As you likely heard, many, many cemeteries and other monuments dedicated to honoring the war dead of the U.S. have been recently desecrated.
Of course, having a Commander in Chief who has had his picture taken with memorials to Che Guevara and Ho Chi Minh over the past two months, as well as going to a battle site which ended up shortening World War II, and saving countless American, Chinese, Korean, as well as Japanese lives, shows where his priorities are.
Comedian Sarah Silverman appears to be on some sort of sick mission to convince Americans that aborting an unborn baby is funny. This week, however, her raunchy comedy routine backfired.
Page Six reports Silverman told some “considerably dirty and outrageous” jokes during a recent charity event for children in New York City. Young students were in the audience when Silverman joked about abortion, sexual assault, semen and sex with her boyfriend, according to the report.
The charity event benefited the ArtsConnection, which promotes art education in public schools. In addition to Silverman, children from city middle and high schools also performed during the evening event, according to the report.
Here is more from the report:
“At the end of the night, Silverman seemed to shock even the most hard-core New Yorkers with her limit-pushing new material,” said a guest at the esteemed annual event, where Lena Dunham and Amy Cappellazzo were honored. Another guest at the gala said of Silverman’s saucy shtick, “I guess she was told not to hold back.” The event kicked off with a more tame performance by kids from MS 266 Park Place Community Middle School in Brooklyn, and presenters included students from city high schools Edward R. Murrow and La Guardia. CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
“Even for teens,” Silverman’s routine “was intense,” said one guest. Spies said Silverman’s jokes included recalling a time in college that one of her sisters was vomiting in a toilet and simultaneously defecated when her pants fell down; a bit about how “sperm have a sense of smell”; and a Silverman run-in with a 9-year-old abortion protester who told her she would “burn in hell,” but Silverman then made her smile by telling a “poop joke.” A guest joked, “It was an interesting bookend to an evening that started with kids performing a tune from ‘Once on This Island.’”
Here is an interesting article from http://www.debbieschlussel.com/reviewing some of the movies that came out over the past weekend. This followsthis postabout some of the movies from last week and THIS POST about some movies that have been released over the past few years that you might have missed! This all follows this post about guidelines to choosing good movies to watch yourself!
I’ve been away and out of posting commission because I’ve been
working on a few things I’ll announce soon. But I’m back with these, my
reviews of the new movies debuting in theaters today.
Sad to say, there’s nothing here I’d spend a penny on. But a lot I
shoulda been paid to sit through. It’s a
high-quality-Gitmo-torture-material weekend at the movies. Instead, I’d
recommend you Netflix or otherwise find a way to watch Taking Chance
(will post my review later this weekend), which is an excellent, very
moving film to remember our fallen heroes on this Memorial Day Weekend.
As for the rest of these, I wonder, did our military men really die for
Hollywood’s right to make this crap? . . .
* X-Men: Apocalypse – PG-13:
This is like the fifth or sixth installment (I lost count) of the
X-Men movies, and it shows. It’s long, overstuffed, tired, and stodgy.
The story is ridiculous and silly. And it seems like I’ve already seen
it before in two other superhero movies in the last four months. Yes,
it’s another “superheroes v. superheroes” civil war movie, which we
already saw in “Captain America: Civil War” (read my review) and “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” (read my review). Enough, Hollywood. Come up with something new. Or at least, slightly different.
More problems with this movie: it has too many characters, so many
that you may get confused. Plus, it has too many flashbacks and flash
forwards. That’s bad enough, but the movie takes place in the late ’80s
or early ’90s, so it’s hard to figure out and keep track of what’s what
and when, since the whole movie is already a flashback of sorts, and
then there are these flashbacks within that. I probably needed a map to
follow things. On top of that, there are the allusions and references
to things that happened in previous X-Men movies, and who can remember
what happened in each of those, unless you’re a diehard fanboy and don’t
see as many movies as I do. A good sequel is an independent movie
without all of that, or at the very least, it has a brief rehash or
reminder/explanation of what they are talking about. This didn’t have
any of that. So, if you’re not familiar with the characters from
previous X-Men movies, good luck.
