Today's Blog News Headlines

Good Evening all. Here are some of today's top story's.

This coming from the ACLJ tonight...

Since the nomination of Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court of the United
States, the ACLJ has been ''on guard.'' We have carefully monitored the
statements coming down the media pipeline from liberal Senators and left-wing
activist groups for any false claims made against this worthy candidate.
And we have quickly reported these to you.

That is why I am writing this email to you today. The ACLJ has prepared written rebuttals to two reports recently issued by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and People For the American Way. Both reports represent faulty attempts to discredit the record and judicial philosophy of Judge John Roberts.

Below is a brief summary of each report:

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU). In their report, AU is critical of Judge John Roberts's position on church/state issues. They go so far as to insinuate that the confirmation of Judge John Roberts would endanger religious liberty in America.

The fact is that Roberts understands the First Amendment and
the Establishment Clause and has a record of protecting the constitutional
rights of people of faith. Furthermore, he understands that the judiciary is
not the legislature - that the role of a judge is to interpret the Constitution
... not re-write it.

In reality, AU is afraid that Judge Roberts does not subscribe to its extreme secularist view that the government must avoid any recognition of the nation's religious heritage. Their report resorts to hysterical warnings that do not bear up under rational scrutiny.

People For the American Way (PFAW). The report published by People For the American Way is full of hyperbole and distortion. The thrust of the report is that confirming Judge John Roberts would ''jeopardize'' American civil liberties.

Here is just one of PFAW's outlandish claims: Roberts has a record of hostility to separation of church and state.

And the truth: Roberts criticized the Supreme
Court's decision holding that a moment of silence at the beginning of the school
day constitutes an ''establishment of religion.''

PFAW's 50-page report
is nothing but a desperate attempt to smear one of the best-qualified nominees
in the history of Supreme Court nominations. It deserves no credence from the
American people or the United States Senate.


We will continue to alert and
inform you of these ''last ditch'' efforts by left-wing activist groups to
discredit Judge John Roberts - and help set the record straight.

In Other News: A new blog has entered the blogosphere!
Meet Alex and Brett Alex & Brett Harris.

...two homeschooled twins from Oregon and bloggers at The Rebelution. These guys are great! I greatly look forward to reading more of their blog. Welcome guys!

Also in the blogs tonight...

Agent Tim continues to provide great coverage of this crisis for homeschoolers in Germany.

D3 points out a major flaw in an evolutionist's theory about the death of a dinosaur.

FaithMouse points people to the light of Christ in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

La Shawn Barber has a roundup of bloggers covering the hurricane. If you would like to be added just send her a trackback.

SecDef tells of life in ROTC.

SpunkyHomeSchool covers a story of homeschooling/Christian discrimination. We need to keep an eye on this story.

Spunky Jr. almost has part 2 of her story done as well as covering the hurricane and the homeschooling in Germany story.

Virtue Blog continues to provide a several Christian teen's views of the news.

Voice in the Wilderness states his thoughts on Cindy Sheehan.

That's all for now! Talk to you later!

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

Virtue, Cattle and School

Hello everyone!

The day before yesterday, my processor died. :-( After much search, I bought a new one from a friend of mine and it worked! :-)

In other news:

Virtue Magazine is up! I hope you will all stop by and read part two of my ongoing article on Christianity in Government.

Click here for parts one and two

I now have a job feeding cattle for Dad so I now have a steady income! *big grin*

Politics have been rather dull as of late, but things should get interesting again when Congress reconvenes. (In September I believe)

School has been going well. I am using Saxon Math this year with a computer tutor and I am greatly enjoying that.

I have added two new blogs to my blogroll, Amy's Humble Musings and Pseudo-Polymath. I hope you will stop by and look them up!

That's all for now! Talk to you later!

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

My new book bag!

Hey guys! We went to the library yesterday and I have a new store of great books! Have a look!

Political History:

1. Winston Churchill
A book about one of my favorite British Statesmen. :-)

2. John Adams by David McCullough
I have read Mr. McCullough's book "1776" and have watched the show he hosts on PBS "American experience". He has shown himself to be a great writer and great historian and I look forward to reading this biography by a great author about a great president.

3. Henry Clay and the Art of American Politics
This is a book about one of Americas greatest Congressmen, Henry Clay.

Civil War History:

4. The Coastal War

5. Ironclads of the Civil War

Both of these look exciting.

World War II History:

6. The Italian Campaign
I have read this one before but after watching a movie about a brave monk in the Vatican during this time, I wanted to refresh my memory on the details of that theater.

7. Bombers over Japan
This is a really cool book, writing mostly on the topics of the B-29 bomber and its use in WWII. Since I got to look at a B-17 (a smaller cousin of the B-29) this book is especially interesting.

