Clueless Emma

Oh, Great, And I've Had a Wicked Sore Throat for Two Days...

Mozart's Demise

2nd Lt. Nathaniel Grigsby's Dying Prophetic Words

Nathaniel GRIGSBY. Son of Reuben Davis GRIGSBY Sr. & Nancy BARKER

Born 11, October 1811 in Nelson Co., KY. Died 16, April 1890 in Attica, Harper Co., KS. Buried in Attica, Harper Co., KS. He was a Civil War veteran 2nd Lt. Co. G, 10th Indiana Cavalry. He was a farmer."

Born: October 11, 1811 Died: April 16, 1890

Military: Civil War: Enlisted January 8, 1864; (Age 53 - Gentryville, Indiana)

Discharged October 18, 1864 (Age 54) 2nd Lt. - G Company, 10th Indiana Cavalry

Buried: Attica Cemetery, Harper County, Kansas

Eugenics and Nazis...and Progressives

By Dennis L Cuddy, Ph.D The term "eugenics" was first used in 1883 by Francis Galton, Darwin's half cousin. In 1871, Darwin authored the racist book The Descent of man and Selection in Relation to Sex saying that "the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world." This followed the principle of "survival of the fittest" coined by Herbert Spencer in 1864 after reading Darwin's 1959 book, The Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection for the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life (four years after Arthur Gobineau's An Essay on the Inequality of the Races). For humans, this principle expressed itself in Social Darwinism. Thus, during the 1870s, Oxford lecturer John Ruskin would instill in his students, like Cecil Rhodes, the concept that they were "the best northern blood" and should rule the world. Rhodes scholarships were not only given to students from America and Commonwealth nations, but also to those from Germany beginning in the very early 1900s. Germans at this time were also being conditioned to see historical progression in terms of "blood and land," a sort of Teutonic knighthood descended from the Aryans. In 1914, Madame Blavatsky's Aryan doctrine had spread through Germany and Austria, and it was from her writings that a young Adolph Hitler learned the meaning of the Aryan swastika. By this time, eugenics was a growing international movement with the first International Congress of Eugenics held in 1912 with Vice-Presidents Winston Churchill, Alexander Graham Bell, Skull & Bones member Gifford Pinchot, and former Harvard University president Charles Eliot. In this same year, eugenics proponent Woodrow Wilson signed into law a brutal sterilization act, and the next year eugenics adherent Theodore Roosevelt wrote of the need to improve "racial qualities." Calvin Coolidge wrote similarly in "Whose Country Is This?" (Good Housekeeping, February 1921), after Arthur Calhoun in Volume 3 of his widely used textbook A Social History of the American Family (1919) explained that "in the new social order, extreme emphasis is sure to be placed upon eugenic procreation." Men of wealth like Andrew Carnegie and the Rockefellers played an important part in funding the eugenics movement....It was during this time of the early 20th Century that Rockefeller introduced Margaret Sanger to the monied elite who would help her form the Birth Control League which would later become Planned Parenthood. The November 1921 issue of Sanger's Birth Control Review carried the heading "Birth Control: To Create A Race of Thoroughbreds," and Sanger would later advocate eugenically limiting "dysgenic stocks" such as blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and Catholics, as well as "slum dwellers" such as Jewish immigrants. In 1926, Rockefeller money funded the founding of the American Eugenics Society, and the next year on May 2, 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court by an 8 to 1 majority ruled in Buck v. Bell that certain “unfit” people could be forcibly sterilized. Regarding this ruling, British [Fabian Socialist] Professor Harold Laski wrote his friend Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: “Sterilize all the unfit, among whom I include all fundamentalists.” Across the nation during the 1930s, state legislatures (eventually 38) enacted sterilization laws regarding the "feeble-minded." Also during this time, Franklin Roosevelt became president, and in Christopher Thorne's Allies of a Kind (1978) one finds: "Subjects to do with breeding and race seem, indeed, to have held a certain fascination for the president.... Roosevelt felt it in order to talk, jokingly, of dealing with Puerto Rico's excessive birth rate by employing, in his own words, 'the methods which Hitler used effectively' [to make them] sterile."

From John Newton's Letters: True Patriotism!

[American Flag once draped over President Lincoln's casket. Taken at DC Smithsonian June 2009]

Dear friend,

Allow me to say, that it excites both my wonder and concern, that a Christian minister such as yourself, should think it worth his while to attempt political reforms. When I look around upon the present state of the nation, such an attempt appears to me, to be no less vain and foolish, than it would be to paint the cabin--while the ship is sinking! Or to decorate the parlor--while the house is on fire!

When our Lord Jesus was upon earth, He refused to get involved in disputes or politics, "Friend, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?" Luke 12:14. "My kingdom is not of this world! If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight!" John 18:36. God's children belong to a kingdom which is not of this world; they are strangers and pilgrims upon earth, and a part of their Scriptural character is, that they are the "quiet in the land." Psalm 35:19.

Satan has many contrivances to amuse people, and to divert their thoughts from their real danger!

My dear sir, my prayer to God for you is--that He may induce you to employ the talents He has given you, in pointing out sin as the great cause and source of every existing evil; and to engage those who love and fear Him, (instead of wasting time in political speculations, for which very few of them are competent,) to sigh and cry for our abounding abominations, and to stand in the breach, by prayer, that God's wrath may yet be averted, and our national mercies prolonged! This, I think, is true patriotism--the best way in which people in private life may serve their country.

I consider the ungodly as saws and hammers in the hand of the Lord. So far as they are His instruments, they will succeed--but not an inch further! Their wrath shall praise Him, and be subservient to His designs!

If our lot is so cast that we can exercise our ministry free from stripes, fines, imprisonments, and death--it is more than the gospel has promised to us! If Christians were quiet when under the cruel governments of Nero and other wicked persecutors, when they were hunted down like wild beasts--then we ought to be not only quiet but very thankful now! It was then accounted an honor to suffer for Christ and the 'offence of the cross'!

