The Mission Buffet

I know people who call this type of post a smorgasboard, the variety post, or even something like the daily potpourri, but for those of us in Las Vegas, we'll call it The Mission Buffet! I have dug up a few interesting articles from around the web and some other places that I have found to especially thought provoking. Enjoy! The first article is from a good friend, Dennis McFadden. A former pastor, he now is Executive Director of a large Baptist Retirement Center in Alhambra, CA. Don't let the title scare you away. If you have ever wondered about whether the concept of Santa could co exist with Jesus, read this! The Scale for Measuring Society's Slide Down Secularism's Slippery Slope. by Dennis McFadden OK, I confess. I am a Christmas fanatic. I love the sights, the sounds, the smells, and (yes) even maintain a tradition of day-after-Thanksgiving shopping at 4:00 a.m. This year, we were visiting our second and fourth children and their families in the Ozarks and my fifth child and I still made it to five stores between 4:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Friday morning. (Read more) Next up we have a little political item, cerca 1992! Certainly a thought provoking article recalling the candidacy of Ross Perot. Check it out and see what you think. Was Ross Perot Right? by David Sirota “Ross Perot was fiercely against NAFTA. Knowing what we know now, was Ross Perot right?” That’s what CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked Hillary Clinton at last week’s Democratic presidential debate. It was a straightforward query about a Clinton administration trade policy that polls show the public now hates, and it was appropriately directed to a candidate who has previously praised NAFTA. (Read more) This story should concern you. If it was 1945 and we were reading that after routing the Nazi Party from Germany, they had somehow reconstituted and were in control of over 50% of Germany, our efforts there would have been called failure. The implications of this article are chilling in they are indeed true as many are reporting from around the world. Afghanistan Falling into Hands of Taliban by RIchard Norton-Taylor The Taliban has a permanent presence in 54% of Afghanistan and the country is in serious danger of falling into Taliban hands, according to a report by an independent thinktank with long experience in the area. (Read more) Finally, here's a little sports item from one of my favorite writers, Gene Wojciechowski. Here's why I like the guy. He's smart. How many other sportswriters do you know who could somehow work North Korean leader Kim Jung Il into a story about college football? Three College Football Myths to Stay Away From by Gene Wojciechowski The only people who love college football more than me are Bebes Maisel, Joe Paterno and the Auburn fans who TP'd Toomer's Corner [pictured here] after a sixth consecutive Iron Bowl win against Bama. (Read more) technorati tags: Ross Perot, Santa, Jesus, Taliban, Afghanistan

Six Years Later

In the life of everyone, there are always days they remember. A lot of times, these are days of celebration. Things like birthdays, weddings, first kisses, that kind of stuff. Then there are the tragedies. Accidents, deaths, funerals, and in some cases, national events. The Challenger. Katrina. Pearl Harbor. JFK. For most people under 25, one day they will remember will be September 11, 2001. The day Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda participated in an unprovoked attack on the United States by hijacking 4 planes, flying two into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and attempting to fly the other into the White House before it crashed in Pennsylvania. With no worry about how many innocent people might die, (because they redefined the term "innocent people" so that there were none) twenty people began their day with the express purpose of killing Americans. As many as possible. It was not long after that date that we attacked Afghanistan. This is where bin Laden hung out, where Al Qaeda trained and where the Taliban held court. Soon we were seeing pictures of our victorious forces in battle across the country. Newspapers across the globe said that we were all Americans. Even the French! The world that had watched the Taliban take over Afghanistan and give bin Laden sanctuary was rooting for us. Cheering for us. Supporting us. We had been attacked, the world was united in our right to seek out and punish those involved, and we had the goodwill of most of the peoples of the world. But we have not finished the job. Somewhere along the way we lost sight of who attacked us. On September 11, 2001, we were attacked by al Qaeda and Taliban supported Osama bin Laden, at the time living in Afghanistan. Here it is 6 years later to the day and by all accounts the Taliban has reestablished itself, bin Laden is still alive and sending videos to the US. Al Qaeda is alive and well, and the people of the rural areas of Afghanistan are raking in the dough of the largest opium crop in years. Opium that will be sold as heroin to finance worldwide terrorist activities. President Bush, you blew it! Somehow you took near total support of the American people and the world community that we had when we attacked Afghanistan and blew it. To make matters worse, you did not finish the job in that country. You sent American troops into Afghanistan to rid the country of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban. Other governments now understand that to get something done in that area, one must deal with the Taliban, as was evident in the release of the South Korean missionaries. How is this possible? Didn't we destroy them? Despite the election of President Hamid Karzai, even your biggest supporters would have to admit something has gone wrong. Houston, we have a problem! I know we are a little busy in Iraq. A country that was already hemmed in by US and Allied firepower long before September 11, 2001. But the country from where the attacks were launched and the government and leaders that supported those attacks are in the process of a remarkable rebirth. Maybe after the "surge" we could return to finish the job in Afghanistan. I will always remember September 11, 2001. I was in my car early in the morning driving on the freeway with my wife. I supported our response in Afghanistan. But like Vietnam, Korea, and the first Gulf War, we did not finish the job. I hope the next time we are attacked or choose to go to war, our civilian military leaders remember September 11. And finish the job.