The Barbary Pirates, Then and Now

 

Lt Col  Howard "Mustang" Benjamin, USMC Ret'd joined me in a discussion of The Barbary Wars (the first American Middle Eastern War), and their relevance to today.

Some real heroism described here.

Bonus: an explanation of currency trading and why it belongs in your investment portfolio. :)

External link:

Your American Heritage February 13, 2021

The Original Redemption Center

 When I was a kid, whenever you bought groceries or gasoline, you were given a sheet of what looked like postage stamps. Trading Stamps. These were typically S&H Green Stamps, a marketing ploy of two gentlemen, Sperry and Hutchinson. Hutchinson actually lived here in Ypsilanti, Michigan (not to be confused with Ypsilanti, North Dakota, a frequent mistake) .

Hutchinson built the finest house in town (to this day I believe).
The story can be found here.
 https://fornology.blogspot.com/2016/12/ypsilantis-hutchinson-house-built-with.html
It's a fascinating story.

The stamps would be pasted in books. Typically that was the job for the children in the family (like me).
When the books were filled, they would be taken to a store called a Redemption Center, where the stamps could be redeemed for objects (think of the prizes at Chuck E Cheese) like toasters, blankets, lamps, etc.
I always wondered why they were called redemption centers. Why not trading centers?

This morning, it occurred to me that the American Populace at the time was very familiar with the term Redemption from having heard it at church. Was it marketing genius to use that word association?

Redemption in the church is where you take your relatively worthless life and trade it with God for a shiny new, better life, with an unlimited warranty. Guaranteed by the Full Faith and Credit of Jesus Christ who paid for the trade on the cross.

That makes this the original Redemption Center.

Or better yet, here:

It's a trade well worth making.

Yesterdays radio show explained  how short trading is done, how markets are manipulated and how people are manipulated. And how to overcome.

Thanksgiving 2020

 Thanksgiving!

In the weirdest, maybe worst, year of my short life, it seems difficult to be Thankful.

Our very Liberty is under attack by governors and other petty dictators. The election of one of the greatest presidents in American history has been threatened by outright fraud. Demonstrable fraud. Rioting in the streets unchallenged, while prosecution of citizens for exercising their fundamental rights as protected by the Constitution goes forth.

BUT!

Today I awake to news that the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled against Emmy Award Murderer Governor Cuomo of New York.

I am thankful to God for President Donald J Trump and his appointment of Supreme Court Justices that protect our liberty, unlike scum like Chief Justice Roberts and Kagan, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan that rule against us.

If Amy Coney Barrett had not been there, this would have been a tie.

Justice Gorsuch wrote: "It is time—past time—to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques."

Thank You God. I'd like to wish you and yours a blessed day of Thanksgiving and time spent with your family and friends.

This is a miracle nation and we need to pray for more miracles. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving for me if I didn't post the Squanto story. This is a link to last years post on it.

Memorial Day Speech

At the ten minute mark, our son, SCPO Scott Jones, speaks at this Memorial Day Commemoration in Higganum/Haddam, Connecticut.

I'm rather proud of him for what he said, and that he was chosen to say it.

Dealing With Staying At Home

Learn Who The Enemy Is and Act Accordingly
I'm pretty much enraged a lot lately.
The stupidity and the malice of the perpetrators of this attack on our freedoms and prosperity make me want to lash out.

I try and modify that behavior when on line and appear gentlemanly.

But while I sit here and read and type and try to throttle back the frustration and ire, somebody I love dearly is trying to talk to me, or does or says something that I find irritating.
(Fortunately I never have that effect on others. I'd hate to think I did.)

And in that moment, or should I say, a few moments ago, it caused a problem.
Imagine that.

So we sat down to talk about it.
I realized I was very upset and offended by something she said and I was hostile to her.
I wasn't loving her. I was violating the Great Commandment.
And I did something I don't do often enough.
I prayed (inside my head) that God would love my wife through me, since I was incapable at the moment and He expected it of me.

And something amazing happened.
Very briefly, I saw the plan of attack, and it wasn't my plan, and it wasn't His.
We were under attack, and I could see one of the vectors, and when I started to formulate a response I foresaw the next thrust and I saw the answer to that.
It was like playing three moves ahead in chess. And I don't do that!

