Media Saves Russian Sub Crew

Like many of you, my heart and prayers went-out to the seven sailors trapped in the Russian Sub over the weekend. What we did not learn until today was that if the Russian military had their way, these men would still be at the bottom of the sea.


Thank to an anonymous phone call to a local radio station in the port city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a chain of events was set-off that led to the rescue effort of the men.


As a former sailor, I can imagine nothing more frightening than being stuck at the bottom of the sea as you slowly watch your air supply run out knowing that you can do nothing to save yourself.


As a result of this mishap, word is that Russia has ordered two Scorpio rescue robot subs from the British. Above is photo of the US version of Scorpio robot sub.


The form of government may change, but the value of life in Russia is still darn cheap

Tookie: Penance of Restitution?

Tookie has written children’s books to warn youngsters of the dangers of gangs. For this act of penance, Craig DeLuz argues that Tookies’ sentence should be commuted to life in prison.

I like Craig and have talked with him on several occasions but in this instance, I must respectfully disagree. I would like to submit the following article on this subject for your consideration. This article first appeared in the Sacramento Union on June 1, 1991. It was written by Rev David Chilton. At the time, Chilton was Pastor of Church of the Redeemer in Placerville, CA.

Forgiveness Requires Restitution
The condemned man sat in his cell awaiting execution. James Morgan had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death under the justice system of 17th-century Massachusetts—the Puritan Colony par excellence.


The Puritans have often been stigmatized as narrow-minded legalists, unconcerned about the plight of “sinners” in their midst. To the contrary, the Puritans, as good Calvinists, believed that all people —themselves included—are depraved and sinful, in need of the grace of God and the mercy of fellow men.


Accordingly, the Rev. Cotton Mather and other ministers visited Morgan in his cell and urged him to pray for repentance and forgiveness. To their delight, Morgan heard them and soon gave evidence of a sound, sincere conversion.


The whole Puritan colony joyously responded to Morgan’s change of heart. They held a special worship service, where Morgan testified to his newfound faith. He was embraced and received as a brother in Christ, with all the rights and privileges of a citizen of the heavenly kingdom.

The congregation sang a psalm of praise, thanking God for His goodness to James Morgan, the sinner who had become a saint.


Then they took him to the gallows and hanged him.


Shocked? If so, you need to understand how our forefathers’ world view affected their concept of capital punishment. To begin with, they firmly believed that only God is God. No institution can rightfully take His place.


That meant that only God could change people’s hearts. Unlike modern Americans, of both conservative and liberal stripe, Puritans did not expect civil government to transform the character of its citizens. The state, they believed, existed as a ministry of vengeance, to bring down God’s earthly justice upon criminals.


The purpose of punishing ‘a criminal, therefore, was not to reform the criminal’s nature, but to force him to make restitution. A thief was forced to repay his victim—double!—entering a period of indentured servitude, if necessary.


And the only restitution for murder was by the death of the murderer (based on such Biblical passages as Numbers 35:31 and. Romans 13:4). Capital punishment was mandatory. No exceptions.


But what if the murderer sincerely repents? Shouldn’t he be forgiven? Here, again, the Puritan conviction that man is not God provided a two-pronged focus that shielded them from our modern confusion.


The first point: Man—the state—is not free to bestow divine forgiveness. Since God has commanded capital punishment, evading it would be sacrilegious, nothing less than playing God.


The second point of their focus involves the nature of forgiveness. True forgiveness, they said, means simply this: dropping charges when full restitution has been rendered.


They were thus able to distinguish divine forgiveness from human, civil forgiveness. Divine forgiveness, based on the restitution provided by Christ’s atonement, comes to all who find God’s grace. But earthly, civil forgiveness is based on restitution to the victim.


Executing a repentant, Christian murderer is perhaps the purest form of a proper separation of Church and State: neither institution tries to do the other’s job.

Keep this in mind next time you hear about Robert Alton Harris, the convicted murderer scheduled for execution. Some supporters argue he shouldn’t be executed. He has “changed,” they say; he’s “a different person” from the man who butchered two teenagers in 1978.