This movie had a ton of special effects, action, fights, and computer
generated images (CGI). But, while it was high on the effects and
action, it was very light on story. The story: an ancient Egyptian
villain who is mummified below a pyramid in Cairo (I thought the
pyramids were elsewhere), is revived by some fellow Egyptians. He is
the mutant X-men villain known as “Apocalypse.” Some of the renegade
X-Men, such as Magneto, join his team to fight and try to destroy the
“good” X-Men and to destroy the world. He begins by destroying some of
the world’s major cities. The X-Men fight back and try to stop him, all
with the leadership of Xavier, who heads the gifted school where they
stay and develop their powers.
Posters for this bear the motto, “Only the Strong Will Survive.” And
this is a weak movie, so it should die quickly. But because it’s a
superhero movie with a lot of hype and a built-in fanbse, it will
dominate at this weekend’s box office. I saw this movie about a month
ago, and the studio said I could post my review immediately. Normally, I
would do that. But I was so underwhelmed by this, and it’s so
forgettable, that I waited until today, it’s debut. That’s how
lackluster this is. These superheroes aren’t so super. Not even close.
Which is why, I’m being incredibly generous when I give this a
positive rating (because it’s neither political nor offensive and the
good guys do win in the end) of . . . HALF A REAGAN Watch the trailer . . .
* Alice Through the Looking Glass – PG: Six years ago, I reviewed “Alice in Wonderland,”
of which this is supposed to be a sequel. As you may recall, I hated
it. In that version, Alice isn’t the Lewis Carroll Alice. She’s the
Gloria Steinem Alice–a feminist action hero who bears little resemblance
to the story you remember from your childhood. This is more of the
same. Only worse.
I mean, how many female ship captains do you think there actually
were in 1875 and 1876, when this movie takes place? It’s a sure bet the
number was zero. But in this, a grown Alice is a ship captain who has
just returned from a three-year voyage in the dangerous high seas. The
movie is something of a feminist fight by Alice (Mia Wasikowska) to
continue to sail ships instead of giving in to the stock Hollywood evil
White male capitalist who wants to stop her and make her a clerk. That
man is someone who proposed to Alice, but she turned him down in order
to be an independent swashbuckling ship captain, and so he’s now a man
scorned trying to take away her widowed mother’s home and her deceased
father’s company and ship. Ultimately, Alice, of course, prevails, cuts
her long locks short in a lesbionic butch cut, and wears pants. Talk
about heavy-handed.
And amidst that as the back story, adult Alice also travels back to
Wonderland (this time through a mirror in the aforementioned evil rich
guy’s mansion) to save the ever annoying and weird Johnny Depp’s
depressed and dying Mad Hatter. He’s very sad and has given up on life
because he believes that his parents, siblings, wife, and kids are dead
and that he’s the indirect cause. But then there is a glimmer of hope
that they may all be alive, and Alice travels through Wonderland to try
to find and save them so her dear old friend, the Mad Hatter, will come
back to life and vitality. She does this by stealing an orb from Time
(a man played by Sacha Baron Cohen), which helps her to time travel
throughout Wonderland. Time’s minions are chasing her to get it back,
and Time’s girlfriend, the evil Queen of Hearts (Helena Bonham Carter)
is back and trying to help him get Alice.
The movie has great special effects. I saw this in 3D (but you’ll
lose nothing except $10 if you don’t), and the colorful, whimsical sets,
costumes, and effects are wonderful eye candy. The movie is very high
on style. But, sadly, it’s also equally low on story and anything else
of interest.
Mostly, I thought this was a bore and a propaganda film
cross-dressing as a childhood fairy tale. Unfortunately, the audience
of free ticket holders with whom I saw it, just didn’t get that. They
applauded at the end, being the American sheeple without critical
thinking skills that they are. If that sounds snobby, in this case
snobbery is vastly underrated. Betty Friedan would be proud. TWO BETTY FRIEDANS PLUS A MARX Watch the trailer . . .