Those are to be greatly pitied, who boast of their 'liberty'--and yet they do not consider that they are in the most deplorable bondage as the slaves of sin and Satan, under the curse of God's law and His eternal wrath! Oh! for a voice to reach their hearts, that they may know their true and dreadful state--and seek deliverance from their horrific thraldom! May you and I labor to direct them to the one thing, which is absolutely needful, and abundantly sufficient.

If I had the wisdom or influence to soothe the angry passions of mankind--I would gladly employ them! But I am a stranger and a pilgrim here in this world. My charter, my rights and my treasures, are all in heaven--and there my heart ought to be. In a very short time, I may be removed (and perhaps suddenly) into the unseen and eternal world--where all that now causes so much bustle upon earth--will be of no more importance to me--than the events which took place among the antediluvians!

In the hour, when death shall open the door into eternity--many things which now assume an 'air of importance', will be found as light and unsubstantial as a child's dream!

How crucial then, is it for me--to be found watching, with my lamp burning, diligently engaged in my proper calling! For the Lord has not called me to set governments right--but to preach the gospel, to proclaim the glory of His name, and to endeavor to win souls! "Let the dead bury their own dead--but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God!" Luke 9:60. Happy is that servant, whom his Master finds so doing, when He returns!

As you have forced me to respond--both duty and love have obliged me to be faithful and free in giving you my thoughts.

I recommend you to the care and blessing of the great Shepherd and Savior; and remain for His sake, your affectionate friend and brother,

John Newton

Israel and Prophetic Proof Part II

Dave Hunt

Israel is the major topic of Bible prophecy, mentioned more than 2,900 times, nearly twice as many times as her Messiah. Without Israel there would be no Messiah and no salvation for anyone, Jew or Gentile. The first mention of His coming is in God's rebuke of the guilty parties involved in man's fall in Eden: the serpent (an identity that Satan retains from Genesis to Revelation) and Adam and Eve. The Bible account is not myth but history. In many places around the world, archaeologists continue to find ancient representations of three figures appearing together: a woman, a serpent, and a tree.

God foretells a long conflict between the serpent and the Messiah and the latter's ultimate triumph that would occur in a way Satan could never have imagined. An old hymn tells it beautifully:

In weakness like defeat,
He won the victor's crown;
Trod all our foes beneath His feet
By being trodden down.
He Satan's power laid low;
Made sin, He sin o'er threw;
Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so,
And death, by dying, slew.      

God's declaration to the three guilty parties is simple and to the point. To the serpent He said, "I will put enmity between thee [serpent] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed [the Messiah]; it [the woman's seed] shall bruise thy head [a death blow], and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gn 3:15).

The fact that God does not say "thy seed and Adam's" must indicate that no man would be involved. From that moment, Satan was eagerly awaiting this virgin birth in order to kill the babe. Watching closely as events unfold, Satan learns that the Messiah will be of the seed of Abraham. Ishmael (father of the Arabs) is Abraham's firstborn, but by Hagar, Sarah's maid 7. Finally, Abraham is given a second son by his wife. He is Isaac, "the son of promise." It seems a miraculous birth because for 90 years Sarah had been barren though not a virgin. Satan watches and waits.

Both Ishmael and Isaac were born "in the land of Canaan" among Canaanites who had lived there for centuries (Gn 11:31; 12:5-6; 13:7, etc.). There was no such place as "Palestine" nor any people called "Palestinians." No Arabs would live in so-called Palestine until the savage Islamic conquest of the world began in the seventh century, and they would not claim descent from "the original Palestinians" until the 1950s. Anyone making such a claim via descent from Ishmael is deluded by tradition. Ishmael's father (Abraham) was a Chaldean (Gn 11:31; 15:7) and his mother (Hagar) was an Egyptian (16:1).

President Obama continues to apply pressure upon Israel to deal justly with the "Palestinians." He asks these misnamed people to cease their violence against Israel. He must know that this is like pleading with a hurricane for mercy. Since long before the days of Arafat and his partner, Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO Charter's call for Israel's annihilation has been the sworn purpose of every Islamic government in obedience to Muhammad and has been reiterated hundreds of times throughout the Muslim world.

As Mortimer Zuckerman, in his U.S. News and World Report editorial of June 9, 2009, recently reminded world leaders demanding that Israel make "peace" with the Palestinians, the latter's violence is fueled by "the incessant spewing of hatred against Israel in schools, mosques, and the media, especially TV. This poisoning of the mind of the next generation is not just the stock in trade of Hamas and Hezbollah but also of the schools and media controlled by Fatah and reporting directly to Abbas."

In spite of the facts, political and church leaders persist in avoiding any mention of Islam or Muslims when referring to their violence. That is always blamed on "extremists." In fact, Muhammad himself began this trail of death, and his followers have obeyed, as supported by the Qur'an. The simple truth of history is brushed aside by the UN and almost the entire world, including the church and, sadly, our own president.

Being repeatedly condemned by the world for trying to defend itself against suicide bomber attacks that were costing the lives of hundreds of Israelis, including women and children, Israel's only alternative was to build a barrier that would cut off the attackers from entering her homeland. World opinion expressed outrage. The World Court ruled 14-1 that construction must cease immediately and everything be dismantled, with compensation to the Palestinians. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on July 20, 2004, 150-6, calling on Israel to respect the World Court ruling. Only the United States, Israel, Australia, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau voted against the resolution. Israel rejected world opinion and, from necessity, has proceeded with construction. Though the barrier has not been completed as of this date, it has already almost totally cut off the infiltration of terrorists.

Israel subsequently "gave back" Gaza, which historically belonged to her. She generously left operative the huge greenhouses that had fed Israel and much of Europe with fresh vegetables and could have done the same for the new "owners." Instead, these new owners tore the structures apart, and the mob carried off the materials for their individual use, thereby losing the potential income from exports that Israel had derived as well as the ability to feed themselves.

