Sent to me after he had read
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| Re-post from 2009 NamSouth "A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1801 ******* Dear Brock; I remember the horrific crash of the C5A flight and the whole “Baby Lift”. I still remember how my heart broke for all those infants and adults who lost their lives that day. The following is the story of my adopting my sons. I had graduated from high school in 1964 and made several attempts to join the navy, hoping to become a corpsman. After the third rejection (I was 30 pounds underweight most of my life) I entered an Orthodox Catholic monastery that was located in Florida, in 1965. In 1969, the entire monastic group (8 monks) went to Southeast Asia (Vietnam and Laos) during the Vietnam War doing missionary work, helping orphans and refugees. I spent most of my time there in Cu Chi and Saigon. While there, I got to meet and become friends with the Roman Catholic Archbishop Ngo- Dinh Thuc, the brother of the former South Vietnamese President Diem Ngo. Upon returning to the United States in May of 1973 (two years before the fatal C5A crash) the monastic community settled in Utica, New York where I continued with my studies for the priesthood, which included studying Hymnology, Christology, Theology, Iconography and Pastoral Counseling and learning liturgical Slavonic, Greek and Arabic. Since Orthodox priests are allowed to marry before they are ordained to the deaconate, I left the monastery in 1978, to marry, continuing my studies on weekends and during two weeks every summer. In 1979, my wife and I adopted two boys from Vietnam. The oldest one Tung, was eleven years old at the time. He was half Vietnamese, fathered by an American who abandoned him and his mother. His mother was killed in an attack by the North Vietnamese when Tung was eight. The second boy, Tan was nine years old (He is the one in the picture at the zoo on my blog). He is from the ethnic group known as Montagnards (Mountain people). In 1981, we adopted a third boy from Laos, Lo who was eight. I was finally ordained a deacon in 1982 and was assigned to assist a priest in the western New York area, and it was at this time that I began to get involved with the Southeast Asian refugee community that had settled in the Erie and Monroe county area. In 1983, I was called back to Utica by my bishop to be ordained a priest, after which I was sent back to western New York to set up a congregation among the Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian refugees in the Western New York area. In 1984 we adopted our fourth and last child, a boy Hai, from Vietnam. Hai was four years old then. Unfortunately, unknown to me at the time of our marriage, my wife was addicted to drugs and alcohol. I only became aware of it late in 1985 when her addictions became much worse. After several failed suicide attempts and several failed attempts to get her help at rehabilitation, I was granted a Church annulment by my bishop, with the understanding that I remain celibate if I wished to remain in the priesthood. Both the annulment and a civil divorce were granted in 1987. I was granted full and sole custody of the boys, by the court. I continued with my ministry as I raised my sons alone. Today they are all grown with families of their own and I have 8 grandchildren. On November 1, 2008, I was consecrated a bishop of the American Orthodox Catholic Church in Syracuse, New York and elevated to Archbishop in January, 2009 To this day, I prefer mainly Vietnamese foods. Most Rev. + An Archbishop's Memories Of Vietnam+ |
Saturday, May 5, 2012
An Archbishop's Memories Of Vietnam+
Cu Chi eating on the river 1992
I remember this as the best meal I have ever eaten in my life. Beautiful scenery. We went here after the tunnels of Cu Chi with my newly found American friend and his Japanese girlfriend whom I had met on the plane coming to Saigon. We spent more time with them in Saigon and the Delta.When my wife and I we went to Cu Chi where you can rent most anything you like at $1 a shot (AK 47's, M-16's and so forth) she refused to leave the car. In fact, she cowered on the seat when she first heard shots! A Southern (Vietnamese) girl, but definitely not like our Dixie ones. I shot an AK, and knocked down each man sized target, for which I was awarded a black checked scarf, like you would see the Cambodians wear.
When we were expected to sit and listen to a pro-VC rant on the tunnels before we went in, I walked to the back out of earshot which didn't please the officials. I guess they were offended!