If that’s true—and the constant smirk on his televised image belies that claim—we are happy for him. We would encourage him to remain steadfast as he approaches the ultimate religious experience.

Ditto for Tookie and if he has found redemption, may God welcome him into His kingdom.

Trackback
http://www.craigdeluz.com

I want to thank you for the trackback and for sharing with our readers about Stanley. But your post does misrepresent my argument. Penance, redemption and/or forgiveness are not even part of my reasoning. As I stated in my piece: Stanley’s efforts, as extraordinary as they are, do not absolve Mr. Williams of his crimes, nor should they be cause to release him from the debt he must pay to society for those crimes. As a consequence of his crimes, Stanley Williams has given up his life. The question now is “What is the best use of this life we now hold in our hands?” The work he has done has had a significant, proven impact on reducing gang violence. I have read articles and letters from around the world detailing the impact his work has had. And because of this proven track record, I believe that there is a greater benefit to society by keeping him alive, in prison and continuing this work. I understand if you still disagree, I just wanted to clarify my point.

City Council Tyranny Escalates in Elk Grove

I normally don’t take calls from telemarketers, but tonight I made an exception. I’m glad I did. Tonight’s call was from a political opinion surveying company. I have taken calls from them in the past. I guess I’m just their textbook hardcore Conservative and they use my opinion as a baseline.

Anyway, I live in Elk Grove and there is an on going rift between the Elk Grove City Council and the Community Services District.

Long before the incorporation of Elk Grove, the Community Services District (CSD) was in charge of providing fire protection and caring for regional parks in southern Sacramento County including the area that is now Elk Grove. CSD in a model agency and has received many awards and recognitions. The CSD is governed by five elected members.

The city council decided that parks and recreation should be part of their duties, so they created their own parks department and tried to forcible take all parks in the city away from CSD. CSD gets state, county and local tax money for their funding plus development fees. The city is trying to take away their parks and then get that portion of the budget that CSD has allocated for caring for existing parks as well as land and money already set aside for future parks.

In the original plans for incorporation, the community leaders of Elk Grove had divided the jurisdiction of services in Elk Grove between CSD and the new City. There was no duplication of services. The city was created to provide the services and local representation that residents felt was lacking from the County Board of Supervisors. It was viewed as more cost effective if the CSD provided seamless fire protection to all areas of the south county and did likewise with the areas parks.

In the last year, the city council has engaged in a naked grab for power with both CSD and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff’s Department was contracted to provide police protection to the City of Elk Grove. Recently the city voted to sever their relationship with the Sheriff and create their own police department. Two of the five members voting on this change are sworn officers on the payroll of the Sheriff’s Department. Can anybody say “conflict of interest?”

The resulting police department would duplicate many of the services currently provided by the Sheriff except at a higher cost to the city. Of course we loose high end police protection like helicopters and SWAT.

Anyway, CSD won’t roll-over to the aggressive tactics of the Elk Grove city fathers. This leads me to the subject of tonight’s telemarketing call.

The city fathers are shopping the idea of two ballot measures to emasculate CSD as retribution. The first idea they are floating is taking all parks and recreation services within the city limits away from CSD and giving them to the city council. Their argument is elimination of duplicate services and cost savings to taxpayers. Oh yeah, there was no duplicated services until the city created their own parks department earlier this year. Of course, they don’t currently have any parks that they are responsible for; yet…

If this measure passes that would leave CSD primarily responsible for fire protection in the south county and a handful of parks outside the city limits. The second proposed ballot measure will deal with this issue. It would create a City Fire Commission composed of five elected members; this would strip the five elected members of CSD of the last service that they provide to the City of Elk Grove. Furthermore, these measures would effectively split CSD into two mostly non-contiguous geographical areas. This would impact the level of service to rural areas of the county.

The questions that the telemarketer asked me were the typical Doctor Seuss approach, would you vote YES for a clock or a rock or a sock or a block …I answered NO to all his permutations of the two proposals. Furthermore, I did give the Council and unfavorable rating.