Going back to history, in 135 A.D., the Romans destroyed 1,000 Jewish villages, killed 500,000 Jews, and enslaved thousands. Furious that they'd been forced to bring in more legions to quell the rebellion, the Romans angrily renamed what had for more than 1,500 years been known as Israel. They called it Provincia Palestina after the Philistines, Israel's ancient enemies. Those living there became known as Palestinians. Who lived there? Jews! So Jews, ironically were the first "Palestinians." This is what they were called (along with many derisive names that have followed them as they've been hunted from country to country). Only in the 1950s did the Arabs begin to call themselves "Palestinians" in order to gain worldwide sympathy for their acts of terrorism even as UN pressure squeezed Israel into an ever-smaller corner in order to facilitate her destruction. (We document all of this and much more in Judgment Day.)

Since 1948, Israel has been arming herself and fighting back. Her vow of "never again" will be fulfilled but not before Jewry worldwide suffers the worst horror of her history. Under attack by all of the world's armies (Zec 12:3; 14:2; Jl 3:2, Ezk 38:8,9 etc.), Israel will call upon the Messiah, and He will rescue her. It is all declared plainly by the ancient prophets of Israel in the Old Testament (the Tenach).

It has taken the Lord many years and many circumstances to open my eyes to these prophecies. It was all there in His Word, but I didn't understand. How blind I was!

In 1966-67, my wife and I, with our four young children, were living on the third floor of a small seventeenth-century castle in Switzerland. That year was to have been an intensive time of ministry to university students, but God had something far different in mind. Suddenly, an overwhelming urgency to pray for Israel came upon me toward the end of 1966. Even when giving thanks to God at mealtime, I was compelled to include this prayer, "O Lord, I pray that you will defeat, confound, confuse, and frustrate all those who plot the destruction of Israel; turn their counsel into foolishness and protect your ancient people from their evil designs. In Jesus' name, Amen!"

I didn't understand that prayer at the time, but my naiveté was soon dispelled. In Cairo, Egypt, I went into a travel agency and asked, "How can I get to Israel?" The man waiting on me took me aside and whispered, "If you mention that [expletive] word again in this country they'll kill you!" I was shocked. I knew the Bible well but had never realized the significance of Psalm 83: "...thine enemies...that hate thee...have taken crafty counsel against thy people, [saying] let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance." This destruction has been the determined goal of Islam since it was founded by Muhammad.

Muslims are fighting against the God who calls Himself the "God of Israel" 203 times in the Bible. What an embarrassment it would be if Israel could be destroyed! It could never happen, for that act would destroy "the God of Israel" as well. He will not allow it.

Interacting with the very friendly people our family met as we drove the length and breadth of Egypt in our VW minibus in late May 1967, we repeatedly heard the words, "The 19-year war." What war was this? It took a while for that cryptic phrase to sink into our dull understanding.  From the so-called 1948 cessation of hostilities until 1967 was 19 years. Even as they professed peace, but inspired by Egypt's dictator, Gamal Abdul Nasser, the 40 million Muslims surrounding Israel had been arming nonstop to achieve her destruction. Nasser had sworn to lead the Arab world to a glorious victory. The humiliating defeat of the Arab armies in "The Six Day War" of 1967 ended Nasser's bombastic boast that he would destroy Israel. He subsequently had a nervous breakdown from which he never recovered.

In May 1948, Israel had declared its independence and was instantly attacked by the combined might of 40 million Arab/Muslims surrounding her. This tiny nation of 600,000, with its hastily assembled, hurriedly trained, and poorly equipped army of 60,000, with weapons smuggled in from Czechoslovakia (France, Britain, America, et al., would sell them nothing) fought for its survival against an enemy that had sworn its utter annihilation. They "crushed 600,000 soldiers of four Arab armies, well trained and heavily armed [with tanks and planes, of which Israel had none], reinforced by units from seven additional Arab countries, not to mention the active help of the British." This quote is part of the lengthy endorsement of Judgment Day by a retired Israeli General.

Three times God calls Israel the "apple of his eye" and warns: "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye" (Zec 2:8; Dt 32:10; Lam 2:18). The statements that Barack Obama continually makes in favor of Islam are not only alarming for his own sake and the sake of the United States but are a slap in the face of the God of Israel. I can only warn him with what God himself told Abraham regarding the subsequent mistreatment of his descendants: "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gn 12:3).

In a hotel room in Tyre, Lebanon, the evening of June 3, 1967, our family prayed for direction from God. We had visas to drive through Syria into Jordan and then return by the same route. The newspapers the next morning gave the answer clearly. We immediately headed north through Syria and had, by God's grace, barely gotten across the border into Turkey when the war broke out. 

In spite of hundreds of very clear declarations by Jewish prophets and the promises that God has given to His people, about 30 percent of today's Israelis claim to be atheists. He wants to bless them and protect them, but how can He, when they continue to reject Him? The following is just a sample of what God has repeatedly said to His people: "I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries...fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.... But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would [have] none of me"
(Ps 81:11-16).

Israel is both under God's judgment because of its continual rejection of the God of Israel, but at the same time, He has not abandoned her, and woe to those who take God's judgment into their own hands!

In the meantime, the nations of the world continue to become a party to Islam's deception by attempting to force Israel into what can only be a false "peace." What Islam has in mind is not what the peacemakers naively intend. It's called a hudna, the "peace" that Muhammad made with the Meccans for ten years. Long before then, under a pretense, Muslims attacked and took over that "holy" city, which had so long been the goal of the hajj (long practiced before Muhammad's birth by most Arab tribes). Of course, this ancient custom, along with others, such as the feast of Ramadan, have been taken over by Muslims. Thus, history is perverted to make it seem that these had always been Islamic practices.

