves, it is highly unlikely they will pull themselves out of this, as they are already biased towards no hope and cannot get to a place of hope on their own.  They need to reach out, but by virtue of the nature of their condition, they do not, and thus, it becomes more of a ‘catch 22’ for these people.

Interestingly enough, those who failed at killing themselves most often report they are glad they did not succeed.  They also report (those who have worked with me) that it was in the act of trying to take their own life that they found meaning in their life.  Nearing death, it really dawned on them how much they were harming those they loved, and many report it was the first time they really thought about other people and their pain, and it gave them another perspective on life.  Either way, they report how ‘insane’ their actions were and how distorted their thought processes were to convince themselves that they had no value to anyone.

I informed my son that no one knows where this boy is, and that the Church does in fact, teach we are not to judge where one may go, because frankly, we don’t know.  Now there is no doubt that suicide is a grave matter, but one also must recognize that only God can see into matters of the heart, and knows what state this boy was in when he took his life.  Unlike what many may think about God, it is most likely that God grieves for this boy even more than we do, as only God knows what mission this boy was to accomplish, and most likely, this mission will now be incomplete.   This is why it is so important to fight these urges, and to talk to someone when feeling this way.

This is also why we need to withhold any judgments on people who commit suicide.  I or really anyone cannot say with any certainty that this boy went to hell any more than I can say that my father, who lived an exemplary life, is now in heaven.  Because God’s thoughts and actions are so superior to ours, it is a relief to me that I don’t need to concern myself with such matters, and as such, should no one else who claims to be a believer in God.  We can only pray for the dead, and hope that God, in his perfect love, balances his divine mercy with divine justice and resolve such situations in a way that we are reunited with our loved ones at the end of time.    

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

George Offerman

For those expecting a movie review, I will not be giving one now, or ever.  I will not see this movie under any circumstances and I will take it a step further and state no Christian should go to see a movie like this.  I have read reviews and watched a couple of the trailers on you tube, and that was more than likely even too much.  The little I did see is what I suspected when hearing of this movie: that it is filled with occult material and advanced spiritualism.  While I am sure it’s intended to be ‘pure fiction’ one ought to consider the overall purpose of a movie like this.  Does it bring about a fuller understanding of our humanity in a way that inspires us, or does it distract us with images that impede our walk with the Lord?

I have heard and read on the various blogs and comment sites about how many adults want to get ‘psyched up’ for the ‘holiday’ and this movie does the trick.  I have also seen many comments about how people in their 50’s still look under the bed before going to sleep, shutting the closet door, and having night lights.  And these same people state these movies are ‘harmless entertainment’.  Then why go through the rituals as if there are monsters, spirits or demons in one’s room if none of it is real?

The problem is that most people (and I’m referring to Christians here) are very unaware of how the spiritual realm works and what happens when it is accessed.  I covered this in one of my hermeneutics postings, forbidden knowledge and the mystery religions, and will briefly go over this again.  The spiritual realm is superior to our realm, and as such if one accesses this realm, they are subject to its rules.  God has revealed enough information pertaining to this realm, and has warned us in the strongest of terms to stay out of it.  Doorways to this realm come from the most menial, and what appears to be harmless activities, and then infects the person and begins to make changes in them that are fear based.

Sure, many may argue that they have nothing more than occasional nightmares, but what justification is that when considering one uses their free will in allowing this garbage into their minds to begin with?  The problem in watching these types of movies, and the justification for doing so demonstrates the lack of knowledge concerning spiritual matters and the need to be vigilant concerning them.  Most Christians lack a good understanding of the spiritual realm due to the Churches not teaching about them, or actually debunking them.  But ignoring or denying the spiritual realm does not negate the reality of it.

So, when people deliberately expose themselves to material that opens up this realm, they are not equipped and they will then be subject to disturbing dreams, fears pertaining to this realm that go beyond reasonable, and may begin to develop phobic reactions and some compulsive behaviors, such as sleeping with the lights on, checking underneath the bed before going to sleep and many other practices that give credence to these things.  If most people understood the nature of these movies, that they truly are gateways into the demonic realm, they would never see them in the first place.  But since they do, they discount the demonic, and by proxy the power of God as well...  These folks do not think about putting on the Armor of God, but insist on doing these things themselves.  They then have to deal with these realms on their own, and they do not acknowledge it is beyond their individual ability to do so.

This is how Satan has so much power today.  Most people don’t believe in a literal Satan, and the churches minimize its discussions on evil, demonic activity and hell.  There are fewer than 100 exorcists in the U.S. and most of the other Christian churches pay little attention to evil.  So not only are people not prepared in ways of combating evil, they are actually lead to believe it does not exist.  So evil flourishes, while holiness and sanctity are downplayed.  And our society continues to dabble in occultism and demonic materials in the name of ‘entertainment’ while continually going down on a negative trajectory.

I know many will have problems with this, and want to jump in on how this is being exaggerated and hyped.  I also believe many people, who would make this claim also believe all Christians, and most people will go to heaven no matter what they do, and evil and sin is an ancient and outdated concept.  While they may have all the right in the world to believe this and continue to go to movies like this, I want them to think of this as they may trash me and others who think like me: I sleep well with the lights off, I close all of my closets, and never check under the bed before the lights go out.  I love looking at the full moon and can sit outside alone for hours looking at the stars and listening to the wild life without experiencing bizarre thoughts and images.  If those folks who watch these movies can say the same, then keep doing what you’re doing.  Otherwise stay away from this demonic trash, as you ought to.