Go Hang Your FIne Self, Eurocrat
Here's an idea for a sticker, Sam
No doubt these bumper stickers appearing in Brussels are merely another consequence of extremerightwingextremists spreading evil. No good little Euro citizen would do this. And anyway, it’s America’s fault, whatcha wanna bet?
Or maybe Breivik finally sent mind-meld messages from his jail cell to all those followers he's supposed to have, and they have begun to move in goosestep to his commands. Well if that were really the case it would merely demonstrate the advantages of capital punishment for all terrorists.
Whateverrrr….
Union bureaucrat jobs in Brussels are starting to look maybe a tad dangerous. Who knew the perils of paper-pushing? Maybe they’ll be issued per diem Hazardous Duty Pay for their labors. I'm sure they already get free band aids for paper cuts.
Staff unions have written to Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, after stickers of a hanging official were found with the slogan “Eurocrate, sers-toi de ta cravate” or “Eurocrat, make use of your tie”.
Cars with special licence plates for EU officials have been targeted and civil servants commuting to work in Schuman euro quarter of Brussels have been harassed by activists, thought to be anarchists.
“It is now obvious that the next steps will be physical injuries,” said the letter from Union Syndicale, Federation of European Civil Servants and Renouveau & Démocratie.
Or maybe Breivik finally sent mind-meld messages from his jail cell to all those followers he's supposed to have, and they have begun to move in goosestep to his commands. Well if that were really the case it would merely demonstrate the advantages of capital punishment for all terrorists.
Whateverrrr….
Union bureaucrat jobs in Brussels are starting to look maybe a tad dangerous. Who knew the perils of paper-pushing? Maybe they’ll be issued per diem Hazardous Duty Pay for their labors. I'm sure they already get free band aids for paper cuts.
Staff unions have written to Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, after stickers of a hanging official were found with the slogan “Eurocrate, sers-toi de ta cravate” or “Eurocrat, make use of your tie”.
Cars with special licence plates for EU officials have been targeted and civil servants commuting to work in Schuman euro quarter of Brussels have been harassed by activists, thought to be anarchists.
“It is now obvious that the next steps will be physical injuries,” said the letter from Union Syndicale, Federation of European Civil Servants and Renouveau & Démocratie.
More @ Gates of Vienna
13-year-old suspect killed during robbery
The race of the culprit will be a total surprise to y'all.......
Birmingham police say a 13-year-old robbery suspect was shot and killed by the person he tried to rob in Birmingham Friday night.
The Jefferson County Coroner's Office confirms the teen's identity as Jaqures Cortez Walker of Birmingham. He was a 7th grade student at Martha Gaskin Middle School and the quarterback for the football team, according to a family member.
BPD Sgt. Johnny Williams said the teen suspect approached a couple as they pulled into their home at the gated Skyview Condominiums in the 400 block of Skyview Drive around 11:10pm. Friday, April 27. Skyview Drive is off Robert Jemison Road. The suspect had a T-shirt over his face like a bandana and was holding a cocked and loaded gun, Williams said.
Police say the would-be robber approached the male occupant of the car and told him to "Get out and give it up." The man had his own gun in the car and shot the teenager. The teen ran a few feet, collapsed and died at the scene, Williams said.
More @ WSFA
The Gun Explosion
Why the firearms boom is good news for the American economy
In a February 2012 fund-raising appearance, President Barack Obama expressed his desire to keep America’s assembly lines humming. “I want to make sure the next generation of manufacturing isn’t taking root just in Asia or Europe,” he told a crowd of supporters. “I want it taking root in factories in Detroit and Pittsburgh and Cleveland and California.…I want to reward companies that are investing here in the United States and creating jobs all throughout this country.” Perhaps because the president was speaking in San Francisco, where most of the local factories had long ago been converted into luxury condos for venture capitalists and software designers, he was short on specifics. Or maybe he just couldn’t think of any American manufacturing industries that still seemed salvageable.