Ramadan had for centuries been agreed upon by warring Arab tribes to be 30 days of peace. At just the right time to allow him to attack a passing caravan, Muhammad received a "new revelation" that Muslims could fight during this time. Ramadan has become a time of the deadliest attacks of Shiites against Sunnis (does this demonstrate to the world that "Islam is peace?")

These prophecies are so important for the strengthening of our own faith, but what about those whom we want to bring into the faith of the God of Israel? We need to provide to everyone with whom we speak (as I often do for those with whom the Lord puts me in contact everywhere, but especially on airplanes) first of all, proof of God's existence. How better to do this than to take the approach of Zinzendorf with the King of Sweden, as we mentioned in Part I of this article, using biblical prophecies about Israel?

We can talk to others about God and Jesus Christ, but when we say "God," what do we mean? A "higher power" of some kind?  We have to be sure that those whom we want to introduce to the God of Israel understand who He is, why we believe in Him, and why we think the most intelligent decision they could make is to believe in Him as well.  TBC
 

How do our military families feel about Barry Hussein's anti-American, anti-troop lies?

video from Michelle Malkin

Young America's Foundation Summit on Radical Islam

Israel and Prophetic Proof Part I

Dave Hunt

"And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them....And they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God." Amos 9:14-15

         

About 150 years ago, the King of Sweden had troubling doubts about whether the Bible was really true in every word. He asked Count von Zinzendorf, bishop of the MoravianChurch, to give him proof that the Bible was truly inspired of God. The King had set aside 10 hours to hear what might be said. To his majesty's surprise, Zinzendorf informed him that the time allotted was far too much. He only needed to say one word. Astonished, the King asked what that could be. The Count replied, "Jews."

Today we would add one more word, "Israel." In Zinzendorf's day, that tiny and beleaguered nation, born on May 14, 1948, did not exist except in the hearts of Zionists who had never given up awaiting the fulfillment of the "God of Israel's" solemn promises. The continued existence of Israel today, surrounded by more than a billion Muslims who have sworn to exterminate her and who continually plot and repeatedly attack her in the attempt to do so, is one of the most astonishing miracles of modern times.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has blessed the Jewish people with a brilliance that generally far exceeds their cousins the Arabs and the rest of the Gentile world.

The Arabs have the oil, but the Jews have the brains. Lest I be accused of racism, one need only compare the numbers of Nobel prize winners among them. In the Arab/Muslim world of 1.4 billion there are 6 Nobelists: 3 for Peace, and 1 each for Chemistry, Physics, and Literature.

In the Jewish population of 14 million (one hundredth of the Arab world) there are 165 Nobelists: 51 for Medicine, 45 for Physics, 27 for chemistry, 22 for Economics, 11 for Literature, and 9 for Peace. This is astonishing!

Thank you, veterans and others fighting for freedom!

Links to enjoy:

Black Five

Michelle Malkin

Sean Hannity: Support Our Troops Links

Freedom post: Cheney's Speech

History Channel's Memorial Day Tribute

Obama saying "I'm sorry" to Germany for WWII??

EXCUSE ME??

Hat tip: Creeping Sharia twitter

DiCaprio and Winslet raise money to save life of Titanic survivor

GLENN: Oh, that's right, my friends. From behind my cardboard microphone, the March to Socialism which is in bookstores now, the audio book. Dateline: London. Titanic stars Leonardo diCaprio and Kate Winslet have pledged now to help the last survivor of the sinking of the ocean liner Titanic, Millvina Dean. She was just a couple of months old when the ship sank. She's 97 years old now, the last survivor. Dean has been living in the English city of Southampton since she broke her hip about three years ago. Gee, I wonder what happened. Did she get robbed or something? Stars say that they have thrown their support behind a fund which would subsidize Millvina Dean's nursing home fees. Wait a minute. Why is ‑‑ I have to ‑‑ Stu, is this in San Diego? Are you sure there is not in America? It's not in ‑‑ huh. I can't imagine why Leonardo diCaprio and Kate Winslet are being forced to step in and help pay for healthcare. I mean, it's nice and everything but it's socialized healthcare. There's no need. It's the greatest system on God's green Earth. There's nobody that wants for anything!

According to the report, Dean had to sell several Titanic mementos in order to raise cash as she struggles to keep up with nursing home fees.

There's no nursing home fees. Stu, this is wrong. This is universal. Everybody gets ‑‑ and she gets a lollipop at the end of the day every day.

STU: I bet the report comes from some capitalist journalism newspaper.

GLENN: Oh, I bet it's from Big Doctor. She's 97 years old. She's been paying into the system for at least 50 years. I'm sure she's feeling now like those taxes were well spent. Hey, thanks for the contribution; we normally save your life but you're kind of old now. I mean, wouldn't it make sense to spend money, you know, on somebody younger than you? You've led a good life. Maybe you can kick the bucket tomorrow. Our bad. Got to run. DiCaprio and Winslet started the Millvina Fund and launched it in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Interesting story about Northern Ireland, especially when it comes to healthcare. I mean, do they have enough? Sure. In Northern Ireland they have four health boards. Wow. One, no. Two, uh‑uh. Three can't even cover it. They have four health boards, and they have 19 health and social services trusts and 15 local health and social care groups and four health and social services councils which are all involved in the commissioning and provision of health and social services and yet all of those can't help the poor little old lady just try to stay in the nursing home. "Just let me breathe one more day." An iceberg couldn't kill this woman... but universal healthcare is about to.

Glenn Beck

Ann Coulter Quote of the Day May 6, 2009

The Japanese version of "waterboarding" was to fill the prisoner's stomach with water until his stomach was distended -- and then pound on his stomach, causing the prisoner to vomit.

Or they would jam a stick into the prisoner's nose so he could breathe only through his mouth and then pour water in his mouth so he would choke to death.

Or they would "waterboard" the prisoner with saltwater, which would kill him.