The city fathers are banking on the fact that few people know the background of cityhood or the relationship of the City to CSD. The locals demanded that there would be no changes to CSD as a condition to support creation of the City of Elk Grove. Without this assurance the incorporation effort would never have had the support needed to prevail on the ballot. Unfortunately for CSD many of the voters in Elk Grove were not here five short years ago when cityhood became a reality. Now the daughter of CSD is attempting to engineer its demise and strip the carcass.

Fatwa: PR Band-Aid for Silent Community

A group of North American Islamic clerics and organizations have finally issued a Fatwa that purports to condemn terrorism.

Eric Hogue is among many that have vocalized the questions that many of us have asked for years. Among these questions is: Why now? What does this really mean? Are they for real or just providing some positive public relations? Is this enough to satisfy you of the sincerity of the Islamic community?

Hearing the discussion on his program this morning caused a flurry of thoughts to race through my head. My first reaction was to recall many recent terror attacks in the West.
• On 9-11 did they condemn the terror? No
• Did they condemn the shoe bomber and other foiled terror plots? No
• When our troops in Iraq were attacked by suicide bombers was the terror condemned? No
• When Western civilian contractors in the Middle East were beheaded did they condemn terror? No
• When the Spanish commuter trains were bombed, did the respond? No
• When the same resorts in Egypt were bombed on two occasions killing vacationing European and Israeli tourists, did they condemn terror? No
• When the trains in London were bombed did they condemn terror? No
• When a lone US Congressman suggested that if we were nuked that an attack on Muslim holy sites should be an option, did they respond? YES

My conclusion is that either these clerics finally figured out that they have been tone deaf for four years and it has resulted in deep seated distrust of their people because they have been perpetuating extremism by their silence or the Congressman has advocated playing by their rules and got their attention.

Either way, a press release is too little, too late. These folks need to police their own if they want to stem the growing distrust that non-Muslims have for Islam. They need to backup this Fatwa with action. Turn in terrorists before they attack. Condemn every act of terror from here on out, yes, even those acts committed against Israel. If they are not with us, they are against us.

I have heard several parsing of the actual text of the Fatwa. I find little comfort in the wording because clearly it allows for killing in some unnamed circumstances. “Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…”

What is just v unjust killing? Are non-believers of Islam covered by this or only other Moslems? How is “all people” defined? Is there a universal understanding or is everyone left to decide that for themselves?

I’ve been around enough theologians to know that each word was approved and no more specific than it had to be to get signers to the declaration. Unfortunately, there is enough room in this Fatwa to drive a Humvee through it without getting a scratch.

Many of the signatories of this proclamation have had ties to terror groups in the past. Are they finally seeing the light or feeling the heat? Or worse yet, are they covering their clerical butts because they know another attack is in the works in the US and they need plausible deniability?

I’m sorry fellas but you will have to backup your nice Fatwa with lots of action. As long as terrorists have aid and comfort from your community, you have not done your part. When the extremists are afraid and outcasts among your people then I will believe your polite words.

Congress Sets Sail for The Island

My wife and I went to see The Island last weekend. In this movie, we are introduced to a world where the rich and powerful grow clones of themselves so that they can stay young and harvest spare organs to keep themselves healthy. There are shades of Logan’s Run and Freejack in this film.

The mad scientist running the cloning center found that growing bodies for organs was not enough. The clones would not stay healthy without allowing them to live. The clones are allowed to develop enough to be part of the community waiting to go to The Island.

Getting to The Island was the goal of the clones inhabiting the center run by the mad scientist. The clones lived to win a lottery whose winners thought they were going to the only spot on earth untouched by a global ecological catastrophe. Of course, the clone was actually selected because their owners needed spare parts.

Like real life, the clones were not considered human, and were treated as property. At the convenience of their owners, the clones were harvested. The reality that the clones were sentient beings was a closely guarded secret; a secret that some were willing to kill in order to keep it that way. Hence the chase scenes as the clones struggle to unravel their purpose and their humanity.

