Patience, Obedience, and Prayer at Valley Forge — George Washington

American Minute with Bill Federer

Driven into Pennsylvania by the British, the Continental Army set up camp at Valley Forge, DECEMBER 19, 1777, just 25 miles from British occupied Philadelphia.

Lacking food and supplies, soldiers died at the rate of twelve per day. Of 11,000 soldiers, 2,500 died of cold, hunger and disease. A Committee from Congress reported “feet and legs froze till they became black, and it was often necessary to amputate them.”

The Federalist Papers No. 83 — Alexander Hamilton

by Alexander Hamilton

The Judiciary Continued in Relation to Trial by Jury

To the People of the State of New York:

THE objection to the plan of the convention, which has met with most success in this State, and perhaps in several of the other States, is that relative to the want of a constitutional provision for the trial by jury in civil cases. The disingenuous form in which this objection is usually stated has been repeatedly adverted to and exposed, but continues to be pursued in all the conversations and writings of the opponents of the plan.

The Real Melt-Down in Copenhagen — Caruba

By Alan Caruba

If the United Nations cannot run a conference in Copenhagen without riots in the streets, why would anyone want to turn over the governance of the world to these people?

For old “skeptics” like myself, watching the chaos in Copenhagen was sheer joy. It’s always a mistake for liars to gather in one place to trumpet their lies because it always attracts people who believe that the truth is the best antidote.

DOJ Issues Gag Order In Black Panther Probe

Liberty Alerts, Judicial Watch

The Justice Department has ordered government lawyers who filed a complaint against the New Black Panther Party for intimidating voters in last year’s presidential election not to cooperate with a nonpartisan civil rights commission investigating how the Obama Administration handled the case.

Federal prosecutors filed a civil complaint in Philadelphia against members of the radical black revolutionary group for bullying voters with racial insults, profanity and weapons. Clad in military attire, the Black Panther thugs were captured on video in front of precincts during the 2008 presidential election.

TSA Clears Illegal Immigrants To Work At NY Airport

Liberty Alerts, Judicial Watch

In the latest of many shameful lapses, the federal agency in charge of securing the nation’s transportation system approved background checks for a dozen illegal immigrants working in sensitive areas of a busy U.S. airport.

The illegal aliens, from Central America and Mexico, worked in operational areas of Stewart International Airport, a 2,400-acre facility located about 60 miles north of New York City. Stewart is a major passenger airport for the state’s mid-Hudson region that also handles large quantities of cargo and serves as a military field.

Call Your Senators Over the Weekend

Liberty Alerts, Eagle Forum

Call your Senators over the weekend at 202-224-3121 and urge them to kill The Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act of 2009 (H.R. 3590)

Health Care Reform information

Under the Radar: Central Banking Ponzi Scheme — Alden

Free Enterprise Zone, Diane Alden

“On the Blog Over America” @ Facebook, Senior Editor Diane Alden responds to Morgan Stanley Resumes PAC Giving After TARP Funding Repayment – Bloomberg.com: Morgan Stanley’s political action committee resumed donations in the third quarter of this year after the New York-based investment bank paid back its U.S. taxpayer rescue funds, Federal Election Commission records show.

I KNOW this is a boring topic for most folks … but jobs and being able to pay the bills, buy the kids shoes, get the latest electronic gadget, pay the doctor and dentist, grocer and light bill can be boring as well. So we have to pay attention to some boring stuff that is going on under the radar while the TV people bla…ther on about Tiger Woods or the latest scandal du jour.

Financial Crisis and the Federal Reserve’s Punch Bowl — Chidem Kurdas

Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, Chidem Kurdas

Why did the U.S. financial system nearly collapse last year? People blame Wall Street’s excessive greed and risk-taking. But without easy money, the massive risk-taking could not have happened.

To be sure, financial firms leveraged up—that is, they did a lot of business with borrowed money. That juiced up revenues and bonuses in the boom—and exacerbated losses in the downturn. Selling notes based on questionable mortgages as collateral was one method for tapping into the money sloshing around.