* The Lobster – R: I love science fiction. But this is the worst and most disturbing science fiction film I’ve ever seen, tied only with “The Skin I Live In” (read my review).
It’s stupid. It’s ridiculous. It’s barbaric. And it’s disgusting.
What was an interesting premise and what could have been an even more
interesting movie, is a big mess. And horrifying to boot. That is,
unless women being deliberately blinded, and men having their hands put
in hot toasters is your idea of fun. Not mine. But apparently it
appeals to the sicko filmmakers behind this celluloid crap.
The story: it’s the dystopian future (as in far too many movie these
days), and if you lose your romantic partner (either through death,
divorce, or break-up), you must go to a hotel where you have 45 days to
find a new love. If you do not, then at the end of the 45 days, you are
transformed into the animal of your choice, until the animal is killed
or dies. You can extend the 45 days if, during the nightly hunts, you
kill other humans. Then your life before animalhood is extended by an
extra day for each person you kill. Sounds like a really great movie,
right? But, wait, it gets worse.
For the first full night and day in the hotel, you have to have one
of your hands handcuffed to your pants, which are locked. They never
explain why. But Colin Farrell, who stars in this, manages to squeeze
the pants off, though, so he can relieve himself. Also, no masturbation
is allowed, so John C. Reilly, who befriends Farrell, gets punished
when he is caught doing that. The hotel managers force him to put his
dominant hand in a toaster, which they turn on while holding his hand in
the toaster to burn. Yup, Hollywood’s and ISIS’ warped minds have
common barbaric fantasies, none of which make for pleasant or purposeful
movie viewing. Oh, and did I mention that the maid comes into the
men’s hotel rooms daily to do a “lap dance” on them to make sure they
are still, um, sexually functional?
Farrell, when he first arrives at the hotel, identifies the lobster
as the animal he’d want to be transformed into if he fails to fall in
love. But he never turns into one of them, so the title is kind of
pointless. Farrell arrives with a dog, who used to be his brother.
Eventually, Farrell like some of the others he’s met at the hotel, fakes
certain aspects of his personality in order to get a women to like and
couple with him. The woman he couples up with is a heartless killer.
Ultimately, he escapes into the forest and joins a group of partisans
there. But he falls in love with one of them (Rachel Weisz) despite
their leader’s express prohibitions against it. So, the leader takes
Weisz into the city to get an operation which blinds her.
This brutal, sick, disgusting movie is what Hollywood and mainstream
(a/k/a liberal) movie critics think is “art.” It’s torture. And it’s a
bore. It went on forever and in a million different irrelevant
tangents. Two hours of this felt like five. FOUR MARXES Watch the trailer . . .
* Love & Friendship – PG:
I’m normally a fan of Jane Austen and movies based on her work. But
not this. This movie, based on an Austen novella, “Lady Susan,” is
boring and mostly unfunny, especially for something that’s supposed to
be a comedy.
Kate Beckinsale plays Lady Susan, a member of English nobility in the
1700s or 1800s (I can’t remember and don’t really care). She’s widowed
and looking for a husband for herself and her daughter. And she’s
looking for rich husbands for the two of them, in order to keep up the
wealthy lifestyle to which she’s accustomed. To that end, she’s decided
to stay at the estate of her wealthy relatives (her in-laws) and plots
to find a suitable husband from among their friends and acquaintances.
The cast in this movie is far too large and hard to keep up with.
But, essentially, Lady Susan plots to set herself up with a much younger
man (I guess she was the original “cougar”) and her daughter with an
idiot. The results change, and there is a hurt wife of a man along the
way. There is also Lady Susan’s American friend (Chloe Sevigny), who
plots along with her.