Likewise, Congress is grappling with the issue of fetal stem cells. Should some human beings be created and harvested so that other human beings might live? One group of humans has no voice, cannot vote and many deny that they even exist as anything but tissue.

The other group is acting from self interest, desperate that some scientist can get the winning sample to prolong their lives. This group of humans vote; the older they are the more they turn-out on Election Day. There is no limit to the amount of government monies that they are willing to spend to put off death.

In our culture nothing is worse than suffering and being ravaged by disease. We talk in terms of quality of life. We make a mental balance sheet and when the liabilities outweigh the benefits, we try to find a way to change the balance or check-out before it hurts.

It is no wonder that the purveyors of eugenics including the abortion industry are trying to exploit our fear of death and suffering to create a socially acceptable justification for the slaughter of even more pre-born humans. Now instead of throwing children away in the name of convenience, we can comfort ourselves that its ok because we are furthering the science of prolonging life.

What irony that we justify snuffing out life to prolong life. DR. Mengele and his ilk would surely be proud that the nation that defeated his Nazis and gave the world the Nuremburg Trials has adopted his ideology.

Adventures at Del Taco

Man cannot live by bread alone. That is why God created Del Taco!

Del Taco is the best breakfast burrito in fast food. But it is also the most evil. The Macho Bacon and Egg Breakfast Burrito is 1,030 calories. The small hash brown that you get in the Combo Meal is another 250 calories. The medium coke is 230 calories. Total value of this Combo Meal is 1,510 calories with no drink refills.

The proper way to eat the burrito is to unwrap it, place lots of hash browns and hot sauce in it, fold the tortilla back up and then wrap it with the foil wrapper. It works better with a fresh tortilla but there is no guarantee that you will be served one that is soft. Don’t eat this in a moving car; it is the only fast food that I park my car to eat. Remember, napkins are our friends.

I order this once a week, usually on Saturday or Sunday morning. Depending on my plans, I purchase from one of three different locations. All three stores claim to be open 24 hours a day but this is a crock as I will explain shortly. In the mornings, two of the three stores have huge amounts of litter in their parking lots on a regular basis. Both of these stores are next to McDonalds which adds to the contrast in management styles of the franchise owners.

The worst of the three stores from which I occasionally purchase food is located on Calvine Road just off Highway 99.This store has been closed on several occasions when I have tried to purchase food on my way to work—between5:30 and 6:15 am—despite the fact that their sign clearly states that breakfast is available from 11 pm. On other occasions they have been out of diet coke, bacon, eggs & hash browns. (There is a store on Florin Road that I tried to order from at 6:00 am and they refused to serve me so I never went back.)

The Del Taco on Laguna Blvd by Petco is much better than its Calvine counterpart. They have never had a shortage on food items that I have ordered. (Their proximity to Petco does not seem to be responsible for the abundance of food.) However, they have a very slow drive thru. I have been stuck in it for over 45 minutes in the evening. The best franchise of the three that I visit regularly is located in West Sacramento. The parking lot is usually spotless. They have the same cook every time we go there. We buy food there about three Sundays a month. Only once have they ever been closed and that was for an employee meeting.

Everywhere you order the breakfast burrito from Del Taco, is made a different way. The ration of lettuce and eggs
varies considerably. Once the cook even put refried beans in it, yuck! Guess which of the three stores did that
mistake?

When it is cooked properly there is nothing better. If good food and a breakfast adventure is on your list of weekend
chores then try Del Taco.

 

CAIR Unmasked: Live

Hugh Hewitt spent almost three hours this week with Hussam Ayloush—a spokesman from the Southern California Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Wow, what an eye-opening interview.

The CAIR representative kept trying to pass himself off as an average American guy who just happens to defend the rights of people who read the Koran and pray to Allah. He did a good job defending his point of view in a partisan sort of way. That is until he was asked to denounce actions that Muslim folks had taken against non-Muslims and then he was unmasked. (You could tell that he was holding back from revealing what he really believed.)

