New Beginnings

Those of you who know me understand that my life is accustomed to moving at a comparatively slow rate. Having been in EMS for a number of years, I’m used to working a lot of hours in a short timeframe and then having several days in a row off. My pace has been dramatically changed and I’m having a difficult time transitioning.

Recently, I accepted a government job that required my family and me to relocate to a more centralized area of the state. The move was hectic enough. Preparing to move, packing, cleaning, disconnecting utilities, reconnecting utilities, etc. are all taxing in themselves. Then, you make the move which requires you to live in total chaos as you unload, unpack and reset everything you’ve acquired in your lifetime back up. Through in the mix, a new job with a totally foreign schedule and you’ve got the makings of a major stress filled scenario.

I’m now a Monday thru Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM person. I love that this new schedule allows me to be home every night with my gorgeous family, but I’ve quickly come to the realization that there isn’t enough hours in the day or enough energy in my body to do everything I used to do. Throw in the mix that I have recommitted my life to the service of Christ and that Lezlie and I feel led to participate and help out with our new church’s youth group on Wednesday and two church services on Sunday’s - where is the time to get stuff done that I used to have?

My wife is a natural at moving at warp speed and having multiple irons in the fire at one time. She is an excellent juggler. Me, not so much! I’m really having to work hard at it. Still, I’m confident that we’re right in the middle of where God wants us to be at this time in our lives. This move has been ordained since we first considered it. God has opened every door and His leading has been very clear. We have not had to work at making anything in this move happen. From finding our new home to finding our new church to Lezlie working out a deal that allows her to continue in her present role at her job, but work from home most of the week. Hallelujah! God is powerful, gracious, and merciful.

I’m confident that we’ll settle into a new routine and that I’ll adjust to working bankers hours. I’m thankful for the way God is working in our lives, for second (or many more than second) chances, for the amazing friends that God is putting into our lives, for my amazing family of whom I have been so blessed to have, for my career which is moving in the direction I had always envisioned it heading, and for a God who knows me by name, loves me despite of myself, and considers me His friend.

90 Year-Old Veteran Of THREE Wars and Medal Of Honor Recipient Forced To Remove His Nation's Flag From His Lawn

Fox News - A Medal of Honor recipient in a dispute over his right to fly the American flag in his yard will have another week before D-Day -- when he'll be forced to take down the Stars and Stripes or face legal action.

Ninety-year-old Col. Van T. Barfoot, a veteran of three wars, initially was given a 5 p.m. Friday deadline to dismantle his flagpole or face a legal battle over violating an order from his townhouse community association in Henrico County, Va.

Barfoot, who fought in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, was told in July that he could not put up his freestanding flagpole in his Sussex Square neighborhood — but he installed it anyway.

On Tuesday, he says, he got a letter from the homeowners' association telling him the 21-foot pole he erected in September violates the community's aesthetic guidelines.

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Instead of a "thank you for faithful service in your call to duty (3 times)" a home owners association is telling the 90 year-old Medal of Honor recipient that his flag pole, in which he has proudly displayed his allegiance to the U.S., violates the association's aesthetic guidelines. Retired Army Col. Van T. Barfoot, distinguished service member did more in one battle than most soldiers do in their entire military careers. Read his Medal of Honor Citation for yourself. He is a highly decorated retired veteran of more than thirty years and three wars.

First of all, I HATE HOA's. Always have, always will. Their very existence is Socialistic in concept. HOA's do not pay a home owner's mortgage and/or their property taxes and therefore should NOT be allowed to tell a home owner what he/she can and cannot do on his/her property. No one bats an eye anymore at giving up the liberties that people like this notable American hero fought so selflessly to protect.

Right off the back, I can guarantee the argument that no one is forced to purchase a home in any community is going to come up. This is true and I can’t argue against it, but some things in this country ought to be sacred and the right to place a flag pole in your yard and proudly display your country’s flag should be one of them; especially when you take such good care to follow proper flag etiquette by raising the banner and lowering the banner at the proper times each day for more than thirty years. A flag pole with your nation’s flag on it isn't going to lower property values, the very thing HOA’s were charted to protect.

This is unpatriotic anytime, but particularly at a time when our soldiers are off fighting for our national interests. This HOA and any others with similar restrictions should be ashamed of themselves for spitting in the face of their motherland and all the fighting men and women who have answered the call to serve their countries interests. I’m pleased to see that U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va has taken up the cause of this patriot (although, I’m a bit surprised to find out that he is a Democrat, but I digress).

Even if you support the right of the HOA to disparage a person’s right to demonstrate their patriotism, exceptions can be made to any rule and if you can’t make an exception for a man who single handily destroyed two machine gun nests, stared down an enemy tank with a bazooka and destroyed it and captured 17 enemy combatants, and carried 2 fellow soldiers 1700 yards to safety all in one day, who can you make an exception for.

