billy goat

What a treasure this site is. Francie, Rayzur - and the rest of you, it is difficult to add to this level of concern. It does display the gratitude that God responds to. Davis - you are in an enviable place. Thank Him for your salvation and all He has done for you. Thank Him daily for the blessings and every little thing you have. Do this and watch Him take you through transformation. You will be amazed as to how personal God can be. The 'attitude of gratitude' will draw you closer to the real source of dependence. Thank Him everyone.

How long will it go on before we take back control of our schools? Food guidelines must be followed in order to receive Federal hot lunch money and this is the leverage they have over your schools. Trouble is....money funneled for other purposes is followed and audited through the hot lunch program. Daily school attendance reports are monitored through the lunch program and this is the daily audit the government receives to regulate how much tax money your school receives for each student. Many schools have sold complete kitchens in favor of contracting suppliers. Our local schools have only warming ovens, sheet pans and steam tables with kitchen staffing reduced by two thirds. All food is frozen then warmed and served. It is the trendy, cost saving thing to do,

He is warning the Kurds of their potential buildup. The trouble is that this could be part of the only way to win against terrorist interest and atrocity.

Thanks Ron. A timely message for me this morning.

As with a lot of contentious issues we now face - all we need to do is follow the money. Gaza is mere miles from the epicenter of the largest natural gas find in the Mediterranean awaiting massive infusion of development money. Call it coincidence, call it fate or anything else you want, but you can bet Hamas leaders have had their eyes on this prize for a long time. Just imagine the jump in regional influence they would garner from being a major supplier to European markets. Hamas is playing on global sentiment to help license her claim to autonomy and expansion.

Mall cops. They should be issued only one bullet. I'll bet most homeland officers couldn't get a real cop's job. (oh that's right - women are attracted to men in uniforms).

Next time all of you are in your banks - ask them if you can use their restroom. That should clarify just how concerned they are with your business. I went in to my bank to pay off my mortgage and they refused to let me use the bathroom. I was livid in that I had just dropped seventeen thousand dollars in cash money and they denied me access to the bathroom. I've known all the staff for twenty years or more and yet they got real curt with me. Next closest bank is twenty miles away so I guess I will have to visit a restroom before I go in the future. That's my bank story.

Excellent presentation. Thanks pricestar for this submission. In the early seventies, I was alerted to Islamic methodologies at the university I was attending. Faced with dwindling budgets and downsizing, our school accepted millions in funding from middle east interests in exchange for adapted curriculum for middle eastern students and a stake (albeit small) in statewide fiscal influence. I had a funny feeling about the whole arrangement and wondered how many other state universities were bailed out at a time when scanty education earmarks were being displaced with Vietnam obligation. The widespread Saudi benevolence was more than a bailout. It marked the time when we surrendered geopolitcal and economic control for infusions of cash in nearly every sector of our economy as well as the hobbling of political debate and free discourse. Some have said we were blind sided with the insidious nature of their influence buying - but I can assure you it was part of the master plan for the Islamic (Sunni mostly) caliphate and is the root of dissension with the Shiite world.

I guess they were tired of waiting on global sentiment to start hitting the Saudis where it hurts most (they certainly wouldn't see the U.S. endorsing such an action). This won't hurt the Saudis much as their financial influence is deep rooted and global in nature. It is however, a significant sign of defiance that could snowball enough regional support to weaken the Sunni grip hold.

It's a well known fact that a diet rich in snails, cheese and red wine contribute to a proclivity of pompous behavior. (Clif Klaven)

Excellent article. Thanks Rayzur. Well, there you have it folks. I remember Time magazine's account on the Maliki ascension back in '06. He was described as the 'new strongman in town' - an aptly put moniker that few accepted in our State department. Our foreign policy is regulated by incomprehensible boobs educated in the school of altruism. Regional civil war will continue to escalate leaving us with little redress to even dream about.

hey moose - he just doesn't get it - does he...

Putin is displaying his intent on protecting their (Russian) investment in Iraq which comprises a significant portion of the economy. He recognizes the flaccid nature to Obama foreign policy and is stepping it up to fill the void that Kerry dances around. We need to keep in mind the mongering, bullying nature of Sunni jihadists and their Saudi overlords before we condemn any outside intrusion. IMHO - Middle east Sunni ideologies should and very well be contained to the original royal enclaves of the mid twentieth century. These are the real tyrants, and they wrote the book on global media control. They have maligned neighboring leaders, stolen their benevolent image and funded atrocities all over Africa. Their sins are insidious, heinous and too numerous to mention.