Two weeks earlier, however, a federal agency had released a report that suggested at least one component of the manufacturing sector was not only still making stuff in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, California, and thousands of other places in America, but making more of it than it had in decades. According to the “Annual Firearms Production and Export Report” from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), American manufacturers produced 5,459,240 handguns, rifles, shotguns, and miscellaneous ordnance in 2010. (To comply with the Trade Secrets Act, the BATFE waits one year to publish these data; numbers for 2010 therefore are not published until January 2012.) It was the second year in a row the industry had attained numbers not seen since the glory days of the late Carter administration.
More @ Reason
Each Child Born Today will Inherit $1.5M of National Debt, Study Shows
Via Survival
Children born today will inherent a per capita share of the national debt exceeding $1.5 million, a new study reveals.
Republican analysts on the Senate Budget Committee used figures from the Congressional Budget Office to calculate the relative share of the national debt–currently $16 trillion and counting–among different age groups.
The results are stunning:
More @ The Washington Free Beacon
American-Funded Mercenaries in Indochina
here is much truth in the belief that the United States fought the Japanese to protect English and French colonial interests in the Far East, and iron in the words of Eisenhower calling attention to the military-industrial complex which profits handsomely from perpetual war. Few Americans in 1950 knew of how much of their money was going to prop up the French colonial regime in Indochina, and never imagined that over 55,000 Americans would later die in Vietnam.
Bernhard Thuersam, Director
Cape Fear Historical Institute
www.cfhi.net
American-Funded Mercenaries in Indochina:
“Whatever the formula for peace, the French Government recognized that it was no longer entirely a free agent in Viet Nam. Even in 1953, at the time of the Viet Minh invasion of Laos which occasioned so much alarm abroad, when certain members of the French Cabinet were reported to favor a request to the United Nations for help, they were overruled – partly to avoid foreign discussion and intervention in the affairs, not only of Indochina, but of the French Union generally; and partly out of fear that the United Nations intervention would precipitate Chinese intervention on the side of the Viet Minh, creating a situation similar to that which had prevailed in Korea.
At the same time, however, the French Government sought and received aid from its allies (from the signatories to the North Atlantic Treaty in 1952 and from the British and American Governments on various occasions and at Bermuda in 1953) an endorsement of its war effort as vital to the defense of the free world. And it also sought and received substantial military and economic aid, mostly from the United States.
Certain highly-placed French officials were once reported as fearful of allowing American aid to reach fifty percent of the total French military effort in Indochina, on the theory that the United States would then be in “the zone of political demands.”
By 1954, the American Government was paying about eighty percent of the total French military expenditures in the Associated States. American aid, which began in 1950, had averaged $500 million annually and included ammunition, vehicles, aircraft, naval vessels, small arms and automatic weapons, hospital supplies and technical equipment, which were delivered directly to the French Union forces under the supervision of an American Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG). In 1953, on the basis of military plans drawn up by General Navarre and a French pledge “to intensify prosecution of the war” and make “every effort to break up and destroy regular enemy forces in Indochina,” the United States promised France an extra $385 million.”
(The Struggle For Indochina, Ellen J. Hammer, Stanford University Press, 1954, pp. 313-314)
Bernhard Thuersam, Director
Cape Fear Historical Institute
www.cfhi.net
American-Funded Mercenaries in Indochina:
“Whatever the formula for peace, the French Government recognized that it was no longer entirely a free agent in Viet Nam. Even in 1953, at the time of the Viet Minh invasion of Laos which occasioned so much alarm abroad, when certain members of the French Cabinet were reported to favor a request to the United Nations for help, they were overruled – partly to avoid foreign discussion and intervention in the affairs, not only of Indochina, but of the French Union generally; and partly out of fear that the United Nations intervention would precipitate Chinese intervention on the side of the Viet Minh, creating a situation similar to that which had prevailed in Korea.
At the same time, however, the French Government sought and received aid from its allies (from the signatories to the North Atlantic Treaty in 1952 and from the British and American Governments on various occasions and at Bermuda in 1953) an endorsement of its war effort as vital to the defense of the free world. And it also sought and received substantial military and economic aid, mostly from the United States.
Certain highly-placed French officials were once reported as fearful of allowing American aid to reach fifty percent of the total French military effort in Indochina, on the theory that the United States would then be in “the zone of political demands.”
