Please Identify

Heaven forbid the day should ever come when I receive a questionnaire with my utility bill asking for my marital status, religion and sexual orientation. Honestly, would the answer to any of these questions help the sanitation company to roll away my trash can, empty it and replace it? Of course not!

So, imagine the surprise of ninety-one year old Bill Burrow and other residents of Leeds, England who did receive such a questionnaire in relation to their rubbish pick-up.

I sure hope the local city council or even the county commissioners never decide to try a ridiculous survey like that one. I doubt they would be reelected for another term if they did. And their ears would probably burn from the public comments about what exists between their ears.

I would suggest the Leeds city council should apologize to city residents for their unnecessary and invasive personal questions, but they undoubtedly wouldn't be heard over the laughter their survey has induced.

You can click here to read the story.

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Christiantology

Yes, I know there is no such word as "Christiantology." So why am I using that for a title?

Because things are not confused enough in Christianity today, but evidently now there are some Christian ministers who are seeking help for their congregations through the teachings of Scientology. (You can read the article for yourself by clicking here.)

Excuse me, but Christianity was originally based on worship of God under the New Covenant. Too many today are stripping away worship of the true God by replacing Him with gods (little g here, folks) such as self-worship or greed. Scientology does not even recognize God, let alone worship Him.

Come on, folks, don't be sheep led to the slaughter by a wolf in sheep's clothing. Does your minister teach from the Bible or does he deviate into other religions and practices that are not Bible-based? No matter how innocent it might seem to incorporate non-Christian teachings into sermons, remember the devil is expert at making sin appear appealing and innocent!

And also remember that ultimately, you are responsible for what you listen to, believe and act upon. Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire before God and God killed them both. Under the New Covenant, punishment might not be as dramatic and immediate, but the Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, so mixing strange religions with Christianity is a very poor decision for minister or lay person to make.

Worship God and God alone!
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Music of Healing

Tonight, I was pleased to find a song I used to love listening to on the radio. It’s called “My Name Is Lazarus” by Greater Vision. The story of Jesus calling Lazarus forth from death to life after 3 days in the tomb is one of encouragement.

And so is the healing of a blind man. “He Saw It All” is by the Booth Brothers.

You can listen to either song just by clicking on the song title.
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Pet Slaughter

I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it. ~Abraham Lincoln

Earlier this month Berceloneta, Puerto Rico hired Animal Control Solution to clear three housing projects of pets after the city recently took over administration of the projects.

Municipal workers surrounded the housing complexes and prevented anyone from leaving with a pet. Pets were confiscated in front of children. According to Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez, it was expected the animals were to be adopted or euthanized humanely.

The animals were turned over to Animal Control Solutions, which was to be paid $60 for every animal picked up and another $100 for each trip to transport the animals to a shelter in the suburb of Carolina. Injections were administered, allegedly as a sedative for the ride to the shelter. The animals were then, “slammed into vehicles.”

But instead of being taken to a shelter, 80 animals were thrown from a 50-foot-high bridge in the neighboring town of Vega Baja. Some were already dead from the brutality and injections when tossed, but many were still alive. As can be imagined, from that height, there were innumerable broken bones, even broken backs, and other injuries. A few survived and somehow managed to crawl up to the highway. Six or seven were eventually reunited with their owners. .

Despite this, Animal Control Solution owner Julio Diaz denied these were the same animals he confiscated. But police have confirmed their involvement and the mayor has confirmed the public housing administration was also involved. No arrests have been made but an investigation is ongoing.

A $22.5 million (euro15.75 million) lawsuit has been filed against the municipality of Barceloneta, Mayor Fontanez, Puerto Rico's public housing director, the owner of a private animal control company (no surprise) and several others.

Public outrage was not limited to Puerto Rico and the United States. Many nations were represented among the signatures on a petition that was delivered to Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá, Governor of Puerto Rico during a demonstration.

Just for the record, the housing projects also receive funding from the U.S. government. The Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington said it does not have a no-pet policy and would not authorize a mass confiscation of animals.

Personally, I would not give a fig for any man's religion whose horse, cat and dog do not feel its benefits. Life in any form is our perpetual responsibility. ~S. Parkes Cadman

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Free Health Care

There has been a lot of information passed around in emails on Canada’s “free” health care. None of it has been complimentary to Canada. To read what complimentary things Canadian Health Care has to say about itself, click here.

To get an entirely different view of the Canadian health care system, you can watch videos of actual cases where the system falters or fails. The easiest way to find and access these videos is through director Stuart Browning’s YouTube site. While there, be sure to watch, “A Short Course in Brain Surgery” and “Two Women.” Both are fairly short.

England has a national healthcare system and from what I have been reading on it lately, it isn’t any more popular than Canada’s. Many certainly do not want a national health care system in the U.S. We already know how well our government coordinates to accomplish little or nothing.

At one time Hillary Clinton suggested modeling a national healthcare system in the US after Arizona’s AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System) program. What a disaster that would have been!

Not too surprisingly, the American Medical Student Association is touting universal health care.

We are slowly and definitively drifting closer to where we have zero input in our health care – diagnosis, treatment and timing of our inevitable demise. The government does not give away freebies, especially expensive freebies. One way or another, those who have the greatest need will suffer the most and gain the least from a national health care plan.

The latest idea is evidently a national insurance plan of one type or another. Yes, there are innumerable Americans who do not have health insurance and would like to have it for themselves and their families, but the question arises as to whether a national insurance plan would fare any better for needy citizens than the government’s response to hurricane Katrina victims.

Remember, “Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.” (Ronald Reagan.

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