As with many of these bloated and lackluster period movies, I loved
the costumes, sets, and Victorian accoutrements. This movie is high on
style. But it’s also low on story and an interesting plot, which is
nowhere to be seen here. Although Kate Beckinsale is lovely, she has
little to work with here and to many cast members with which to share
the stage. I also don’t think she’s very suited to comedy and find her
performances are better in dramas and thrillers. The story/plot isn’t
new, it’s not interesting, and I feel like I’ve seen this kind of
thing–done far better–many times before. Also, Lady Susan just isn’t
likable, nor is anyone else in this film. So, you just don’t care about
her or the others or anything that happens here. Lady Susan is
manipulative, scheming, spoiled, and entitled. Not to mention conceited
and cocksure. Who wants that? Sadly, some men in the movie are pulled
in. It’s also hard to believe that Lady Susan’s semi-sweet, pathetic,
and meek daughter is really related to her nasty mom or that she
continues to have anything to do with her.
This movie is only 92 minutes, which I’d normally praise. I like
brevity. But, unfortunately, it felt like it was twice that long. And I
struggled to get through it. I definitely wouldn’t pay ten bucks plus
to see this. But if I did, I’d ask for my money back. There is neither
love nor friendship anywhere in this movie. Or even close. ONE-AND-A-HALF MARXES Watch the trailer . . .
I have a ritual every year on Memorial Day. I pop into my VCR an animated Peanuts special entitled, What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown ?
It's a program that takes the beloved Peanuts characters on a tour of
famous European battlegrounds. Their tour includes a visit to Flanders
fields from World War I where, according to the poem, “The poppies grow,
between the crosses row on row.” The words of this haunting poem
continue, “We are the Dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw
sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields.”
Sadly, mankind did not learn the lesson from this “War to End All
Wars.” Just 21 years later the world plunged into another global war.
The Peanuts characters move on to the scene of a great battle of that
conflict—Normandy, where allied troops stormed the French beaches to
begin the liberation of Europe from Nazi control. While looking over the
calm white beaches and rocky cliffs, scenes from the invasion are
superimposed. The characters walk through the American cemetery where
thousands of young soldiers are buried. This plot of land was
permanently deeded to America by the French government.
While walking among the graves, the words of Dwight Eisenhower, who
commanded the allied forces that June morning, serve as a fitting
testimony to the action. Former President Eisenhower had returned to
Normandy 20 years after the invasion and recorded a documentary for
American television.
He said, “Many thousands of men came here to storm these beaches for
one purpose only. Not to gain anything. Not to fulfill any ambitions
that America had for conquest. But just to preserve freedom, systems of
self-government. Many thousands of men have died for ideals such as
these. In the 20th century for the second time America, along with the
rest of the free world, had to come across the ocean to defend those
same values. But these young boys…over whose graves we have been
treading… never knew the great experiences of going through life. I
devoutly hope that we never again have to see scenes as these. I pray,
think, hope that humanity will have learned more than we learned up to
that time. We must find some way to work for peace and…gain an
eternal peace.”
Indeed, “What have we learned?” Wars and conflicts continue to create
new graves with the same echoes of unrealized hope. In this issue we
continue to point our readers to those areas of the world that will make
the headlines of the future. Europe continues shaping its destiny as a
global power. Our lead article gives you an analysis of the recently
revealed draft of the European constitution, another milestone along the
path to a European federation. While many leaders hail this as a
positive step toward global cooperation, Bible prophecy
indicates otherwise.
The search for peace in the Middle East remains elusive. Fresh from
victory in Iraq, the United States is engineering a game plan towards
establishing order and stability for this volatile region. We again
point you to what the Bible says will transpire in Jerusalem prior to
Christ's coming.
What have we learned? Not enough to bring peace among nations. We
continue to look and wait with hope for the time when Christ will
restore a government of peace upon the earth as described by the prophet
Isaiah. It is his thoughts found in Isaiah 2:4
that offer us a different future. Those words state, “Nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” —WNP
No! School's out for the three-day holiday or maybe for summer vacation, and I'm asking you to take a quiz!