This HOA is a classic example of everything that is wrong with America and the decay that is eroding what makes America the greatest nation on earth. This isn’t a simple case of complying with the restrictions in the HOA guidelines. This is much much bigger and if you can’t see that, then perhaps you should go serve on the front lines for a period of time.

The Silent Monks Perform the Hallelujah Chorus

Pledge of Confusion?

It's a new school year, but an old fight is brewing in American classrooms. Teachers and administrators around the country are scratching their heads once again over the Pledge of Allegiance.

The courts have consistently ruled that students have the right not to recite the pledge in public schools. But now some First Amendment advocates are taking it one step further, arguing that the law compels educators to inform kids at the beginning of school that the decision is entirely up to them.

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I'm torn about this. I'm a deeply patriotic person. I've served my country. I continue to serve the public. There's no avoiding the anxiety and fear, however that I have about this once great country of ours. The America that I live in today, is not the same America that I pledged allegiance to as a child. The liberal movement in America has so blurred who we once were and the things that we stood for that made us great, that I don't even really know who America is anymore.

I'm a grown man, with a fair amount of understanding about the world and how it works and if I'm this uncertain myself, do I really want my kids reciting that pledge? Doesn't that send them a mixed message about making promises you can't truthfully make? I mean, I wouldn't pledge allegiance to this country under the present leadership and direction this nation is heading. Why would I expect my kids to recite empty words?

America is a very dangerous place to be right now. Not dangerous like living in some third world country under a brutal dictatorship...but dangerous like we've lost our identity and our moral compass. If we can't keep our moral compass in our ever changing world, how do we expect the rest of the world to tow the line? I can't pledge allegiance to a nation that is promoting socialism, pushing the liberal agenda so hard that people of morality are demonized, and with leadership that is weakening our nation defensively, fiscally, and morally.

I want very much for my children to have a deep sense of patriotism and serve their fellow countrymen, but they have nothing worthy of pledging allegiance too. I don’t really know how to proceed with my kids in areas like this. I’ve lost my hope in this country and the future scares the living daylights out of me.

Recently, I was engaged in a conversation with a dear relative of mine who accused me of having the socialistic stance compared to that of our national leadership. This discussion took place during the rage that was sweeping America over Obama’s indoctrination speech to our children, in which we kept our kids out of school for.

His argument against me was that I am basically brainwashing my children, because I won’t let them decide for themselves whether or not our leadership is harming America in this present day. I explained that I couldn’t disagree with him more.

My children are 8 and 6 years old. They have no real understanding about how choices made today can dramatically affect so many others for such a long period of time. They’re developing their moral compass and as responsible parents, it’s my wife’s and my job to teach them right from wrong, lives lessons about choice and consequence, and instill in them a value system that will make them productive and responsible members of society.

In short, they’re too young to understand the complexities of how badly Obama and the liberal movement are damaging our nation with lasting bad choice after bad choice. So, we, as parents, must make choices about how best to protect them from the rhetoric of the worst President and congress in American history. We must make choices about how best to explain to them why they are not allowed to watch the speech of an irresponsible man, who has no business speaking to elementary aged school children.

It pains us to look our children in the eye and tell them that our nations President and congress are bold face liars with a seemingly endless lack of morality. How do you explain to a child who knows that killing the defenseless unborn child is a terrible wrong, yet our President sponsored the very bills that support unchecked murder of the unborn? Or how do you have a discussion with them about how our tax system is supposed to work, when the news is pouring in about our leadership cheating the tax system? How do you try to teach them fiscal responsibility when our leadership is spending us into oblivion? How do you explain to a child the need to work for the things in life you want, when our nation is making entitlements our national way of life?

No, I am not the socialist. I am the responsible parent who wants my children to stand for morality, integrity, honesty, and responsibility. It is my first job as a parent to educate my children and give them the tools they need to one day - when they reach an age of maturity and understanding - make responsible, informed, and moral choices for themselves.

Why I Am Abandoning GM And Other American Car Companies

General Motors Corporation

Attn: Ed Peper, North American Vice President
P.O. Box 33170
Detroit, MI 48232-5170

Dear Sir, 26-May-09

Today, I received in the mail a form letter signed by Ed Peper, encouraging my family to continue to buy Chevrolet. I felt compelled to write and inform you that, although we have always bought GM, we will no longer do so. In fact, I am in the market for a new pickup truck to pull our camper; however, GM is not going to be a consideration for us in our selection.

The reason for our abandoning GM in their time of need is very simple. GM no longer stands for General Motors. It stands, instead, for Government Motors. When GM or any other American car company can be told who it can employ, how it will conduct its business, and what kind of products it will produce from a government administration, especially the Obama administration, then I will no longer support that company.