And it worked. We talked it through.
It brought tears to my eye that I have a Father who would help me when I needed it.

Tests don't come from the Lord.
Test answers do!

Mission Accomplished

There have been many rescue missions in man's history. Operation Thunderbolt - 1976 Operation Gothic Serpent - 1992 Operation Urgent Fury - 1983 Operation Red Wing - 2005 Raid at Cabanatuan - 1945 About 2000 years ago a man came on the greatest rescue mission in human history. He beat the worst foe man has ever known. Mission Accomplished!

Matthew 28

1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone [a]from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” 8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

What's so Good about Good Friday?

When they take the Son of God and put Him to death, why is that considered good?

Because when He died that horrific tortured death on Calvary, He took the punishment due us for our rebellion against God.

It was good for us. Was it good for Him?

When He arose from the dead on Easter, He proved that what He said was true. He had been predicting these moments to His followers for a couple years and they did not believe Him.

Until He did it.

The Bible says, "… who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 2:2).

So if Jesus came down from Glory, endured the cross, and went back to Glory, what was His net gain?

Us.
We were the joy set before Him.

We are the bride He travelled to a far land to obtain (like Jacob did, among other examples).
Granted we're not the finished product, yet, but if we cooperate with His plan, He sees something in us He wants to spend eternity with.
I'm good with that. That's good.

I want to share a cool thing with you.
If you're not a Christian, please read anyway, because it never hurts to have a little information about what those whackos around you believe.

A few people know that Psalm 22 is a description of the crucifixion of Jesus that was written hundreds of years before the event.
David saw it in a vision and it shakes him up so much that he starts out with:
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Many Christians have been taught that, as He was crucified, Jesus was crying this out to His Father in heaven, because the Father could not bear to look on Jesus, our scapegoat.
That He was separated from the Father.
That Jesus was accursed (and the Father could not be in fellowship with Jesus because it would violate His holiness) because Jesus was carrying the penalty of the sins of the world.

Give me a break.

<< 1 Corinthians 12:3 >> Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed.

Jesus and the Father had this worked out since before the universe was created, and at the last minute The All-Powerful Ruler of More than the Universe flinches?
No.
If the Father and the Son (who with the Spirit are referred to as the "Godhead" in perfect unity) ever separated, I believe the universe would crumble.

As you read the gospels, particularly John's, you see that the Pharisees (some of them, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, were good guys, by the way) were asking Jesus for a sign that he was the Messiah. He continually answered them that when they saw Him lifted up, that would be their sign.
Here He is, lifted up in front of them. He's surrounded by "strong bulls" (prison slang for guards), and the crowd is taunting Him. It's the scene predicted in Psalm 22 .
Then He quotes the first verse of Psalm 22.

This is called a "Remez". It's a teaching tool Jesus had used for 3 years.

When they hear this verse, they remember the rest of the Psalm.
The Pharisees had asked Jesus for a sign.
He said that they would have it when the Son of Man was lifted up.
(Remember that joke, "Here's your sign."?)
Can you imagine the look on their face when they get it?
This death on this cross by this man was predicted hundreds of years ago.
Here was their sign.
The ramifications are huge.

Do you get it?

These people did:
https://stream.org/did-god-abandon-jesus-on-the-cross/

War By Other Means

I've been reading an article in the Atlantic.

Every American Should Hope Trump Prevails Against China

by Joseph W. Sullivan

Former Staff Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers

I don't remember World War Two.
I wasn't alive then.
I have seen enough newsreels, movies and read enough history to know that America knew it faced a threat.
The threat was on two fronts.
The Pacific and the Atlantic.
Japan provoked the war by attacking the U.S. at Pearl Harbor.
Did they do this because they were just a bunch of belligerent meanies spoiling for a fight?
The Japanese were a militant society that felt that they were entitled to control the Pacific Economic and Political sphere.
They wanted to control all the trade in that sphere.
This put them at odds with the United States who had a large economic presence in the Pacific and didn't want that infringed upon.
The Philippines were an American territory and in our sphere of influence, but the Japanese felt entitled to that action.
There was a conflict in trade interests between us and Japan.
They were putting pressure on us and we reciprocated.
This is simplistic but a valid summary.
Eventually, we demanded that they pull out of China, which they had invaded.
China had been one of our markets, and in the Depression of the 30's, you didn't want to lose market share.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor at that.
That's how wars start.
Hitler (and Mussolini) only screwed up by honoring their treaties with Japan, otherwise we not have gone to war with them.