Meanwhile, the alleged "torture" under the Bush administration consists of things like:

-- "failing to respect a Serbian national holiday"; or

-- "forgetting to wear plastic gloves while handling a Quran."

Ann Coulter

Post-Exodus Isrealite sites uncovered?

A Haifa University archaeologist on Monday said he has unearthed structures in the shape of human feet believed to have been erected by the Israelites upon their initial entry to the Land of Canaan.

Prof. Adam Zertal said that the large compounds discovered in the Jordan Valley were "the first sites to have been built by the Israelites upon entering Canaan and manifest the biblical notion of claiming ownership of the land by setting feet on it."

Prof. Zertal's excavation team uncovered five large foot-shaped compounds that he identifies as the biblical site of Gilgal.

Zertal's most famous discovery is a compound on Mount Ebal near Nablus, which he identified as the site of the Covenant ceremony depicted in the biblical Book of Joshua. Other archaeologists have identified that site as a watchtower.

Since 1990, five sites shaped like human feet have been excavated in the Jordan Valley. All five date back to the early Iron Age (12th to 13th centuries B.C.E.), and their shapes indicate that they were used as communal gathering places.

Zertal said that the foot-shaped sites were used during ceremonies following the Israelites' entry into the Land of Canaan. He added that the concept of the Jewish pilgrimage to Jerusalem on three major holidays (known as "aliya la'regel" or ascending on foot) also originates from the foot-shaped sites in the Jordan Valley and Mount Ebal.

Necessary 'SHhortcuts'

In his press conference Wednesday night, President Obama offered a nice little sermonette on "shortcuts." Asked about his decision to release the "torture memos" and ban waterboarding, Obama said: "I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens, had 200 or so detainees. And Churchill said, 'We don't torture,' when ... all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat. ... Churchill understood, you start taking shortcuts, over time, that corrodes what's best in a people. It corrodes the character of a country." It's a nice, honorable statement. But there's not much evidence it's true. Jonah Goldberg

Pilgrims tracing the last steps of Jesus have been going the wrong way for 2,000 years, says historian

For the best part of 2,000 years, pilgrims have flocked to Jerusalem to retrace Jesus's final steps.

The Via Dolorosa, or 'Way of Suffering', took them from the Praetorium, where He was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, to the site of the Crucifixion  -  or so they thought

Now, it seems they may have been walking in the wrong direction.

A respected archaeologist claims that pilgrims have been starting from the wrong end of Jerusalem and that the locations of two of the holiest sites on the route are 'completely wrong'.

Shimon Gibson, a Holy Land specialist, said the traditional start of the Via Dolorosa, north of the Old City, should be at the other end of the city.

Since medieval times, Christians have assumed that the Praetorium, the starting point of the route and the Roman headquarters mentioned in the Gospels as the scene of Jesus's trial, was the Antonia Fortress which stood in the north of Jerusalem.

But Professor Gibson said there was 'no historical basis whatsoever' for this being the site where Jesus was tried and condemned to death by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.

(Alberge, [London Daily] Mail Online, 4/10/09.]

[The Berean Call: Traditions often prove to be contrary to Scripture. It may be exciting to see where Jesus walked, but that should never detract from the fact that believers ARE walking daily with Jesus.]

Ann Coulter on Tea Parties

How much would you have to raise taxes before any of Obama's constituents noticed? They don't pay taxes, they engage in "tax-reduction" strategies, they work for the government, or they're too rich to care. (Or they have off-shore tax shelters, like George Soros.)

California tried the Obama soak-the-productive "stimulus" plan years ago and was hailed as the perfect exemplar of Democratic governance.

In June 2002, the liberal American Prospect magazine called California a "laboratory" for Democratic policies, noting that "California is the only one of the nation's 10 largest states that is uniformly under Democratic control."

They said this, mind you, as if it were a good thing. In California, the article proclaimed, "the next new deal is in tryouts." As they say in show biz: "Thanks, we'll call you. Next!"

In just a few years, Democrats had turned California into a state -- or as it's now known, a "job-free zone" -- with a $41 billion deficit, a credit rating that was slashed to junk-bond status and a middle class now located in Arizona.

Democrats governed California the way Democrats always govern. They bought the votes of government workers with taxpayer-funded jobs, salaries and benefits -- and then turned around and accused the productive class of "greed" for wanting not to have their taxes raised through the roof.

Having run out of things to tax, now the California legislature is considering a tax on taxes. Seriously. The only way out now for California is a tax on Botox and steroids. Sure, the governor will protest, but it is the best solution ...

California was, in fact, a laboratory of Democratic policies. The rabbit died, so now Obama is trying it on a national level.

That's what the tea parties are about.

Ann Coulter

DARWIN AND RACISM

"Prior to Darwin, it was difficult to argue against the Judeo-Christian conception of the unity of man, based on the single creation of Adam and Eve. Darwin's theory suggested that humans had evolved over hundreds of thousands, even millions of years, and that the races of men had diverged while adapting to the particularities of local conditions. The impact of Darwin's theory was enormous."

--Robert N. Proctor (Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis [1988]

Christian Nation? Abe Lincoln thought so.

"Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

from Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address
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"That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never 
denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional 
disrespect of religion in general, or any denomination of Christians in particular."


July 31, 1846 - Handbill Replying to Charges of Infidelity
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"I do not think I could myself, be brought to support a man for office, whom 
I knew to be an open enemy of, and scoffer at, religion."

July 31, 1846 - Handbill Replying to Charges of Infidelity
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"I am much indebted to the good Christian people of the country for their 
constant prayers and consolations; and to no one of them, more than to yourself."

September 4, 1864 - Letter to Eliza Gurney

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------"In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book." 

September 7, 1864 - Reply to Loyal Colored People of Baltimore upon Presentation of a Bible
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"I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side." 

December 1862
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"Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty."