But it's short, if not simple. And don't you think if we Americans are
going to have a day called Memorial Day, that we should have some clue
about what it means?
1. What does Memorial Day mean?
2. What was it called before?
3. When is the National Moment of Remembrance?
How'd you do?
That's the day the pool opens!
We Americans love our three-day weekends, and it doesn't seem to matter
much to most people what the reason for the holiday originally was. If
we had a holiday in honor of the launch of ICanHasCheezburger.com (Jan. 11, 2007, according to Wikipedia), most people would be happy.
But Memorial Day has a very solemn meaning, so let's look at the answers:
1. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in the nation's service.
2. It was originally called Decoration Day (referring to decorating the graves of those who gave their lives).
3. 3 p.m. on Memorial Day (May 31, 2010).
“The National Moment of Remembrance ,
established by Congress, asks Americans wherever they are at 3 p.m.,
local time, on Memorial Day to pause in an act of national unity
(duration: one minute).
“The idea for the Moment was born when children touring the
Nation's Capital were asked by the Commission's Director what Memorial
Day means. They responded, 'That's the day the pool opens.'” The Web
site also cites a Gallup Poll that showed only 28 percent of Americans
know the meaning of Memorial Day.
Though the meaning of the day is clear, the history of Memorial Day can
get a little complicated, since over two dozen cities and towns lay
claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day in the aftermath of the
American Civil War in the 1860s. But this shows the universality of the
desire to remember those who gave their lives.
One Web site (http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html ) gives this important slice of the history:
“Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John
Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his
General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when
flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at
Arlington National Cemetery.”
That site also decried the loss of understanding of the meaning of the day.
“But what may be needed to return the solemn, and even sacred, spirit
back to Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of
observance. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day
weekend…with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier
for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As
the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day
address: 'Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has
undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed
greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.'”
Recapturing the meaning of memorials
My small attempt at educating Americans to the meaning of Memorial Day
is really part of a larger purpose. There are other days whose meanings
have been forgotten. And there are days that the Bible lists as
memorials that many people have never heard of.
How many Christians celebrate the night Jesus Christ set as a memorial
of His death? Jesus, who gave His life in service to all of us, said,
“With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before
I suffer” (Luke 22:15-20).
After establishing the bread and the wine as the symbols of the New
Testament Passover, Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25).
Another biblical festival many have forgotten is Pentecost, a memorial
of the founding of the Church of God and the giving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4, 37-41). How many celebrated this meaningful memorial on May 23, 2010?
In fact, the Bible lists seven meaningful festivals that are often
overlooked today. God gave them as memorials to remind us every year of
the great plan He is working out! Our free booklet God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind
makes an inspiring and enlightening Bible study. I hope you will make
the effort to download or request it. I believe the answers it gives
will encourage and help you in all the tests you face in life.
Hollywood,
like the Main Stream Media, exists to tell us pretty lies. Most films
are overwhelmingly biased towards the Left. When it comes to
immigration, they will usually give us sob stories about immigrants with
hearts of gold victimized by evil white racist Amerikkan oppressors.
And when it comes to children’s films, we usually get a syrupy sweet
story about how We Are Really All The Same and how children should learn
to celebrate differences.
“Angry Birds” is not a film like that. Based on the popular game for
cell phones, “Angry Birds” is actually a cautionary tale about #refugeeswelcome.
A group of happy, decadent, flightless birds live peaceably on an
island. Red, a bird with some anger issues, doesn’t really fit in with
everyone else. And his alienation becomes especially acute when a group
of pigs arrives at the island. While Red is suspicious, the rest of the
birds are delighted and savagely turn on Red for “bringing shame” on the
birds though his caution.