Well, as they say, history may not repeat itself, but it rhymes.
We are in a trade war with China.
That word "war" is not a light one.
China has a huge military capacity and is growing it (like Japan was) and ours is not as strong as we need it to be.
Our Navy (our military projection in the Pacific) is ill-prepared for war.
Our ships in the Pacific are becoming more prominent for colliding into other ships and making costly mistakes in critical situations.

No mistaking it, we are pushing the Chinese, hard.
Elbows out.
Just like in the 30s.
Yet should "something" happen, I doubt we'd be fighting a two front war this time.

However, as you may have noticed, China is a dictatorship.
They are under stress on their home front, but they don't have elections of the voting sort.
They can enact policy that may impact the home front, but they expect their people to suck it up and bear it. For the motherland.

In WW2, we had a national unity against the threat.
Scrap drives, rations, patriotic fervor, national resolve.

Today, we have political factions questioning the wisdom of not caving into Chinese demands.
Willing to continue the game of cashing in now, neglecting the threat on the horizon.

Should a Joe Biden replace Trump, make no mistake, it's back to placating the Chinese.
Hell, the Clintons were giving them our secrets, whether as president or Secretary of State.
Hillary's emails were (no exaggeration) being forwarded to China!

So, are the Chinese manipulating our upcoming national election by escalating the Tariff War?

Can we convince the American People of the long term threat to our nation (our economy, sovereignty, well-being) or will they cave?

Addendum:
I talked about this topic on The Drift Radio Show Saturday.

He's Alive

May you each have a glorious Resurrection Day.
The tomb is still empty.
God's grace is full.

Jesus Drains the Swamp

I teach a Bible Study on Wednesday nights.
Y'all are invited. We serve coffee.
We've been studying Luke. For a long time.
We're in no rush, we look at every word and discuss them among ourselves.
Bounce the impressions off each other.

In preparing for Luke 10, I noticed something so striking, I wanted to share it with you.

Some background:
Jesus is God and was sent by the Father to become the summation of the promise to Abraham.
All things Jewish in the Old Testament pointed to the Messiah, which was Jesus.
All the laws were to show the will of God and demonstrate man's inability to satisfy His will.
God had set up a system of worship which was to guide people to him and instead that system became a rigid bureaucracy that hindered rather than promoted God's purpose.
The priest class (the tribe of Levi) was to facilitate the execution of the Law and accept the fines (sacrifice) for the breaking of the Law.
Then they got into legalism. What the meaning of "is" is.
Nitpicky.
Jesus challenged that bureaucracy and the thinking behind it.

Luke 10:25 And behold, a certain [a]lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

I like that this guy asked what he had to do to "inherit" not earn, eternal life. But, as a Jew, I would think he thought he was in on the inheritance, so I think he was asking how to avoid being disinherited or disqualified.
Jesus, being a Jew, answered a question with a question:
Luke 10:26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
I believe the lawyer had heard Jesus before, as he answered Jesus in a way that Jesus had been teaching.
He didn't say "Keep all the commandments". He said:  ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’
Jesus basically said "Good job! Do this and live!"
But the lawyer couldn't stop there. He was a lawyer.
The Bible says he spoke in an attempt to justify himself.
I think that meant to prove he was a lawyer.
He asked Jesus to define "neighbor".

Lawyers in that day were supposed to know the Law, the religious code God had given through Moses.
Jesus then tells the story of the Good Samaritan.
Summary: Two guys of the religious cast, members of the religious bureaucracy, a priest and a Levite,  each pass a body lying on the side of the road in an area traveled regularly from Jerusalem to Jericho. Jericho had become a bedroom community for the priest class. This road was not infrequently traveled.

They knew the Law.
Did they know this part of the law?:
Deuteronomy 22:4 “You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again.

Wouldn't someone lying on the side of the road be more important than a donkey or ox?

Perhaps they thought he was dead.

The Law said that if you touched a dead body, you were ceremonially unclean. You had to refrain from certain activities and associations (social activities included) until a certain time had passed and the correct sacrifice offered.

Numbers 19:11 ‘He who touches the dead [d]body of anyone shall be unclean seven days. 12 He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. 13 Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is still on him.

