Conservative Papa

Tropical Storm CHANTAL Update
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WTNT63 KNHC 311213
TCUAT3 TROPICAL STORM CHANTAL TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL032007 815 AM EDT TUE JUL 31 2007
SATELLITE IMAGES AND QUIKSCAT DATA INDICATE THAT TROPICAL DEPRESSION THREE HAS BECOME A TROPICAL STORM WITH ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WINDS OF 40 MPH…65 KM/HR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. CHANTAL IS LOCATED ABOUT 330 MILES…530 KM…SOUTH OF HALIFAX NOVA SCOTIA AND IS MOVING RAPIDLY TOWARD THE NORTHEAST NEAR 23 MPH…37 KM/HR. CHANTAL IS NOT A THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES.$$
FORECASTER BLAKE

This looks to be another “shot in the air,” so to speak. Last year, God shot a bunch of storms straight up through the Atlantic. I hope this season turns out about the same. The benefit of Chantal is that it adds one to the count of named storms and keeps some of the egg off the faces of the hurricane forecasters who predicted a certain number of named storms for this season. Of course, the season is only half over, and there may be another depression brewing!

Financial spokesman says Christians need to learn influence of money (OneNewsNow.com)
Bolt says many corporations are now embracing the political agenda of homosexuals because they are a focused group of consumers and customers who will affiliate and spend dollars with businesses that support their cultural cause — a fact that has been proven by surveys and market analyses of where their dollars have gone.
He says, in essence, it is the same theory behind “socially responsible investing” or SRI, a tactic used by opponents of race-biased apartheid in Africa 30 years ago to help cripple it; and by political liberals to cripple companies that harmed the environment or animals.
Bolt believes Christians need to learn a lesson from that strategy and use their influence on financial services lenders, investors, and mortgage brokers for change by not funding their endeavors if they affiliate with causes antithetical to Christianity.

(more…)

Tonight, Andrew said he couldn’t get ready for bed because his bedroom was “full of dark.”

FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool | Tech News on ZDNet
The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone’s microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.

The technique is called a “roving bug,” and was approved by top U.S. Department of Justice officials for use against members of a New York organized crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques such as tailing a suspect or wiretapping him.

Nextel cell phones owned by two alleged mobsters, John Ardito and his attorney Peter Peluso, were used by the FBI to listen in on nearby conversations. The FBI views Ardito as one of the most powerful men in the Genovese family, a major part of the national Mafia.

The surveillance technique came to light in an opinion published this week by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. He ruled that the “roving bug” was legal because federal wiretapping law is broad enough to permit eavesdropping even of conversations that take place near a suspect’s cell phone.

Kaplan’s opinion said that the eavesdropping technique “functioned whether the phone was powered on or off.” Some handsets can’t be fully powered down without removing the battery; for instance, some Nokia models will wake up when turned off if an alarm is set.

Twenty years ago today, a very special puppy came into the world. His mother was mostly Golden Retriever and his father came from a good neighborhood. It was in September that we responded to a classified ad and drove into a gated community to the house his mother had adopted for the purpose of giving birth to a litter of nine. Our econo-hound came with a forty-pound bag of dog food and first vet visit — all supplied by the well-healed family who gave the puppies away!

I remember brining him home in the back seat of Mother’s ‘67 Mustang. He wet the seat, but Papa had a towel ready for that purpose. Our super-prissy cat was so offended that when we brought this tiny fur ball into her house that she doubled in size, hissed her outrage, and went to sulk in the garage for the next year or two.

The first time we took Dustey for a walk, the pads on his paws were so tender that the sidewalk made them sore, and we had to carry him home.

We he got bigger, he would run along side our bikes as we romped through the vacant land near our home that we called the Meadow.

Then he earned the name Bucket Head when the vet placed a collar over his head to prevent him from chewing a sore on his leg. It was the funniest thing to watch him eat!

Good ‘ol Dust Bag was a part of our family until after I left for college. I still miss him!

FOXNews.com - U.S. Cities Provide Sanctuary to Illegals…Since 1996, it has been illegal for states and municipalities to take any action that prevents the reporting of illegal immigrants to federal immigration authorities. On July 23, the New York Times ran a 1355-word article which used the term “illegal alien” exactly four times on New York Citys response to a recent Federal Court ruling that compels the city to change a policy it has had for more than a decade. That policy prevented city agencies from reporting illegal aliens to federal immigration authorities.But rather than do what the court has stated he must, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has developed a new policy — city agencies now wont inquire as to a persons immigration status except in the most extraordinary circumstances. The goal is for the city to have nothing to report.

Mayor Bloombergs new policy, which is mimicked in major cities throughout the country, seems ironic coming from a mayor who never stops complaining that the city pays too much money to people injured on its poorly-maintained sidewalks. In December 2002, a wife and mother of two was overpowered near Shea Stadium by five men who sexually assaulted her over a period of hours. Every one of the perpetrators are reportedly illegal aliens, and four of them had been in the custody of the New York City Police Department before the rape but were released rather than being turned over to INS now BCIS Investigations.

If mayors whose cities employ sanctuary policies are truly concerned with exposure to lawsuits, they might reconsider their sanctuary policies and do what the law requires: report illegal aliens to federal immigration authorities.

The days of the sanctuary policy might be numbered. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., has offered an amendment to two appropriations bills that would bar federal funding to states and localities that restrict any government agency from sending information to, or receiving information from, federal immigration authorities regarding an individuals citizenship or immigration status.

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Andrew went outside at dusk this evening and saw the Moon and Venus. He told Carolyn to look at the star. Then he said he could hear it singing and wasn’t it beautiful? This is what he heard.

Hindu shouted down while offering opening prayer for Senate session OneNewsNow.com
A Hindu chaplain from Nevada was shouted down before and during his prayer to open up the U.S. Senate this morning.History was made in the Senate today. “Let us pray. We meditate on the transcendental glory of the deity supreme who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky, and inside the soul of the heaven.”

Those were the words of a chaplain with the Indian Association of Northern Nevada, Rajan Zed, who delivered the first Hindu prayer ever on the floor of the U.S. Senate. However, that prayer did not go off without a hitch. As Zed was approaching the podium to speak, a man in the gallery interrupted the ceremony and had to be escorted out of the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms.

What’s next?  A Muslim prayer?  A Wikin prayer?

That’s right! Carolyn just called me to say that Isaac rolled over today. Yesterday, he rolled from his back to his side. Today, he rolled from his stomach to his back — twice in just a few minutes. Perhaps he will be an athlete. I’m trying to decide whether to call the circus or the Guinnes Book of World Records first!

Don’t forget to thank God for the blessing of liberty and wish the USA a happy birthday! If you want to sing about it, here’s a great link: Patriotic Melodies The Library of Congress Presents: Music, Theater and Dance.