As it turns out, the pigs are only at the island to eat the eggs of
the birds. Using explosives (much like another group of refugees, one
which really doesn’t like pork), they blow up the houses of the birds
and steal the eggs. Red suddenly finds himself thrust from outcast to
leader and rouses the birds to a righteous fury. “We used to be
dinosaurs!” he cries. The birds launch a furious attack, launching
themselves at the pigs’ castle with giant slingshots. With the help of a
legendary hero named “Mighty Eagle” (who has seen better days and which
some reviewers think is a stand in for a declining United States), they
reclaim their eggs, and leave the enemy city in flames.
There’s no moment where the two tribes learn that they actually are
the same. They are just enemies. Good guys win, bad guys lose, and we
have a few laughs along the way.
Of course, it’s just a children’s movie so I might be reading way,
way too much into this. But the Left evidently feels the same way. There
have been a spate of negative reviews about “Angry Birds,” with the
film’s politics serving as a focal point.
The Angry Birds Movie is both the equivalent of a
screaming five-year-old and a regressive piece of American propaganda.
Out of all the films I’ve seen this year, this is the one I least
expected to have an anti-immigration and an eye for an eye message
underneath it. But it’s actually happened. Angry Birds is now a metaphor for the September 11 terrorist attacks…
[T]he film is also politically dubious and set on a message that isn’t appropriate for children or clear-minded adults.
[The Angry Birds Movie – Film Review, by Damien Straker, Impulse Gamer, May 8, 2016]
LOL.
“Angry Birds” is funny, entertaining, and best of all, right wing and
hated by SJWs. It’s PG, so it might be a bit too edgy for very small
children, but if you are ok with that, take your kids to see it today!
On June 23, 1938, John Rynerson, joined the 29th Army Corps of
Engineers topographical mapping unit. Little did John realize that he
would find himself in a few years involved in World War II
and fighting for his life on one of the most infamous and terrible
marches of the war. After several transfers John was placed in the 93rd
Bomber Squadron in the Philippines. As it turned out, this transfer
saved his life. The plane that he had worked on as a radio operator
crashed, and he would have been on that plane if he had not been
transferred. John feels that God was already working in his life to
preserve him.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked
the Philippines. On April 9, 1942, the garrison on Bataan was taken over
by the Japanese and John's long and difficult struggle for survival
began. Only one third of the soldiers taken captive at Bataan survived
the Japanese imprisonment.
After the capture of Bataan, the Japanese marched the American
prisoners over 70 miles. This became the infamous “Bataan Death March”
in which more than 600 American soldiers died. They marched for a period
of seven days after already being weakened because of the short rations
they had to live on before they surrendered to the Japanese. The
soldiers' captors allowed the prisoners to eat only once during the
entire march. If any soldier slowed the march, he was killed.
John quickly realized he was in a struggle for survival. He began to
make observations that led to actions that would save his life. The
treatment of the prisoners by the Japanese was horrendous. As they
marched, they would meet Japanese soldiers moving south. John noticed
that the first group of American soldiers were treated better than the
last group of soldiers. The Japanese were taught never to surrender, and
they were so startled to see prisoners of war that they passed by the
first group without harming the prisoners. As they came to the end of
the line of prisoners, they would start beating and mistreating
prisoners. Anyone who slowed down or was unable to walk was killed
without hesitation. John made the important decision to be in that first
group of prisoners who started out in the morning.
John was a prisoner of war for over three years. He was moved to a prison camp in Manchuria on the “death” ship, Tori Maru.
The ships with prisoners were not marked, so American warplanes often
attacked them, not knowing that their fellow soldiers were inside those
ships. John was able to stay on deck during the voyage on the Tori Maru and avoided being put below where the conditions were terrible.
He was able to survive because of the mental attitude that he had as he
determined that if one soldier was to survive this imprisonment, it was
going to be him. He had been taught by his mother to be clean, so when
he was given rice, he tried to get the bugs and other unclean material
out of the bowl before he ate it. He also knew that he had to have good
hygiene and made sure that he stayed as clean physically as possible. He
knew that a key to his survival was to stay free from disease. He also
had the attitude that he would never give up.