So it's hard to be a priest if you can't go to church. Maybe they thought that was more important than checking on this guy.

Maybe they thought it was a trap. A decoy to lure them into an ambush.

Whatever, the two guys who in the story represented the ruling bureaucracy passed by without offering to help. The guys whose job it was to help the people. The guys whose income was derived from a tax on the people. They passed him by.

Now the third guy in the story (fourth if you count the guy in the ditch) stops.
What do we know about him? He is technically not a Jew. He's a Samaritan.
Samaritans were anathema to Jews. They lived in an area that had it's own separate religion. But they lived in Judea. You might even think of them as Palestinians in Israel today.

So this guy, who was in Judea, but not in Samaria at the moment, who does not have the Law of Moses to guide him, does exactly what the two guys who represented that Law did not do.
He did Deuteronomy 22:4! And more! If you recall, he took the victim to an inn, told the innkeeper to take care of him and put it on his own tab.

The lawyer had asked Jesus to define "neighbor".
Jesus now asks him who he thinks it is.
The lawyer says "he who showed mercy".
That means the neighbor wasn't the victim, it was the Samaritan!
So this lawyer had just been led to admit that he was to love this Samaritan as himself!
And that the Samaritan was more righteous than the priest and Levite.

The subtext of this passage in Luke is also that the bureaucracy was not willing to help.
That it was actually opposed to the will of God.

Jesus was the one chosen to be King of Israel and the very bureaucracy that was supposed to help him was fighting him.

They were the Swamp. And they tried to kill the King. And they did.

In a few days we celebrate that death that was a sacrifice to pay our debt to God.

And a few days after that, we celebrate his victory over death, the Resurrection.

A victory he offers to those of of us willing to join Him. To be His neighbor.

Who's side will you be on?
His?
Or the swamp?

The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

From Task and Purpose

Then-1st Lt. Garlin M. Conner had just been treated at a field hospital for injuries and rejoined his unit after on Jan. 24, 1945, when he single-handedly stopped 600 advancing German troops and six tanks by calling in artillery strikes for three hours, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. In the end, 50 German troops were killed and another 100 were wounded.

“Despite the enemy coming within five yards of his position and friendly artillery shells exploding around him, he continued to direct the fire of friendly artillery, which ultimately repelled the assaulting enemy elements,” the White House announced on Thursday.
Conner, who was reportedly the second-most decorated World War II soldier when he left the service, died in 1998. Trump called his widow Pauline Lyda Wells Conner on March 26 to let her know that her husband would receive the nation’s highest military award for valor, her attorney, Donald Todd, told Task & Purpose.

Today, we are overwhelmed by those who would destroy our culture, our system of government and our economic lifeblood.
They celebrate a morality that advocates, advocates!, infanticide, unnatural lifestyles and other practices that have always led to (or indicated) the demise of a civilization. 
They encourage the overrun of our borders by hordes of people uninterested in adhering to our constitutional constraints on behavior.

Many evangelicals believe that God judges nations based on their behavior.
It's attributed to Billy Graham that: if God doesn't judge America (for it's immorality, condoned by it's government, allegedly the will of the people) , then He owes an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Yet we ask God to spare judgment on the land as we attempt to fix it. We pray that His judgment doesn't hit us when it finally breaks loose. We don't want our feathers ruffled.

I was on the radio, commenting about the state of a country where so many of it's citizens would still rally to Robert Francis O'Rourke. Who are these people?
Why do they excuse his weirdness and perversion and believe he'd make a great leader?
If not him, then Bernie Sanders, a communist sympathizer?
Or any of them?

What would it take to bring this country back to it's former morality?
A listener texted me that a good Great Depression might have that effect. Gary is an atheist who believes that this country is in trouble for it's leaving the God of the Bible. And an economic disaster might bring focus back to the basics instead of the weirdness.

So, if you are a Christian, and you look around you at the landscape, does it upset you?
Does it disgust  you?
Are you willing to say, "God, if it takes Your judgment to turn this around, to preserve the remnant, please let it rain. Here's the coordinates. Yep. I'm right in the drop zone. Fire at will."

Just askin'

He Was Not Exonerated!

Let's face it.
After careful examination for a couple years now, 25 million dollars, it is extremely clear that although the 19 liberal lawyers have combed over his transactions and activities before (and after) the elections, he has not been exonerated.