Hewitt nailed Mr. Ayloush with a question about the unprovoked attacks on Israel in 1948 and 1973. The CAIR representative saw nothing wrong with surprise military attacks on Israel with no provocation. He also had excuses about why the people in the Palestinian refugee camps were taught in school with maps that purposely-left Israel off the Middle-East maps.

At the mention of Israel, Mr. Ayloush went into attack mode and accused Hewitt of being a Jew lover and a hater of Islam. He then went on to accuse Hewitt of being a racist and a bigot. When pressed for answers, Ayloush went into a lame retort that he is a simple engineer and not a politician. In other words he was not qualified to speak on these matters. Excuse me, Hussam Ayloush, you were there as a spokesman for CAIR! This dumb bumpkin from the carpet bazaar act may work with some folks but he picked the wrong host on which to pull that stunt.

CAIR was revealed to be what I have often heard them accused of being, they masquerade as loves of peace and democracy but their true aims are the same as the terrorisms that plague the world today. They are obstructionists to a solution. Instead they run interference and provide cover for those sworn to kills us.

I often wonder if their brother Muslims were such caring and loving people as Mr.Ayloush claims, then why have they forced the Palestinians to live in refugee camps for over half a century? There is more than enough land and money in the Arab countries that if they wanted to absorb the Palestinians into neighboring countries they could. Apparently, it is better politics for Arab rulers to keep the peasants stirred-up about a non-existent external threat (Israel)that oppresses their brothers than to confront the oppression in their own nations.

CAIR will provide political cover and legal representation for terrorists but is not interested in rooting out the terrorists in their own community. Its too bad. If they wont deal with their own people, they will create a situation where those outside the community that they claim to represent will have to do it for them. They are setting-up the circumstances that they claim to be trying to prevent. (This is a common tactic of many special interest groups.) When a crackdown begins on their people they will have no one to blame but themselves.

Thanks Hugh for giving Mr. Ayloush enough rope to hang himself with his own words. Transcript on July 25 & 26 at RadioBlogger

 

Trump Thumps United Nations

Hugh Hewitt started his show on Friday with the testimony of Donald Trump before some obscure congressional committee that has been asked by the United Nations to give it money to renovate its building in New York. This is one of the best pieces of audio I have ever heard for a host of reasons. It illustrates what is wrong with the UN, the complicity of the US government, fact that Congress has many ignorant as it relates to the real world—members and the brilliance of Trump.

The Donald isn’t my favorite political person but his comments on rebuilding the World Trade Center and this Congressional testimony are two high watermarks this year that have earned my respect.

The audio is from C-SPAN and is not copyrighted. I have several friends that will be getting audio CDs of this from me.

 

Roberts Opposition Begins Attacks

Ann Coulter is outstanding in her field. Well yeah; but this time she’s all alone screaming her lungs out. Noooooooo!!


Meanwhile, Hugh Hewitt is strutting around like the rooster in the barnyard. He has always advocated John Roberts as one of the top three choices for the Court.


Granted, there is not that much of a paper trail at the Appellate level, but Roberts has an extensive record as an attorney and advocate for causes that Conservatives support.


I trust Hewitt. He has demonstrated good judgment on many issues and Roberts is his friend.


While it is true that only God truly knows a mans heart; on the outside, Roberts seems to be a good choice. I am amazed that the usual suspects on the Left are already resorting to digging dirt on his wife. They are upset that he is married to a woman that is Catholic and Pro-life. The Left is angry that Roberts might be a rarity in politics, a Catholic that believes in the teachings of the church. This is quite a contrast the lapsed Catholics that dare sit in judgment of him such as DUI Kennedy.

Roberts family should be off limits to this confirmation process. The fact that the Left has to resort to such tactics is an indication that they lack a hook for their fundraising letters.


I think this process will have some delays but Roberts will ultimately be confirmed. Replacing the Chief Justice will be a cakewalk when that time comes but if there is a third opening in the court during the second Bush term, it will be all-out war because this will be the vote that will permanently move the Court to the Right and Liberals will have lost all three branches at this point.


Oh, look for the Chief Justice to retire shortly after Roberts has been confirmed.