By 1954, the American Government was paying about eighty percent of the total French military expenditures in the Associated States. American aid, which began in 1950, had averaged $500 million annually and included ammunition, vehicles, aircraft, naval vessels, small arms and automatic weapons, hospital supplies and technical equipment, which were delivered directly to the French Union forces under the supervision of an American Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG). In 1953, on the basis of military plans drawn up by General Navarre and a French pledge “to intensify prosecution of the war” and make “every effort to break up and destroy regular enemy forces in Indochina,” the United States promised France an extra $385 million.”
(The Struggle For Indochina, Ellen J. Hammer, Stanford University Press, 1954, pp. 313-314)
Fish Hook Removal
The only thing I see wrong with this is the booze. Should be either Virginia Gentleman, Rebel Yell or Southern Comfort........
Via The Feral Irishman
South Carolina Governor Disappoints
Via Billy
Men and Compatriots of the South Carolina Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Our most recent effort to request a Proclamation, declaring May Confederate History and Heritage Month in South Carolina, has been rejected by Governor Nikki Haley.
I received a phone call this afternoon from Ms. Katherine Thomas, Proclamations Office at the Statehouse. Her exact words to me were, "The Governor will follow the example and practice of previous Governors in South Carolina by rejecting the request for a Proclamation for Confederate History and Heritage Month."
I asked specifically, if this decision came "directly" from the Governor herself or did it come from a senior staff member. Her response was specific; it comes directly from the Governor's Office. In view of that statement, I have requested a list of organizations and events that have received Proclamations from Governor Haley during her tenure in office, and when (and if) I receive that information, I will share it with you. It has become quite evident that Governor Haley does not share the value of South Carolina's rich heritage and history that is dear to us and to thousands of other citizens of the Palmetto State.
From the Governor's web site:
Proclamations
Proclamations are used to honor and celebrate events as well as raise awareness about an issue.
This communication is sent for information purposes only to the 75 Camps in the South Carolina Division, officers and staff of the Division Executive Council and Committee Chairmen. You are directed to disseminate this information to all subordinate men currently under your command throughout the South Carolina Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans and other Southern Heritage Groups who share our ideals and principles.
Commander Mark Simpson
Declaration of Secession
Before
we’re done we will, by necessity, have to secede from the present
abusive union known as “The United States of America”. It is the only
way we can release ourselves from the bonds of economic and political
slavery presently imposed by a distant and unresponsive capital. Our
forefathers were secessionists not once, but twice…once they succeeded,
and once they failed. It is now our job to win this third round and
declare our freedom, for ourselves and our posterity, in perpetuity
forever.
I can come to no other conclusion than that, in order to assert our liberty, we must first assert that we are not property - that we are not slaves to be apportioned, abused, and disposed of at will. We will need a good house-cleaning at the state level… and will have to go down the road of nullification through the state legislature and courts…although in the end that will only attract greater aggression from Washington DC to be focused upon our fair state. And when the federal government exerts direct control over the citizens of a free state against their will, and by circumventing the protections of said sovereign state as constituted by the people who lawfully reside therein, then secession becomes the plain, necessary option. But will enough citizens of North Carolina support such a path?
More appropriately, the question is, “what will it take for the citizens of North Carolina to wake up and demand that our state legislature and judiciary do their jobs – protecting us from an over-reaching federal authority which violates our sovereignty and usurps our freedom?” To whit, I answer only this: the longer it takes for the citizens of North Carolina to come to terms with this situation and it’s necessary resolution, the more painful will be the path back to Liberty, and the longer it will take to restore our God-given freedoms.
I can come to no other conclusion than that, in order to assert our liberty, we must first assert that we are not property - that we are not slaves to be apportioned, abused, and disposed of at will. We will need a good house-cleaning at the state level… and will have to go down the road of nullification through the state legislature and courts…although in the end that will only attract greater aggression from Washington DC to be focused upon our fair state. And when the federal government exerts direct control over the citizens of a free state against their will, and by circumventing the protections of said sovereign state as constituted by the people who lawfully reside therein, then secession becomes the plain, necessary option. But will enough citizens of North Carolina support such a path?