Lincoln's First Inaugural Address--March 4, 1861

Then...and now...

Phrase of the Day: Winston Churchill

The whole world would rejoice to see the Hitler of peace and tolerance, and nothing would adorn his name in world history so much as acts of magnanimity and of mercy and of pity to the forlorn and friendless, to the weak and poor.

Phrase of the Day April 2, 2009: Adolf Hitler

"My motto is: Destroy by all and any means. National  socialism will reshape the world."

Phrase of the Day: Adolf Hitler

"Only the warmongers think there will be war. I think there will be a long period of peace."

Geert Wilders Comes to America

Good minds are studied; great minds are prosecuted. If this historical dictum holds true, then Geert Wilders is a modern great mind.

The Dutch parliamentarian and leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) currently faces trial in his native Amsterdam for “hate crimes” and incitement, for the sin of quoting the Koran’s less flattering passages in his groundbreaking film, Fitna. (Click here to view it online.) His film explores the religious roots of Islamic terrorism on the national and individual level. He considers the Koran the blueprint for a totalitarian theocracy, telling the Hudson Institute last year, “Sure, there are a lot of moderate Muslims. But a moderate Islam is non-existent.” 

Although he lives under constant threat of death – a threat made all-too-real to his fellow Dutchmen Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh, both liberal-minded critics of Mohammedanism – he faces persecution for inciting his own peril. In addition to the Dutch trial, French “human rights activists” – in particular one Yassine Bouzrou – are suing Wilders for stating that many Parisian neighborhoods are “no-go areas for women without head scarves” and calling the 2005 riots a “Muslim intifada.” (FrontPage Magazine has noted the disturbing worldwide incidence of Muslim gang-rape, as well as Muslim riots in Paris.) The umpteenth French collaboration followed on the heels of the Kingdom of Jordan charging Wilders with blasphemy last summer. Another kingdom, Great Britain, denied Wilders entry in February. After he had been invited to screen Fitna before the House of Lords, his invitation was withdrawn under Muslim protest. When he arrived in the UK, he was detained for hours, then ejected from the country. 

Wilders, already of consequence for his defense of freedom, may attain another historical distinction: he may become the first man convicted for expressing the dominant view of his own country. FrontPage Magazine’s Jacob Laksin has noted Wilders’ policies include support for “restricting immigration from Muslim countries; for more aggressively monitoring domestic extremism, including radical mosques; and for reducing an indulgent welfare state that allows immigrants to live comfortably without assimilating” – all positions gaining ground as the traditionally tolerant land witnesses increasing physical assaults upon its homosexual population. It is precisely his homeland’s tradition of secularism and tolerance he wishes to uphold, as he takes up his newest battle: repealing EU hate speech laws. 

Despite his being on trial for allegedly offending his nation’s conscience, polls show if elections were held today, the PVV would win between one-fifth and one-quarter of the Netherlands’ 150 seats.

His stance – speaking out although it means traveling with a hefty contingent of security – has won him acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. FrontPage Magazine selected Wilders as its 2008 Man of the Year. He eschews personal glory, telling FrontPage in an interview, “Speaking out boldly cost me my personal liberty, with 24-hour security and police protection for more than four years now…I am no hero but I would rather be killed for what I say and believe than submit in silence to Islamic totalitarianism.” 

It is not everyday Americans have the opportunity to meet someone charged with thoughtcrime, but they will have just that opportunity this weekend, as the David Horowitz Freedom Center and the International Free Press Society (IFPS) welcome the man London turned away. DHFC and IFPS will bring Wilders, one of the most outspoken defenders of free speech, for his first visit to the West Coast this weekend, April 4-5. On Saturday, April 4, he will speak at ChapmanUniversity. Then, from 6:30-10 p.m., the FreedomCente will bring in the fearless MP for a dinner, the Californiapremier of Fitna, and a keynote speech in Beverly Hills. His tour will commence from 10 a.m.-noon on Sunday, April 5, in Los Angeles. 

Tickets are available from Stephanie Knudson: Stephanie@horowitzfreedomcenter.org, or by calling (818) 849-3470, extension 209. Due to security, advanced registration and pre-payment are required.

Those on the frontlines of the battle against totalitarianism are rare; opportunities to hear from and assist those directly under fire for their stance is rarer yet. This weekend affords the keepers of freedom’s flame an historic opportunity.

OREGON TEA PARTY-- TAX DAY APRIL 15, 2009!

City: Bend

Event Organizer: Lucy Brackett
When: April 15, TBA
Where: TBA
Contact: Email
Phone: 541-390-4486
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Coming Soon!

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City: Grants Pass
Event Organizer: Jack Swift
When: April 15, TBA
Where: TBA
Contact: Email
Phone: 541-474-2553
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Coming Soon!

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City: Medford
Event Organizer: Jerry McCauley
When: April 15, TBA
Where: TBA
Contact: Email
Phone: 541-778-3540
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Coming Soon!
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City: Portland
When: April 15, 3:00pm - 7:30pm
Where: TBA
Contact: EMAIL
Phone: 503.320.4399
Other Info:
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

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City: Roseburg
Event Organizer: Rich Raynor
When: April 15, TBA
Where: TBA
Contact: Email
Phone: 541-643-6292
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Coming Soon!

City: Salem (I'll be at this one--come join us!)
When: April 15, 11:00am - 1:00pm
Where: Capitol Building, In the Park
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:http://www.resistnet.com/group/oregon
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE
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Click HERE for more information from Fresh Tea Daily

James Madison envisioned this happening

From Why The Founding Fathers Would Want Obama's Plans to Fail by Byron York

For the times when a political leader would attempt to capitalize on those errors and delusions, the Founders prescribed the Senate, with its members elected to terms three times the length of those in the House, originally chosen not by the people but by the state legislatures. From Federalist 63:

“There are particular moments in public affairs when the people, stimulated by some irregular passion, or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be the most ready to lament and condemn. In these critical moments, how salutary will be the interference of some temperate and respectable body of citizens, in order to check the misguided career, and to suspend the blow meditated by the people against themselves, until reason, justice, and truth can regain their authority over the public mind?”