Excellent article. Thanks Maggie.

Yes! The media makes the Sunni/Saudi cause to be the Crusades and of noble intent. Our government has and will align with the Sunni scheme because of the influence they retain from Saudi investment in our own country. They are pulling the strings tight as we speak. If Kerry and Obama had an idea as to how deep the evil is rooted - they wouldn't be kissing the Saudi king's ring or should I say his a$$.

The Iraqi oil ministry replaced Norwegian contractors with the state owned company and 25% interest in production. Lukoil, with it's controlling development stake, has implemented training programs for Iraqi workers while supplying medical services for the local population-thus garnering favorable standing with the regime. Current development phases include drilling injection wells, construction of water supply and reservoir pressure maintenance systems for extracting maximum output. Water infusion is used when a reservoir is 50% depleted - a clear indicator of past peak output. They may very well double that projected output goal by 2019 but by then extraction costs will exceed profitability levels. Saddam almost entirely maximized output country wide until the approach of peak and the daunting problem of inadequate water supply to maintain production levels. Yes, some of the remaining oil is recoverable using water injection but complete depletion is beyond engineering capability. The time frame from peak to depletion and abandonment is much less than start up to peak. It seems to me that there is something a little fishy about this whole arrangement. Perhaps geopolitcal wrangling is the name of the game.

Kerry is an embarrassment. He tries to show his concern by lobbying the Arab bloc for help - yes, the very countries who fund and endorse the foment. I'll bet the Saudis are celebrating this windfall in global confidence. Kerry is either naive or lacking historical grounding. On the other hand, he could be responding knowing full well the extent of Arab influence in/on our country.

Sunni figures, claim it is a "Sunni tribal revolt" against the discriminatory policies by the Shiite government of Al-Maliki. Well gee whiz, I wonder where they got that excuse. They should look to the 'motherland' to understand what real discriminatory practices are all about. Three fourths of the Saudi population is comprised of ill treated Shiites who battle for representational parity in all sectors of governance. Social standing is controlled by gratuitous dictate and edict. Discourse is not tolerated and is swiftly quelled. Such is the hypocrisy of Islam - the root of Middle east foment.

It's the Saudis who are calling the shots in all of the unrest.

I'll drink to that!

The Washington Senators are now the Washington Nationals. 'Senator' can be an embarrassing label especially in this day and age but - how do you derive an anthropomorphic identity from the word 'national'? Fans need catchy names and logos to extract some level of ownership and support.

I don't believe it's the job of the Patent and Trademark office to regulate what is politically correct, insulting or demeaning. Their job is to register intellectual property and support the rights of ownership. What about the Yankees? That name carries less favorable connotation in southern states and should be changed also. And then you have the Vikings. They couldn't buy a Super Bowl win to save their souls and in Minnesota - Scandinavian people are the brunt of all the jokes. "Superfluous" is an adjective that aptly describes the Obama administration. (watch out....Obama will strike it from the lexicon)

"an Arab strategy to achieve full co-ordination in Iraq"? Well - they've certainly funded and fueled the foment enough to make brash demands in their race to the Caliphate. Work "on forming a government of national unity of competencies" which would be democratic and pluralistic with no room for "sectarianism and exclusion, marginalization and ablation, tyranny and injustice and exclusivity". Yup, the very things lacking in Saudi culture are what's needed for Iraq. I hope I read the article correctly (very difficult) but we need to understand just how much the Saudis use their financial positioning to influence regional/global opinion. It looks like they feel ever more emboldened as things worsen (kind of like Obama).

This whole thing is a complicated quagmire of ideologies that will lead to all out civil war. Sunni involvement is perceived as more righteous than that of Shiite intent. Remember - it is Sunni belief that brings us Sharia law and all of it's beastiality and perversion. Shiite's fight for regional representational parity (jobs, political appointment and socio/economic reform). The house of Said is flexing it's financial muscle in supporting Kurdish autonomy with the help of the United States. The Saudi's have us between an ill perceived rock and a hard spot. Their influence exceeds that of OPEC control. They have huge sums invested in our GDP and think nothing of using it to help secure the race toward the global caliphate.

The Peshmerga are well funded and supported (U.S. or should I say Saudi?). They have not forgotten the Saddam era atrocities committed on them and have no problem maintaining adequate forces. Remember, Kurdish (Sunni) cries for justice were answered by Saudi induced ousting of rogue Ba-athist ideologies and the eventual hanging of Saddam himself. Think about it. It's why we pay only $3.75 for a gallon of gasoline as opposed to the six bucks you'll pay in most areas of the world.