The bailout and the Obama administration’s participation in GMs future are costing you business. For too long, GM has been saddled by the unions and made terrible contract concessions. GM has never maintained its resale value, like that of Toyota, Honda and other foreign car companies. Had you worked on these issues sooner, GM would not be in the predicament it is in now. GMs failures as a company will dramatically hurt this nation’s economy, but I would rather the economy suffer than validate Obama and/or the federal government’s involvement in private business practices.

New RSS Email Service

Greetings faithful Your Moral Compass readers. I'm writing to tell you about the RSS email service change I made today. For all of you who subscribe, I have removed FeedBlitz as my provider. They were supposed to be a free service and decided to change that, so good-bye FeedBlitz.

I have switched to MailChimp. Their service is much more customizable and remains a free service for certain types accounts, such as YMC. I have already transitioned your membership subscriptions over to this service, so you will not need to do anything any differently.You'll begin receiving emails very shortly as I update the blog.

Summer's coming and as the weather continues to get nicer, things like camping and outdoor family events will take precedence. However, I'm sure with our current national leadership, I will regularly feel the need to purge myself of their ridiculous, immoral and unconstitutional actions/policies via my recently described "diatribe." It seems, when you call a liberal on the illegality of how they violated federal electioneering laws based on the video evidence that they provided that somehow you are the one at fault. Diatribe is how my pointing out the illegality is how my words were described, like I violated the law or something!? I guess if the shoe fits, I'll wear it. Give me something not to diatribe about and I'll be happy to comment on it. Unfortunately, with this administration that task is impossible.

Have a great week everyone.

Panicked Travolta Pleads With Son, Jett, To Wake Up

I decided to post this article and comment on it, because it is told from the perspective of the EMT. I was kind of surprised to find the EMT commenting on any call because of privacy issues, but maybe privacy isn't as big a deal in the Bahama's as it is in the United States.

This is a key example of how you should treat every person on every call equally and with the professionalism and thoroughness due every patient, because you never know who a patient is or how public a patient can become. Chief EMT Marcus Garvey said he had no idea who he was working on; even with Travolta right beside him.

I don't know John Travolta. The only thing negative that I know for sure about him, is that he is a member of the Church of Scientology. I've seen him in various interviews and watched stories about his generosity. So, it was no surprise when I read that even in the midst of his despair and grief he took a moment to praise the EMT who worked on his son. Garvey related that Travolta tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Good job, good job."

Unfortunate tragedy is something that we in the prehospital medical world have to deal with on an almost daily basis. We do the best we can and often with little or no appreciation. My deepest sympathy goes out to the Travolta family.

AP Report on GloBuLL Warming Deemed 'Propaganda' by Scientists

They say the report, which was published on Monday, contained sweeping scientific errors and was a one-sided portrayal of a complicated issue.

"If the issues weren't so serious and the ramifications so profound, I would have to laugh at it," said David Deming, a geology professor at the University of Oklahoma who has been critical of media reporting on the climate change issue.

"The mean global temperature, at least as measured by satellite, is now the same as it was in the year 1980. In the last couple of years sea level has stopped rising. Hurricane and cyclone activity in the northern hemisphere is at a 24-year low and sea ice globally is also the same as it was in 1980."

"Reporters, as I understand reporters, are supposed to report facts,"Deming said. "What he's doing here is he's writing a polemic and reporting it as fact, and that's not right. It's not reporting. It's propaganda.

Excerpts taken from this article.

Finally, the scientists are speaking out. In the 1970s and 1980s news magazines and science journals were scaring people to death with notions of a second life ending ice age. Now we have wacko's scaring people to death with global warming.

The fact is that the earth has always gone through natural warming and cooling cycles. That, of course, means varying levels of ice, ocean currents, and tidal patterns. "carbon footprints" have nothing to do with humans. It is a NATURAL phenomenon. So, please everyone...get off your global whining.

Now, let the record state that I am not in opposition of being good stewards of the gift that God has given us in our planet. We should keep it clean, healthy, and pollution free and I endorse all activity to do that. I deeply oppose the notion of climate change caused by human beings. The science behind it is pseudo and deeply flawed. The environmental alarmists, led by their false savior Gore.

I'm very happy to hear that the scientific community is finally starting to speak out!

Workout for brain just a few clicks away

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Searching the Internet may help middle-aged and older adults keep their memories sharp, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles studied people doing Web searches while their brain activity was recorded with functional magnetic resonance imaging scans.

"What we saw was people who had Internet experience used more of their brain during the search," Dr. Gary Small, a UCLA expert on aging, said in a telephone interview.

"This suggests that just searching on the Internet may train the brain -- that it may keep it active and healthy," said Small, whose research appears in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Many studies have found that challenging mental activities such as puzzles can help preserve brain function, but few have looked at what role the Internet might play.

"This is the first time anyone has simulated an Internet search task while scanning the brain," Small said.

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I knew there were health benefits to spending all this time on the Internet. It's the single greatest exercise that I get.