Finally on Aug. 15, 1945, John was released from the Japanese prison
camp and returned to his family in the United States. John's family had
not known if he was alive for those three long years.
When he returned home, he did not discuss in detail the conditions he
endured during his imprisonment as he did not want to burden his family
and cause them distress. What an amazing and wonderful example John set
enduring the terrible suffering of World War II!
John and Sarah Rynerson were married in 1946 and have been members of
God's Church since 1970. They have seen the difficulties and problems
that the Church has gone through over the years and have remained
faithful and true to God's Word and to the truths that they have been
taught. John is now 81 years old and continues to work cleaning floors
for grocery stores in the Ogden, Utah, area. What a wonderful example of
perseverance and endurance in spite of difficulties and trials.
Christ told us that we must be prepared to “endure” until the end, and
there is much we can learn from John Rynerson's example. One of the main
reasons John endured has to do with his mental attitude. He determined
that he was going to survive the terrible conditions of the Bataan Death
March and the following imprisonment.
In Matthew 24:12-13,
Christ said: “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many
will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” We have
seen this lawlessness on the earth today and conditions will get worse
in time. Many have fallen by the spiritual wayside and Satan the devil
has completely destroyed their faith, just as the Japanese killed
stragglers on the Bataan Death March.
Because of John's determination to survive, he took the steps
physically that helped him survive. He ate only “clean” food, removing
such contaminants as flies and dirt. He took two canteens of water with
him at the start of the march and some food also. He made sure that he
was in the front of the line of soldiers marching on the Bataan Death
March, which protected him somewhat from the abuse that others later in
line were receiving. He tried to do everything he could physically
accomplish that would help him with his main goal—survival!
Spiritually, are we doing all that we can to achieve our goal, the
Kingdom of God? John ate only clean rice and this helped him avoid
deadly physical illness. Spiritually, are we feeding ourselves with a
good spiritual diet? This means studying the Bible on a daily basis,
attending Church every week possible, going to the Feast of Tabernacles,
avoiding contaminating and dirty (unclean) movies, etc. We know the
things that lead to a healthy spiritual lifestyle.
Just like John during World War II in a
Japanese prison camp, we are in a foreign world. A world that does not
know the true God or the purpose of life. This knowledge of God's truth
should spur us on to take the measures to insure our success in the only
goal worth anything in this life, attaining the Kingdom of God.
John Rynerson had a purpose that he never forgot during those terrible years of World War II—the goal of survival. He had a clearly defined goal that motivated him and a mental attitude that helped him endure.
Let's never forgot the spiritual purpose of our life, the goal that God
has set before us and the glory and honor that await those who attain
that goal! UN
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), criticized Disney for using H-1B visas to replace American IT workers with cheaper, foreign labor last year during a campaign rally yesterday in Anaheim, Calif.
Walt Disney World laid off around 250 American workers last year after the workers were forced to train their replacements in order to receive their severance pay.
"Meanwhile the CEO of Disney made $46.5 million in total compensation last year. That is what we're talking about in a rigged economy,” Sen. Sanders told the crowd.
During a Senate Subcommittee hearing in March 2016 Leo Perrero, a former tech worker at Disney World, broke down when telling his emotional story of how it felt to sit there and train the person who is taking your job.
“I started to think what kind of American was I becoming? Was I going to become part of ruining our country by taking severance pay in exchange for training my foreign replacement? How many other American families would be affected by the same foreign worker that I trained?” Perrero told the subcommittee.
Read more on this story at Politico.com.
Pearl Harbor Day, 70 years later, December 7, 2011.
December 7, 1941, was the worst day in U.S. military history as a Japanese armada of ships and planes made a devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. This Hawaiian U.S.
naval base was a tempting target for the imperialist Japanese since
America’s entire Pacific Fleet was headquartered at Pearl. The Japanese
met little resistance as their planes bombed and strafed U.S. Navy ships and Army aircraft.