Feminist Attack on Marriage — Schlafly

by Phyllis Schlafly

While the gay lobby gets most of the blame for the assault on marriage, the modern feminist movement has always been aggressively anti-marriage. When the movement marched onto the stage of the culture war in the early 1970s, they called themselves the women’s liberation movement. Their buzz word was liberation, which specifically meant liberation from home, husband, family and children.

The Presence of God With His People — Samuel Dunbar

God and the Gavel, Volume I, No. 11, Dunbar

Excerpt from Samuel Dunbar’s election sermon, The Presence of God With His People, May 28, 1760

And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin, The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. 2 Chron. XV. 1, 2.

The occasion of this divine message to King Asa, and his army, was the compleat victory, which, thro’ help of God, and in answer to humble, believing prayer, they had very lately obtained over the huge and formidable army of Aethiopians, who had invaded their territories.

Burdens Part of Eternal Plan for Growth and Progress — L. Whitney Clayton

A Way of Life, L. Whitney Clayton

Excerpt from Elder L. Whitney Clayton’s October 2009 General Conference Address, “That Your Burdens May Be Light.”

No matter the burdens we face in life as a consequence of natural conditions, the misconduct of others, or our own mistakes and shortcomings, we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father, who sent us to earth as part of His eternal plan for our growth and progress. Our unique individual experiences can help us prepare to return to Him. The adversity and afflictions that are ours, however difficult to bear, last, from heaven’s perspective, for “but a small moment; and then, if [we] endure it well, God shall exalt [us] on high.” We must do everything we can to bear our burdens “well” for however long our “small moment” carrying them lasts.

The Crying Need in America: Individual Reformation — Joseph F. Smith

Prophet Statesmen, Joseph F. Smith

Excerpt from a President Joseph F. Smith’s article in the Improvement Era, year 1917, Volume 20: 738.

Character of a Nation Depends on Individuals. The character of a community or a nation is the sum of the individual qualities of its component members. To say so is to voice at once an ordinary platitude and an axiom of profound import. The stability of a material structure depends upon the integrity of its several parts and the maintenance of a proper correlation of the units in harmony with the laws of forces. The same may be said of institutions, systems, and organizations in general.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing — Charles Wesley

American Minute with Bill Federer

“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” was a carol written by Charles Wesley, born DECEMBER 18, 1707, at Epworth, England.

The 18th child of Rev. Samuel and Susanna Wesley, he excelled in school and came to the attention of Garret Wesley, or Wellesley, a Member of Parliament with a large fortune in Daugan, Ireland. Having no child, he offered to adopt Charles as his heir, but Charles declined.

The Federalist Papers No. 82 — Alexander Hamilton

by Alexander Hamilton

The Judiciary Continued

To the People of the State of New York:

THE erection of a new government, whatever care or wisdom may distinguish the work, cannot fail to originate questions of intricacy and nicety; and these may, in a particular manner, be expected to flow from the establishment of a constitution founded upon the total or partial incorporation of a number of distinct sovereignties. ‘Tis time only that can mature and perfect so compound a system, can liquidate the meaning of all the parts, and can adjust them to each other in a harmonious and consistent WHOLE.

Betting America’s Future On The “Healthcare” Circus — Adamo

by Christopher G. Adamo

At this writing, the prospect of America’s descent into the abyss of socialism hinges on an impasse between Senator Joe Lieberman (I.-CT) and Barack Obama’s replacement Senator Roland Burris (D.-IL). The irreconcilable difference between the two pertains to the inclusion in Obamacare of a “public option,” (the latest euphemism for an eventual total government takeover of the entire American medical industry).

University of Minnesota Defends Ideological Screening of Ed Students

Liberty Alerts, F.I.R.E.

MINNEAPOLIS, December 17, 2009—The University of Minnesota–Twin Cities is defending its plans to enforce a political litmus test for future teachers in the face of national outrage. The plans from its College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) involve redesigning admissions and the curriculum to enforce an ideology centered on a narrow view of “cultural competence.“ Those with the “wrong” views are to receive remedial re-education, be weeded out, or be denied admission altogether.