Now is the time for the salutary interference of temperate and respectable citizens, otherwise known as the 41 Republicans in the United States Senate. It is their job to help the president in areas where there is widespread agreement that he should be helped, and hold the line on everything else.

The Faith of Our Fathers--Gregory Koukl

The phrase "Founding Fathers" is a proper noun. It refers to a specific group of men, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention. There were other important players not in attendance, like Jefferson, whose thinking deeply influenced the shaping of our nation. These 55 Founding Fathers, though, made up the core.

The denominational affiliations of these men were a matter of public record. Among the delegates were 28 Episcopalians, 8 Presbyterians, 7 Congregationalists, 2 Lutherans, 2 Dutch Reformed, 2 Methodists, 2 Roman Catholics, 1 unknown, and only 3 deists--Williamson, Wilson, and Franklin--this at a time when church membership entailed a sworn public confession of biblical faith.[1]

This is a revealing tally. It shows that the members of the Constitutional Convention, the most influential group of men shaping the political foundations of our nation, were almost all Christians, 51 of 55--a full 93%. Indeed, 70% were Calvinists (the Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and the Dutch Reformed), considered by some to be the most extreme and dogmatic form of Christianity.

Benjamin Franklin

Even Franklin the deist is equivocal. He was raised in a Puritan family and later adopted then abandoned deism. Though not an orthodox Christian, it was 81-year-old Franklin's emotional call to humble prayer on June 28, 1787, that was the turning point for a hopelessly stalled Convention. James Madison recorded the event in his collection of notes and debates from the Federal Convention. Franklin's appeal contained no less than four direct references to Scripture.

And have we forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that 'except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.[2]

Three of the four cornerstones of the Constitution--Franklin, Washington, and Madison--were firmly rooted in Christianity. But what about Thomas Jefferson? His signature cannot be found at the end of the Constitution, but his voice permeates the entire document.

Thomas Jefferson

Though deeply committed to a belief in natural rights, including the self-evident truth that all men are created equal, Jefferson was individualistic when it came to religion; he sifted through the New Testament to find the facts that pleased him.

Sometimes he sounded like a staunch churchman. The Declaration of Independence contains at least four references to God. In his Second Inaugural Address he asked for prayers to Israel's God on his behalf. Other times Jefferson seemed to go out of his way to be irreverent and disrespectful of organized Christianity, especially Calvinism.

It's clear that Thomas Jefferson was no evangelical, but neither was he an Enlightenment deist. He was more Unitarian than either deist or Christian.[3]

This analysis, though, misses the point. The most important factor regarding the faith of Thomas Jefferson--or any of our Founding Fathers--isn't whether or not he had a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The debate over the religious heritage of this country is not about who is ultimately going to heaven, but rather about what the dominant convictions were that dictated the structure of this nation.

Even today there are legions of born-again Christians who have absolutely no skill at integrating their beliefs about Christ with the details of their daily life, especially their views of government. They may be "saved," but they are completely ineffectual as salt and light.

By contrast, some of the Fathers may not have been believers in the narrowest sense of the term, yet in the broader sense--the sense that influences culture--their thinking was thoroughly Christian. Unlike many evangelicals who live lives of practical atheism, these men had political ideals that were deeply informed by a robust Christian world view. They didn't always believe biblically, having a faith leading to salvation, but almost all thought biblically, resulting in a particular type of government.

Thomas Jefferson was this kind of man. In Defending the Declaration, legal historian Gary Amos observes, "Jefferson is a notable example of how a man can be influenced by biblical ideas and Christian principles even though he never confessed Jesus Christ as Lord in the evangelical sense."[4]

What Did the Founding Fathers Believe and Value?

When you study the documents of the Revolutionary period, a precise picture comes into focus. Here it is:

• Virtually all those involved in the founding enterprise were God-fearing men in the Christian sense; most were Calvinistic Protestants.
• The Founders were deeply influenced by a biblical view of man and government. With a sober understanding of the fallenness of man, they devised a system of limited authority and checks and balances.
• The Founders understood that fear of God, moral leadership, and a righteous citizenry were necessary for their great experiment to succeed.
• Therefore, they structured a political climate that was encouraging to Christianity and accommodating to religion, rather than hostile to it.
• Protestant Christianity was the prevailing religious view for the first 150 years of our history.

However...

• The Fathers sought to set up a just society, not a Christian theocracy.
• They specifically prohibited the establishment of Christianity--or any other faith--as the religion of our nation.

A Two-Sided Coin

We can safely draw two conclusions from these facts, which serve to inform our understanding of the relationship between religion and government in the United States.

First, Christianity was the prevailing moral and intellectual influence shaping the nation from its outset. The Christian influence pervaded all aspects of life, from education to politics. Therefore, the present concept of a rigid wall of separation hardly seems historically justified.

Virtually every one of the Founders saw a vital link between civil religion and civil government. George Washington's admonitions in his Farewell Speech, September 19, 1796, were characteristic of the general sentiment:

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports....And let us indulge with caution the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.[5]

Second, the Founders stopped short of giving their Christian religion a position of legal privilege. In the tradition of the early church, believers were to be salt and light. The First Amendment insured the liberty needed for Christianity to be a preserving influence and a moral beacon, but it also insured Christianity would never be the law of the land.

This ought to call into serious question a common tactic of the so-called Religious Right. "We were here first," their apologists proclaim. "Our country was stolen from us, and we demand it back." Author John Seel calls this "priority as entitlement."

The sad fact of the matter is that cultural authority was not stolen from us; we surrendered it through neglect. Os Guinness pointed out that Christians have not been out-thought. Rather, they have not been around when the thinking was being done.

