Bush, North Korea and Democrats

You've got to give the Democrats one thing. They tend to stay on message. North Korea is an example. In the past week or so I've heard a number of Democrats say that Bush coulds have achieved a break through with Kim Jong Il if only he would have opened the door to unilateral talks 5 years ago. I watched Chris Dodd and Joe Biden on separate occasions look directly into the camera and mouth this absurdity. On neither occasion were the Senators challenged on the statement by either interviewer - Tim Russert and Judy Woodruff. The fact of the matter is that the North Koreans have been playing the US like a fiddle for years under the unilateral approach of the Clinton administration. It was not until Bush drew the line in the sand and insisted on multilateral talks including South Korea, Japan, China and Russia all major players in the region that the North Koreans began to pay attention. China exerts great influence and when they made it clear that a nuclear armed rogue nation on their border was not acceptable the lunatics in the North began to pay attention. Once it was clear that all of these countries and not just the US were insisting on the North backing off nukes unilateral talks between the US and Kim could take place and a solution could be agreed on. I've noticed that if Democrats repeat lies long enough we tend to accept them as reality. I don't. And I hope more people will pay attention to the facts. Don't rely on the major media to point out discrepancies. Rick

Gran's apple pie

Angels and apples

Papa eating fresh picked apples with Ashlyn and Ian

Ashlyn's first riding lesson on Breezy at the Rolling C Ranch

Ian at the Rolling C Ranch

Dave and Rick camping in the Lewis & Clark National Forest

Dave duck hunting on the Flathead River

Rick & Dave floating the Yellowstone River

Dave & Rick at Chico Hotsprings

Rick on Flathead River

Papa & Ashlyn hiking to Strawberry lake. First snow in September

Islam: A middle age religion in the age of technology

Today I hiked through a foot of snow to about 6000 ft above Marias Pass (Also known as Theodore Roosevelt Pass) between West Glacier and East Glacier on beautiful route two in northwest Montana. They extended elk season and that was my excuse for braving 20 below zero wind chill. Many people think I'm crazy but you'd have to be there to really know how wonderful it is. Just dress warmly and get in shape. The main sensation was not cold; it was peace. I began to wonder about peace. I'm sad to say that I'm not optimistic that we'll find it other than in isolated seclusion. Anywhere there are fundamentalist Muslims there is turmoil and it's not going to go away. Remember I'm viewing this through my western Christian cultural prism. That does not change the fact that many thousands if not millions of lunatic fanatics are living among us in Europe and the US and they are harnessing the power of the internet to achieve their cancerous growth. Soon they will be using WMD's against us. What's a culture to do? From the looks of it Europe may have already thrown in the towel. France of all unlikely places may just have a chance to reverse the trend under the leadership of Nicolas Sarkozy. I've heard the argument that Islam is a peaceful religion, but if that is so where is the outrage from the broad Muslim community when these crazed zealots cry for the execution of a British school teacher in Sudan? Folks I've read "The Life of Muhammad" and most of the Qur'an and please believe me when I tell you peace and love are not the underpinning principles of that "religion". Intolerance, punishment and conquest are the dominant themes I found. Now as a Christian I need to love my neighbor, but martyrdom went out of style in our culture half a millennium ago and I'm hesitant to love a guy who is trying to blow up my airplane. Can a strong leader help us rally to victory in this cultural war? I hope so, but I don't see any Sarkozys on our Presidential horizon. I hope I'm wrong. Rick

Islam: A middle age religion in the age of technology

Today I hiked through a foot of snow to about 6000 ft above Marias Pass (Also known as Theodore Roosevelt Pass) between West Glacier and East Glacier on beautiful route two in northwest Montana. They extended elk season and that was my excuse for braving 20 below zero wind chill. Many people think I'm crazy but you'd have to be there to really know how wonderful it is. Just dress warmly and get in shape. The main sensation was not cold; it was peace. I began to wonder about peace. I'm sad to say that I'm not optimistic that we'll find it other than in isolated seclusion. Anywhere there are fundamentalist Muslims there is turmoil and it's not going to go away. Remember I'm viewing this through my western Christian cultural prism. That does not change the fact that many thousands if not millions of lunatic fanatics are living among us in Europe and the US and they are harnessing the power of the internet to achieve their cancerous growth. Soon they will be using WMD's against us. What's a culture to do? From the looks of it Europe may have already thrown in the towel. France of all unlikely places may just have a chance to reverse the trend under the leadership of Nicolas Sarkozy. I've heard the argument that Islam is a peaceful religion, but if that is so where is the outrage from the broad Muslim community when these crazed zealots cry for the execution of a British school teacher in Sudan? Folks I've read "The Life of Muhammad" and most of the Qur'an and please believe me when I tell you peace and love are not the underpinning principles of that "religion". Intolerance, punishment and conquest are the dominant themes I found. Now as a Christian I need to love my neighbor, but martyrdom went out of style in our culture half a millennium ago and I'm hesitant to love a guy who is trying to blow up my airplane. Can a strong leader help us rally to victory in this cultural war? I hope so, but I don't see any Sarkozys on our Presidential horizon. I hope I'm wrong. Rick