He couldn't be exonerated!

Nobody is exonerated until after they have first been found guilty.
Donald J Trump was never found guilty.

Adam Schiff, Mad Max Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Gerry Nadler of course ARE guilty!
They are on record having claimed to see evidence against this man that never existed.
They lied to you.
Guilty.

In case you're interested, my radio show, where we discussed a lot of this on Saturday, is here.
(Audio link fixed.)

The Plot to Take the White House

I have recently been reading about a former Marine Major General named Smedley Butler.
Colonel Mustang (USMC Ret'd) has written about General Butler.
From Wikipedia:
Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940) was a United States Marine Corps major general, the highest rank authorized at that time, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. During his 34-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in the Philippines, China, in Central America and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars, and France in World War I. Butler later became an outspoken critic of U.S. wars and their consequences. He also exposed an alleged plan to overthrow the U.S. government.

General Butler is somewhat widely known for his speech "War is a Racket" which has had various iterations and also was printed as a book.

The closing words of the speech were:
“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”

I thought of General Butler upon the announcement of the withdrawal from Syria, and the wisdom thereof. I am not a Rand Paul supporter, and I do see the value of an international posture of our military. I am suspect of some of our "entanglements".

Then I started reading "The Plot to Seize the White House". I got tired of the scanner errors in that on-line text and reformatted it as a pdf, you can download it here. You do not have to sign into DropBox.

The book, in short, describes a retired Marine General, immensely popular with veterans, being approached to address the American Legion and during that address to speak in favor of the gold standard, which FDR and the New Deal were threatening. The rationale was that the dropping of the gold standard would lead to inflation which would devalue the Veteran's Bonus promised to the veterans of WW1, to be paid in 1945.
This bonus was dear to General Butler, and he had been involved in a push to get it paid early so that veterans suffering poverty during the Great Depression would have some relief.

The book I referenced alleges that the American Legion had been founded and funded by wealthy benefactors to provide chapters that would become involved in strike-breaking and general anti-communist activities. There were many chapters of the American Legion nationwide as there were many veterans of that war recently discharged.

According to the book, and the congressional testimony it presents, General Butler was approached again, on numerous occasions, to eventually form a large group of veterans to march on Washington, and in some way facilitate the removal of FDR from active power and make the president a figurehead, leaving the day to day administration to a more business friendly "Secretary" to be named. Some have suggested a candidate was Prescott Bush, father of George H.W. Bush.
Many people at the time were enamored of the fascist ideal as represented by Mussolini and Hitler, both very popular international leaders. It seems the plotters hoped to replicate that fascism here.

The plot is outlined in the book.

While this might seem far-fetched, I was reminded of the movie Meet John Doe.
The full movie is available on YouTube as seen below.
The link below starts with the introduction of publisher D.B. Norton who is behind a movement of "the little guy" the John Does of the nation.
Norton hopes to ride into political power (the presidency) on the tails of this organization he is building. The scene that I have the clip below set to start at shows him overseeing a demonstration of his motorcycle cadre. This scene always intrigued me as it seemed rather fascist in it's nature.
Looking back, I think that was Frank Capra's intent.
I think he was inspired by the Butler story in making this movie, the John Doe Society being a representation of the veterans groups that Butler was supposed to muster, just as Gary Cooper was to rally the Does.
Funny thing is, I kept seeing Gary Cooper as General Butler while reading the book.

Some say that the plot was the inspiration for the movie "Seven Days in May" which, some of you may know, is about a plot of a general (Burt Lancaster) to lead a coup.

I know that when Obama was president, and all seemed lost, I hoped for a coup.
It's interesting that Obama was actively purging anyone on the general staff would might oppose him.
In retrospect, I'm quite glad it never happened as it's legitimacy would always be questioned (Franco of Spain) and we would not have gotten Trump.

We are now witness to another attempted coup, the "soft coup" of the attempt to remove Trump from power, albeit by "legal" methodology. Mueller, "Impeach 45!", the Soviet Style Media, etc.

I'll admit (especially since my earlier posts on the matter are still available) that previously I was initially opposed to Trump. I suspected him to be a D.B. Norton, a fascist.
I could not have been further from the truth.
It is the fascist left who hope to overthrow him and, with him, our personal liberties.