More appropriately, the question is, “what will it take for the citizens of North Carolina to wake up and demand that our state legislature and judiciary do their jobs – protecting us from an over-reaching federal authority which violates our sovereignty and usurps our freedom?” To whit, I answer only this: the longer it takes for the citizens of North Carolina to come to terms with this situation and it’s necessary resolution, the more painful will be the path back to Liberty, and the longer it will take to restore our God-given freedoms.
More @ NC Renegade
Video Shocker:TSA Aggressively Pats Down Congressman
A TV station released a video Friday showing a Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) official aggressively patting down Rep. Francisco
"Quico" Canseco, R-Texas.
After the incident occurred last month, Canseco described it to Fox News, saying of the TSA official, "he touched me in my private [area] and it hurt." Rep. Canseco has called the TSA search of his body an "assault."
The clips obtained by San Antonio TV station KENS 5 show Canseco pushing the TSA agent's hand away after the agent reached to examine between his legs during a pat-down, The Hill reports.
After the incident occurred last month, Canseco described it to Fox News, saying of the TSA official, "he touched me in my private [area] and it hurt." Rep. Canseco has called the TSA search of his body an "assault."
The clips obtained by San Antonio TV station KENS 5 show Canseco pushing the TSA agent's hand away after the agent reached to examine between his legs during a pat-down, The Hill reports.
More @ NEWSMAX
Sunken CSS Georgia in the way of dredging
Via Billy
Before government engineers can deepen one of the nation's busiest seaports to accommodate future trade, they first need to remove a $14 million obstacle from the past — a Confederate warship rotting on the Savannah River bottom for nearly 150 years.
Before government engineers can deepen one of the nation's busiest seaports to accommodate future trade, they first need to remove a $14 million obstacle from the past — a Confederate warship rotting on the Savannah River bottom for nearly 150 years.
Confederate troops scuttled the ironclad CSS Georgia to prevent its capture by Gen. William T. Sherman when his Union troops took Savannah in December 1864. It's been on the river bottom ever since.
Now,
the Civil War shipwreck sits in the way of a government agency's $653
million plan to deepen the waterway that links the nation's
fourth-busiest container port to the Atlantic Ocean. The ship's remains
are considered so historically significant that dredging the river is
prohibited within 50 feet of the wreckage.
So the Army Corps of Engineers
plans to raise and preserve what's left of the CSS Georgia. The
agency's final report on the project last month estimated the cost to
taxpayers at $14 million. The work could start next year on what's sure
to be a painstaking effort.
More @ Yahoo News
Global Waming
VERBATIM POST
Free-market think tank The Heartland Institute has taken their policy insights one step further by securing a high-profile billboard on global warming:
According to Joe Bast, the Heartland Institute’s president:
The most prominent advocates of global warming aren’t scientists….They are Charles Manson, a mass murderer; Fidel Castro, a tyrant; and Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Global warming alarmists include Osama bin Laden and James J. Lee (who took hostages inside the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in 2010).The digital billboard, which was up for just one day along a prominent highway outside Chicago, was intended to both educate the public and draw attention to the think tank’s extensive work debunking global warming science:
This billboard was deliberately provocative, an attempt to turn the tables on the climate alarmists by using their own tactics but with the opposite message. We found it interesting that the ad seemed to evoke reactions more passionate than when leading alarmists compare climate realists to Nazis or declare they are imposing on our children a mass death sentence. We leave it to others to determine why that is so.And the left is flinching already; the progressive Think Progress referred to the campaign as both “far-beyond-the-pale,” “offensive,” and a “gruesome failure.”
The Heartland Institute doesn’t often do “provocative” communication. In fact, we’ve spent 15 years presenting the economic and scientific arguments that counter global warming alarmism. No one has worked harder, or better, on that task than Heartland.
It is “heartening” to see The Heartland Institute think creatively about how to achieve their mission beyond white papers. Stay tuned for their upcoming Seventh International Conference on Climate Change (May 21-23).