The next day the President Franklin Roosevelt addressed the U.S. Congress and delivered what turned out to be the most famous American political speech of the 20 th century—the “Day of Infamy Speech.” Congress then declared war on Japan, and three days later it declared was on Nazi Germany.
The United States, by being unprepared for this attack, paid a very heavy price:
- 2,388 Americans died in the attack
- 1,178 Americans were wounded
- 21 American ships were sunk or damaged
- 323 American aircraft were destroyed or damaged
The Japanese paid a dear price but not nearly so great:
- 64 Japanese died during the attack, though the number of injuries is unknown
- 5 Japanese ships were destroyed
- 103 Japanese aircraft were destroyed or damaged
The U.S. paid the greater short-term price but Japan paid the greater long-term price. If much more time had gone by without the U.S.
getting involved militarily, both the Japanese and the Nazis might have
been victorious in their conquests. Quite likely, God allowed the Pearl
Harbor bombing to awaken America to join the war against Japan
and Germany.
Some inspiring facts
The Japanese failed to accomplish their primary objective when they
bombed Pearl Harbor. They wanted to destroy the aircraft carriers, but
the three carriers were all at sea away from the port at the time. Those
carriers were critically important in the ensuing war against Japan.
and at the same time protected the aircraft carriers. Sparing those
carriers was also likely an act of Providence.
Lately several websites have posted a message which had also been sent
around the world by e-mail. It supposedly is an excerpt from a book
titled, “Reflections on Pearl Harbor” by Admiral Chester Nimitz.
Although it sounds like it could have been authored by Admiral Nimitz, I
have not been able to verify that such a book exists. However, I did
verify most of the facts stated. Following is my summary of
that message:
“Immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack,
President Roosevelt appointed Admiral Chester Nimitz to be the Commander
of the Pacific Fleet. “When Nimitz landed at Pearl Harbor on
Christmas Eve, 1941, there was such a spirit of despair, dejection and
defeat—you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On
Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the
destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. “Afterwards, someone asked him, ‘Well
Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?’ Admiral
Nimitz's reply shocked everyone: ‘The Japanese made three of the biggest
mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care
of America.’ “Nimitz explained: “Mistake number one: The Japanese attacked
on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were
ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been
sunk, we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800. “Mistake number two: When the Japanese saw
all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking
those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those
ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow
every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the
ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over
to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time
we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore
anxious to man those ships. “Mistake number three: Every drop of fuel in
the Pacific theater of war is on top of the ground in storage tanks
five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed
those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese
made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make, or God
was taking care of America.”
Whether or not Admiral Nimitz said those exact words, it’s obvious that
this disaster could have been much, much worse. God has been very
merciful to the United States and to freedom-loving people in general.
The “pearl of great price”
Pearl Harbor has a nice name. It originally had a native Hawaiian name
which meant “Water of Pearl.” The harbor was teeming with
pearl-producing oysters until the late 1800’s.
One of the most famous and popular Bible passages is Matthew 13:45-46,
in which Jesus said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great
price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
The naval base at Pearl Harbor has been and still is extremely valuable
for the United States. It would have been extremely valuable for the
Japanese had they been able to conquer and hold it.
But the combined value of that that harbor, that real estate, the
military facilities, the ships and planes, and the strategic location
are a tiny pittance compared to the value of life after death—life in
the Kingdom of God forever and ever! Every sacrifice that we ever need
to make in this life will be a small price to pay for glorious
eternal life!
The “good news” is this: All those who died on December 7, 1941—and at
all other times and places—will yet have their opportunity to learn
God’s truth and to qualify for God’s Kingdom! With Jesus Christ reigning
over all the earth, we will at last have peace on earth!
Someday all peoples will have the opportunity to attain “the pearl of great price”!
(will post my review later this weekend), which is an excellent, very
moving film to remember our fallen heroes on this Memorial Day Weekend.
As for the rest of these, I wonder, did our military men really die for
Hollywood’s right to make this crap? . . .
https://www.numbersusa.com/sendfax 
Photos.com
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