Choosing cultural monasticism rather than hard-thinking advocacy, Christians abandoned the public square to the secularists. When the disciples of Jesus Christ retreated, the disciples of Dewey, Marx, Darwin, Freud, Nietzsche, Skinner, and a host of others replaced them.

Seel warns of the liability of an "appeal to history as a basis of Christian grounds to authority."[6] Playing the victim will not restore our influence, nor will political strong-arm tactics. Shouldn't our appeal rather be on the basis of truth rather than on the patterns of the past?

The faith of our Founding Fathers was Christianity, not deism. In this regard, many secularists--and even some Christians--have been wrong in their assessment of our history. On the other hand, many Christians have also been mistaken in their application of the past to the present.

Christians have no special privileges simply because Christianity was America's first faith. "If America ever was or ever will be a 'Christian nation,'" Seel observes, "it is not by conscious design or written law, but by free conviction."[7]

Success for the Christian cannot be measured in numbers or political muscle, but only in faithfulness. Our most important weapon is not our voting power, but the power of the truth freely spoken and freely heard.

Recommended Reading:

Let Freedom Ring--A Basic Outline of American History, available through the Family Research Council, 700 Thirteenth St., N.W., Suite 500, Washington D.C. 20005, 1-800-225-4008

The Light and the Glory, Peter Marshall and David Manuel (Grand Rapids: Revell, 1977)

Christianity and the Constitution--The Faith of Our Founding Fathers, John Eidsmoe (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987)

Defending the Declaration--How the Bible and Christianity Influenced the Writing of the Declaration of Independence, Gary T. Amos (Brentwood, TN: Wogelmuth & Hyatt, 1989)

Positive Neutrality: Letting Religious Freedom Ring, Stephen T. Monsma, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993)

---

[1] John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987), p. 43.

[2] Benjamin Franklin, quoted by James Madison in Notes on Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1966, 1985), p. 209.

[3] Eidsmoe has a very thorough and even-handed section on Jefferson.

[4] Gary T. Amos, Defending the Declaration, (Brentwood, TN: Wogelmuth & Hyatt, 1989), p. 9.

[5] The Annals of America, (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976), vol. 3, p. 612.

[6] John Seel, No God But God--Breaking with the Idols of Our Age, Os Guinness and John Seel, eds., (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992), p. 64.

[7] John Seel, No God But God--Breaking with the Idols of Our Age, Os Guinness and John Seel, eds., (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992), p. 69.

Stand To Reason

B Hussein StinkO: "FDR didn't spend fast enough"

Oh, my... Hang on to your wallets, kids. 4 year bumpy spending ride just gettin' started...

An explanation of political systems--why America is a republic, not a democracy

WATCH HERE

Check this out--history will tell, GW. You will be missed.

Stunning photographs of GW and comments by White House photographers

Words of the Wise: Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson

Right now, it seems unlikely that anyone will ever long for “the good old days” when Bush II was president, although what happens in the future may alter our perceptions. If Barack Obama tries to conciliate Islamic militants and they, in turn, inflict a devastating strike on an American city, or if, in his zeal to be the second coming of FDR, Obama drives the economy into a second Great Depression, then the American people might gain a new-found appreciation for the presidency of George W. Bush.

Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson is a faculty member, economist, and contributing scholar with the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College

Yer Up...who cares what it costs--it's history, dagnabbit!

Ten Weird Facts about US Presidents

1. The inauguration of Andrew Johnson as Abraham Lincoln's vice-president in 1865 was marred slightly by the fact that Johnson was incredibly drunk. He'd been downing whiskey in an effort to medicate himself for typhoid fever (that was his excuse, anyway) and was so far gone by the time he was sworn in that he slurred his oaths, and had to abandon his attempts to swear in new senators.

2. These days, most presidents have a cat or a dog as their presidential pet. However, John Quincy Adams and Herbert Hoover both had pet alligators, Calvin Coolidge had two lions, a wallaby, and a pygmy hippopotamus (among others), while Theodore Roosevelt kept a badger called Josiah who used to bite people.

3. William Henry Harrison's 1841 term as the ninth president is the shortest ever - he made it through just under 31 days of presidency before inconveniently dying of pneumonia.

4. Sucky presidential nicknames: Andrew Jackson was known as 'Old Hickory', Ulysses S. Grant was unflatteringly known as 'Unconditional Surrender Grant', short-lived William Henry Harrison was 'Tippecanoe', and Zachary Taylor revelled in the name 'Old Rough And Ready'.

5. Twentieth president James Garfield had a party trick in which he would simultaneously write in Latin with one hand, and Ancient Greek with the other. Show-off.

6. The only president to get married in the White House was Grover Cleveland in 1886. The 49-year-old Cleveland married 21-year-old Frances Folsom, who he called 'Frank', and whose legal guardian he had previously been after her father (a close friend of his) died. This would probably be more controversial if it happened today.

7. The Secret Service has codenames for the president, vice-president and their family members. Ronald Reagan was 'Rawhide', George H. W. Bush was 'Timberwolf', Bill Clinton was 'Eagle', George W. Bush was 'Trailblazer' and Barack Obama is 'Renegade'. Al Gore's daughter Karenna frequently complained that she was put on the spot and told to choose her own code name; she quickly regretted opting to be called 'Smurfette' wherever she went.

8. William Howard Taft was the heaviest American president - so large that he occasionally got stuck in the White House bath, and had to be helped out by aides. He eventually got a bigger bath.

9. In elections since the end of WWII, the taller of the two main party candidates has won the election 75% of the time. Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush are the only post-war presidents to have defeated taller rivals. Since 1900, nobody under the height of 5ft 9in has ever won the presidential election.

10. Thomas Jefferson, the third (and many would say greatest) president of the United States was not merely one of the key Founding Fathers and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence - he also invented the swivel chair.

Article HERE