Books

Some of the books I'd like to read:

The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Mississippi Solo: A River Quest by Eddy Harris

Machine Shop Essentials: Questions and Answers by Frank M. Marlow

Power From the Wind: Achieving Energy Independence by Dan Chiras

The U.S. .30 Caliber Gas Operated Service Rifles: A Shop Manual by Jerry Kuhnhausen

The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew Bacevich

How about you?

The Message of Reconciliation

Paul distills it down to its very essence. The pride-killing doctrine of double imputation:

"For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

Note

I read several different blogs, and I read all manner of websites. Linking to them does not necessarily imply an endorsement of all or any of their positions. Please use your own judgement.

Feel free to comment. Criticism, disagreements, and arguments are fine. Generally, don't use any language that you couldn't use in a letter to the editor of your local paper.

Thanks.

The Ungodly

"And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness..."

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Spurgeon says:

'Are you not surprised that there should be such an expression as that in the Bible, "That justifieth the ungodly?" I have heard that men that hate the doctrines of the cross bring it as a charge against God, that He saves wicked men and receives to Himself the vilest of the vile. See how this Scripture accepts the charge, and plainly states it!'

Murderers, thieves, liars, swindlers, rapists, serial killers, prostitutes, hypocrites, child molesters; these are the people to whom God has sent His good news. He has commanded that the offer of free grace be made to the perjurers, to the serial killers, to the tyrants, to the drunks, to the prideful, to the adulterers, and to those who physically abuse their own families. To one who is even more horrific, putrid, and vomit-inducing than all of these sinners combined -- namely, to oldsmobile98 -- God tells His messenger to say this:

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Raise The Debt Ceiling Or We'll Steal Your Money!

Karl Denninger cuts through the fancy words and gets to the heart of the matter.

America is heading toward the black hole of hyperinflation, and we may have already passed the event horizon. There is a chance that we haven't yet; perhaps we can slam on the brakes and throw the spacecraft into reverse.

The only way that that will happen is if Americans understand, in plain language, what is happening to their money. And once they understand, they have to demand economic freedom. Immediately.

Shutdown

All the political talk today is about a government shutdown. Here are a couple videos for your perusal. The first one is from over a month ago. The second one was uploaded today.

I respect both of these guys (Andrew Napolitano and Rand Paul). The current situation in D.C. is a game of chicken. If the Republicans cave in and don't demand an end to increased borrowing and spending, America loses. In other words, you will see hyperinflation. As the judge said in the first video, the final decision about the government shutdown will not be made by Congress; it'll be made by the Obama administration.

A shutdown is not ideal, but it is much better than yet another increase in borrowing and spending. The United States is in $14.25 trillion of debt. We won't default on it. And there is only so much taxation that Americans will put up with. That leaves us with a choice between serious government budget cuts or monetizing the debt (hyperinflation). If the Republicans show a lack of resolve here, you will see consumer prices go way up, but wages and salaries won't. Bank on it.

Transparency

Last month, David Codrea requested documents related to the briefing that Senator Grassley got from the ATF about Project Gunrunner. Here is what he received, and here is his article about it. An image of one of the pages from the response to his Freedom of Information Act request:

Consider something with me for a minute. The reason David made the request is that he wants to expose ATF malfeasance and procure justice for the families of the victims of this taxpayer-funded atrocity. Does the image of the government email above look to you like freedom of information?

Now compare that with what the administration thinks about your emails.

Barack Obama said: "My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government.  We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration."

If you don't get it now, what will it take for you to get it?