Anyways, I suggest you enjoy the movie. and keep the above in mind.

Please let me know what you think.

A Day That Will Live in Memory

I posted much of this before.
You may have missed it, so here it is.

The following is excerpted from a letter I transcribed for my friend Nate Weiser to a high school class that had asked him to relate his Pearl Harbor experience on Dec 7th, 1941.

Nate had a degree in education with a sports career and had worked his way through college in the depression.
His military career was somewhat unique in that he was both at Pearl and Normandy.

His commander at Pearl had given him permission to forgo mess duties as he pursued radio courses at the local college in Honolulu.
The mess sergeant saw Nate as a slacker for that. When the dishes rattled in the following story, he came out roaring at Nate for dropping them.

Nate and his two friends had been on a date the night before with some nurses.
He was stationed at Pearl in the Army Air Force and he was in radio.

My two friends and I were going to visit a friend later in the day who was in the Navy, and in Pearl Harbor for a short stay. We were in the Mess Hall around 7:50am Sunday morning. We were waiting in line for our Super Sunday Breakfast before we would go to see our friend when around 8:00am, give or take a few minutes, we heard a large noise that shook the building, and all the stacks of dishes that were on the table fell to the floor. The Mess Sergeant came out and was cussing everyone out. Right then, the second bomb fell and the table plus the food went crashing to the floor. I ran to the door and saw the Japanese Insignia on the aircraft and said to Don and Merrill, "Why are the Japanese planes here? This could be war!"
The planes were strafing all over the area. We were going to hide under the warehouse building next to the Mess Hall, but "Indian Joe", a WW1 veteran told us to get going and try to go to the Residential Area, and go in between the buildings so we wouldn't get hit. We saw the Number 1 hangar on the runway in flames. Half of it was full of ammunition (rumor had it that we were going to Wake Island in a very short time). They hit that hangar first, they knew what was in it. The planes on the ramp were tail to tail, all they did was strafe down the line and get two planes at a time. The reason they were tail to tail was so every Saturday morning the post could march in front of the commander before we had the weekend free. It was a miserable sight to see with us running for our lives. The planes flew so low that you could see some of the pilots red scarves and goggles. That sight I will never forget.
We finally got to the Residential Area and I went into one of the homes near Schofield Barracks. A sergeant lived there and had a couple of children. He told us to stay for a while and then go back to our base for instructions. It was thought that the Japanese might land and try to take the island over. The sergeant would get his company and go up into the mountains, and if the Japanese did invade, he told his wife what to do. We went back to the barracks, and each one of us got a .45 and a belt full of ammo. The second wave of planes was not as great as the first, but that evening it started to rain. The captain called us in his portable quarters and gave us a box about 8' long, 6" wide and 4 or 5" high. He told us that in case of emergency, this would be our only communications between our squadron and Honolulu, so guard it with all our might. It was a transmitter and receiver, all in one! We were to be sure to let him know where we were at all times. We decided to head toward the mountain, but not too far from the runway, near the captain, and hid in case of invasion, but where the planes would not strafe us. Little did we realize that the water off the mountain (it being a very rainy night) would fill our foxhole. We had a very uncomfortable couple of nights. We were very happy to learn after a couple of days that there would be no invasion by the Japanese. All islands were in blackout nights from here on in. By 1943 I was a Staff Sergeant and I and two other Sgts were sent back to the States to go to OCS. (Nate was to be an officer but declined. Also, his two friends died in the attack). After one and a half months, I asked to be sent back to the Air Force.
I was then assigned to Jefferson Barracks in St.. Louis. From there I was assigned to Richmond, Va with the 365th Fighter Bomber Group, 386th Squadron . I was a Tech Sgt and communication chief for P-47 Thunderbolts in the 9th Air Force. We got an all expenses paid tour of Europe.

Nate got the Bronze Star in Europe. it was an award for an idea he had for aircraft radio that allowed them to turn around and get back in the fight quicker in the event of radio failure.
His friends from the night before didn't make it through Dec 7th.

Nate passed shortly before his 99th birthday Dec 5th, 2016.
In case you don't know, I'm proud to say he was my friend.

My Confession

I wrote this to a friend recently.

I thought I'd blog it.

I was raised Catholic.

Good priests as family friends.

