An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for 21 February 2012
Pray For Our Brother In Christ!
New Fears for Iranian Pastor on Death Row Who Refuses to Renounce His Christian Faith
“As of today, we cannot confirm that Pastor Youcef is alive,” said executive director Jordan Sekulow. “With Iran now dominating international headlines because of its military actions, it’s clear Iran may have decided to move forward by issuing an execution order, knowing that the world’s attention is focused elsewhere right now. We also know that Iran’s top officials can reject the execution order and release Pastor Youcef if they so desire. We will keep the international pressure on Iran to free Pastor Youcef.”
Iranian pastor
Youcef Nadarkhani
has been sentenced
to death for apostasy.
(Photo: ACLJ)
In what it described as “an extremely dangerous turn of events,” the American Center for Law and Justice said Monday it had learned from contacts inside Iran that Youcef Nadarkhani, the Christian pastor on death row for “apostasy,” looks increasingly likely to be executed.
“Pastor Youcef’s case had been stalled due to increased international pressure and the Iranian court’s request that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, decide Pastor Youcef’s fate,” said ACLJ executive director Jordan Sekulow.
“Now, because Pastor Youcef has continually refused to give into the regime’s demands that he renounce his Christian faith, the likelihood that the Iranian regime will execute him increases by the day.”
Nadarkhani, a married father of two young children, was arrested in October 2009 and has been sentenced to hang for “apostasy.”
His death sentence was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court last July, but three months later the case – which was making waves internationally – was referred to Khamenei. The supreme leader was expected to make a ruling on whether the pastor, who embraced Christianity at the age of 19, was an apostate under Islamic law (shari’a).
Heavenly Father, I come to you in prayer for Your child, Youcef Naderhani. Please watch over him and his family, give them Your guidance. Keep Your loving arms around them. I pray, oh Lord, that all your children will raise up their voices to You. Amen.
Oh, He’s Historic Alright….
Lunch With Marsha
So, after a week and a half of utter misery (cold + damp = PAIN), the good Lord saw fit to give us a beautiful day…sunny and 65 degrees! Lord, how I love the South! Except for the cold and damp and more snow that I ever care to see again in my lifetime, but I’ll survive. 
The Hardin County Republican Party and the Pickwick Republican Women hosted a lunch for our Congresswoman, Marsha Blackburn. It was really nice to see some folks I haven’t seen in quite a while due to all the health issues we’ve had going on. Our state rep‘s lovely bride, Ashley sat with us, one of my favorite patriots, Jerry Key (yep, the same one I frequently say “Shared by Jerry” on numerous posts), and Suzanne, the new president of the ladies bunch. Plus N’Gaoi, Kay, and even Dot. There were a LOT of new faces. Gracious sakes! I gotta get back into the swing of things. *shakes head*
While waiting for Marsha, Jerry gave the invocation, and a darn good one it was too! We DO need to pray for those in power, and do our best to direct them BACK to our foundings….UNDER GOD!
Now, I have to laugh, because while introducing Marsha, she kept referring to her as Senator Blackburn. When Marsha did take the floor, spoke about all the work the House is doing, and the Senate is not, she opened up the floor for questions.
Sorry….rather fuzzy. Phone issues…again!
There were numerous excellent questions, covering a variety of topics, from spending to national security, and the Iran/Israel situation. She stands with Israel too! There was even a ‘birther’ who got a shot in? *shakes head* Oh well, if ya don’t ask the questions, ya never know, right?
I actually did have a serious question for her, but she wrapped things up, so I had to wait until she finished speaking to a few folks.
And, of course, I did have to ask, once again, if she had considered running for the Senate. Lamar Alexander – RINO, has said he isn’t going to go for another term, so….. sigh… Couldn’t pin her down. Oh well. I’d love to see either her, or Stacey Campfield, take that seat.
If the anger and momentum continues like I saw this afternoon, I feel pretty good about the outcome. But we have GOT to do the work to get it done. First thing, make sure you are registered to vote. Second, get up off your hind end and GO VOTE! I don’t want to hear “but my vote won’t count” crap! We are going to have to battle a boatload of fraud, so YES, your vote just might make the difference between winning and losing!
World War III?
These don’t seem to be in order, but the info is there.
Just A Reminder
Ok fellow Podunkians….don’t forget…Marsha will be here at noon. Call sweet Suzanne and make sure there’s room for ya!
Bad Behavior
Greece to get $170B bailout, reduce debt
After more than 12 hours of talks, the countries that use the euro reached an agreement early Tuesday to hand Greece euro130 billion ($170 billion) in additional bailout loans to save it from a potentially disastrous default next month.
The deal is expected to bring Greece’s debt down to 120.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 — that’s around the maximum that the International Monetary Fund and the eurozone consider sustainable.
The euro surged as the news of a deal broke early Tuesday. The accord should take some pressure off the 17-country currency union that has been battling a serious debt crisis for two years.
Without the deal, Greece was facing a potentially calamitous default next month and possibly being forced from the eurozone. The talks stretched into the early hours of Tuesday as ministers wrangled over how to cut Greece’s debt to a level that it could eventually pay back while not raising their own commitments.
What we have here is rewarding bad behavior. Again. Honestly, the European Union was a real bad idea from the start, and it’s not getting any better. The socialistic tendency of Europe have increased to the point where they are complete unsustainable. Do they really believe the Greeks who have been burning businesses, destroying streets and behaving like spoiled children are going to change? I seriously doubt it. The best thing they, or any such entity could, and should, do is let Greece succeed or fail, on their own merits. Obviously, the rioters aren’t concerned about the country as a whole (kind of like our socialist ‘occupiers’). They just want to continue their gimme behavior and to hell with everyone else. Well, Greece has run out of ‘other people’s money’, and now, it’s time to pay the piper. Why should anyone else pay ‘him’? We’ve seen some of this right here in the U.S. with the bailouts of car companies, banks, etc., and we, the taxpayers are on the hook for billions and BILLIONS because of weasel behavior. Oakland is already burning. When will the rest of the country go up in smoke?
Translation: “If the revolution will not happen peacefully, then it will happen violently. Anarchy!”
(Glenn Beck in front of a warning from Greek anarchists. Photo by Mark Mabry)
Abuse of Power
‘Buying’ House Votes for Unpopular Legislation
The Foundry
An examination of “administrative earmarks” around the time of congressional votes on key pieces of President Obama’s agenda suggests the White House used its power to fund local projects as a means to “buy” votes for major legislative efforts.
Administrative earmarking refers to the federal government’s allocation of funds from its discretionary budget for specific projects. The practice is less transparent than legislative earmarking, since, according to the Congressional Research Service, “[t]here is no source that defines and comprehensively identifies Administrative earmarks.”
But an analysis of grants from agencies during the early years of the Obama administration shows that the districts of moderate Democrats, whose support was so crucial for Obama during the 111th Congress, received large sums right around the passage of three key pieces of legislation: Obamacare, Dodd-Frank financial regulations, and the cap-and-trade bill.