One of these took on the parish we were in after the priest that came on to me in the confessional (when I was a teenager) resigned the priesthood.

I went into the service and became agnostic.

I was in a hotel in Germany when in the middle of the night I had some sort of abdominal attack that reminded me of the appendix I had previously had removed.
I had nowhere to turn for help.

I then called out to that invisible "god" that if he fixed this, I would find him and serve him.

The problem went away immediately.

I then began my search for him.

It took a few years.

I never considered Christianity, as it had no power (it seemed).

I read about black magic, Eastern Mysticism, New Age, all kinds of stuff.

I took to reading the Bible to be literate. The first words of Moby Dick (Call me Ishmael) were a biblical allusion that I was ignorant of.

One day, a girl I was dating gave me a tract that listed all the prophecies concerning the "Messiah" of the Jews, and every thing that Jesus did that fulfilled them.

Shortly after, in my living room, as I read it, I became convinced that Jesus was the One I was looking for and submitted myself to Him.

That is how I became a Christian. I made Jesus my Lord.

I later learned I had a sin problem I was unaware of (I thought I was "good enough") and made Him my Savior.
Like Catholics, I believe that Jesus died on the cross as the payment for my crimes against God (sin). He broke down the barrier that separated me from God.

Unlike Catholics (or the majority of) I believe (and this is what is regarded as Protestantism) that our right-standing with God can not be earned by what we do (keeping rules and regs, or the "Law") but only on what Jesus did for us.
If what Jesus did for us was not enough, then He isn't much of a savior.
But in turn, I live my life for Him, because he gave it back to me.
Catholicism turned what should be a personal relationship into a version of the Old Testament with works, structure and a priesthood between man and God.
God wants an individual relationship.
I do not espouse a religion.
I attend a church of a particular denomination, but could join (and have served in for awhile) another, easily. 

As I type this, and thanks for the opportunity to do so (I may post this), I am filled with the joy of knowing that I am safe with God and am reminded of the many times He has delivered me.
God made us for a purpose out of love. Not to blindly "serve" Him. He'd like the love returned.
He wants to fellowship with us like when Adam and Eve were in the garden with Him.

I don't know if you know this, but when Israel was in captivity in Babylon, a man named Daniel (who wrote the eponymous book) prayerfully asked God if what the prophet Jeremiah had said about Israel returning to Jerusalem in 70 years would be fulfilled (which it was). 

Daniel was told not to worry about that, but that in 70 times seven years, Messiah would come.

That prophecy was what inspired the Wise Men to seek the Babe when they did.
Jesus was born in the right year, in the right town, fulfilling what had been written hundreds of years previously.

It's stuff like that that convinced me of who He was/is.
When he broke the power of death and left an empty grave behind, He proved that He was the Messiah.

His disciples went to their torturous deaths avowing that they had seen Him after His death when all they had to do to live was deny Him.

Well, thanks for listening.

The takeaway about Protestantism is that Martin Luther, a priest, realized that we are saved by God's unmerited unearned favor (grace) towards us through faith in Jesus.
Saying so many prayers, paying so much money, denying yourself so many things doesn't cut it with God. To think that It's Jesus + anything to get into God's organization, devalues and scorns the gift God gave us for free.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Dingell Dong the Witch is Dead!

Debbie Dingell (D) and Fred Upton (R) to Introduce Gun Confiscation Legislation

April 3, 2018 MJA Uncategorized 31

Breitbart: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) used an April 2 Fox News Live appearance to announce that she is preparing to introduce legislation to create a federal law allowing firearm confiscation orders.

Representative Debbie Dingell inherited her seat from her husband John Dingell.
He in turn inherited the seat from his dad John Dingell who was our congressman in 1950!
A dynasty! Something Hillary couldn't do.
The male Dingells enjoyed an NRA rating that Charleton Heston would have enjoyed.
Debbie Dingell is introducing legislation to confiscate guns from high risk people, (whoever they are).
Bye-bye Debbie.
Thank God you are that stupid.
I thought you'd never leave.

Welcome Pastor Jeff Noble, next Congressman from the 12th District, Michigan.

It's Good Friday. Why?

When they take the Son of God and put Him to death, why is that considered good?
Because when He died that horrific tortured death on Calvary, He took the punishment due us for our rebellion against God.

When He arose from the dead on Easter, He proved that what He said was true. He had been predicting these moments to His followers for a couple years and they did not believe Him.
Until He did it.

The Bible says, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 2:2).
So if Jesus came down from Glory, endured the cross, and went back to Glory, what was His net gain?
Us.
We were the joy set before Him.
We are the bride He travelled to a far land to obtain (like Jacob did, among other examples).
Granted we're not the finished product, yet, but if we cooperate with His plan, He sees something in us He wants to spend eternity with.
I'm good with that. That's good.

I want to share a cool thing with you.
If you're not a Christian, please read anyway, because it never hurts to have a little information about what those whackos around you believe.

A few people know that Psalm 22 is a description of the crucifixion of Jesus that was written hundreds of years before the event.
David saw it in a vision and it shakes him up so much that he starts out with:
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Many Christians have been taught that, as He was crucified, Jesus was crying this out out to His Father in heaven, because the Father could not bear to look on Jesus, our scapegoat.
That He was separated from the Father.
That Jesus was a curse (and the Father could not be in fellowship with Jesus because it would violate His holiness) because Jesus was carrying the penalty of the sins of the world.

Give me a break.

<< 1 Corinthians 12:3 >> Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed.
Jesus and the Father had this worked out since before the universe was created, and at the last minute The All-Powerful Ruler of More than the Universe flinches?
No.
If the Father and the Son (who with the Spirit are referred to as the "Godhead" in perfect unity) ever separated, I believe the universe would crumble.

As you read the gospels, particularly John's, you see that the Pharisees (some of them, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, were good guys, by the way) were asking Jesus for a sign that he was the Messiah. He continually answered them that when they saw Him lifted up, that would be their sign.
Here He is, lifted up in front of them. He's surrounded by "strong bulls" (prison slang for guards), and the crowd is taunting Him. It's the scene predicted in Psalm 22 .
Then He quotes the first verse of Psalm 22.

This is called a "Remez". It's a teaching tool Jesus had used for 3 years.

When they hear this verse, they remember the rest of the Psalm.
Can you imagine the look on their face when they get it?
This death on this cross by this man was predicted hundreds of years ago.
The ramifications are huge.

Do you get it?

Extra credit reading:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/amyjuliabecker/2014/april/song-jesus-sang-on-cross.html

RIP Billy Graham

A great man has passed.

His final years included physical and mental challenges.
All the struggles of recent years have been overcome.

He is home.

I am certain he heard the Boss say, "Well Done!"

He was a modern day prophet to the nation and it's leaders.

He not only pointed out the sinful condition of man, but the solution to that problem.

He was responsible for many lives to be turned around from hate and shame and sin.



One of those, most famously, was Louis Zamperini of Unbroken fame.

The most important facet of Louis' life was that after surviving all he did in WW2 was left out of the movie, but not the book.

He came home bitter, hateful and a drunk.

He left a Billy Graham Crusade a changed man and went on to work with Billy until his own death a few years ago.

That story has so many echoes in America.

Rest easy, sir.

Job well done.

Trump Ain't Blowing Smoke...

So Christmas morning I awoke to this:

today I awoke to this:

Make Ypsilanti Great Again!

Thanks Mr. Trump and Frank.

And thanks Jerry.

A-Carolling We Go

Every year, our church would do a "Cantata", a Christmas Musical Show.
We usually got good reviews, which is nice, especially since we are such a small church.
This year, the pastor suggested that we "take it on the road".

We went carolling on two different nights.
The first night we caroled people at their homes that we are praying for.
The second night we visited a nursing home and caroled residents.

The first night, one of the homes we caroled belongs to the owners of the radio station I broadcast at, Thayrone and Linda.
Thayrone's wife Linda is battling cancer and one of her best friends, my friend Marcia, coincidentally attends our church. Small world. So we've been praying for her.
So we showed up at their doorstep singing.

Imagine my surprise to be listening to Thayrone's broadcast "On the Edge" and hearing this:
https://soundcloud.com/ed-bonderenka/shout-out-to-ccag

Blew me away.

Well, I wish our church could sing to you, but Scherie and I wish you a Merry Christmas.

Speaking of Thayrone, you should listen to his take on when we celebrate Christmas, it's not long:
https://soundcloud.com/ed-bonderenka/when-was-jesus-born