Just for Fun:
8. Ben and Me
A funny book written about Ben Franklin by his advisor and friend, Amos the mouse. :-)

9. Legends of King Arthur
I have not yet read this one, but I am guessing the Round Table might be included somewhere. : )

10. A Treasury of Great Mysteries - Volume 1
A collection of great mysteries.

Until next time!
*The Boy Scout Blogger pulls on a trench coat and slips away into the blogosphere*

Can you read this?

Hehe, have a look at this. Believe it or not you can read it. *grin*
Note: Here is a hint, don't try to sound it out, just read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg .The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are,the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt!

I hope to blog more later today,
Travis

Paintball!*

Well, guys today it happened.
With a bit of planning and preparation, I invited some of the fellows over and we got to play paintball! The guys got here about 7:00 this morning and we walked down to the hay lane to play.
(Note: We use slingshots mostly, as a rule as they are a great deal cheaper to play with. Guns run anywhere from 20 to 1000 dollars whereas a good sling is about 10. PLUS with a sling you can play 4 hours with 200 paintballs whereas a good gun can shoot that many in about 2 minutes)
The second round was most likely my best of the day. I ran across the gap in between hay rows (big round bales) and I saw Jeff and Taylor running down the other side of hay with my name written on two of their paintballs. *gulp* I turned and ran down the row of hay. Jeff was in the lead right behind me. I turned around as he released his paint and missed me by just a hair. I fired and he was out. However Taylor was almost to me and he had a ball in his slingshot and I did not. *gulps again* I took off running back down the lane with Taylor in hot pursuit, loading a new paintball as I ran. I spun around and faced him as his paint streaked past my head. He dove behind the hay reloading. I jumped up and leaned over on top of the hay and popped him in the back as I fell. Yippee! That was fun. :-)

Probably my worse play in the game happened soon after. Coy and I were attacking Jeff from behind the hay bales. He had to much cover to hit without a lucky shot though, so I dashed across the open space of the field to the (hopeful) cover of the hay. I dove around the corner, to run into a paintball. Bradford was sitting right behind the corner ready to blow anyone away who tried to flank. Oh well. :-)

But man, I sure had fun. We are hoping to play again next month.

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

*This was not a BSA activity.

Retired Naval Officer gets the better of 4 burglars

Click here for full story

Oh man, this is great! This is the kind of news story I love hearing. This fine fellow defended his 76 year old wife and his home of 46 years against 4 hoodlums and emerged victorious!

What Senator John Glenn Said

This email was forwarded to me by a member of Virtue Magazine. It brings up some good points of consideration on the War in Iraq. Read on...
- Travis

Things that make you think a little:

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January.
In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in themonth of January.
That's just one American city,about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq.

When some claim that President Bush shouldn'thave started this war, state the following:

a. FDR led us into World War II.
b. Germany never attacked us; Japan did.
From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost ...an average of 112,500 per year.

c. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea.North
Korea never attacked us.
From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost ...an average of 18,334 per year.

d John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962.
Vietnam never attacked us.

e. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.
From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost ..an average of 5,800 per year.

f. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent.
Bosnia never attacked us.
He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.g.

In the years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya , Iran , and NorthKorea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

The Democrats are complainingabout how long the war is taking. But ..

It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Renoto take the Branch Davidian compound.That was a 51-day operation.

We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records. It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!! Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB !The Military morale is high!The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts But Wait . there's more!

JOHN GLENN (ON THE SENATE FLOOR)Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13

Some people still don't understand why military personnel do what they do for a living. This exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of oneman's explanation of why men and women in the armed services do what they do for a living. This IS a typical, though sad, example of whatsome who have never served think of the military.

Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn): "How can you run for Senatewhen you've never held a real job?"
Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):"I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps.I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions.My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It was not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the daily cash receipts to the bank." "I ask you to go with me ... as I went the other day...to a veteran's hospital and look those men .with their mangled bodies . in the eye, and tell THEM they didn't hold a job!
You go with me to the Space Program at NASAand go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee...and you look those kids in the eye and tell themthat their DADS didn't hold a job.
You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand inArlington National Cemetery, where I have more friendsburied than I'd like to remember, and you watch those waving flagsYou stand there, and you think about this nation,and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job?

What about you?"

For those who don't remember ..During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney representing the Communist Party in the USA .Now he's a Senator!
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.

It might not be a bad idea to keep this circulating.

A Boy's Memoirs

Today as I sit here before the keyboard, I'm just reminiscing just a bit over the last few years. I am now 18, WOW, since when? I will be graduating next year and Lord willing, will be heading off to face "college". This year I took my first ACT, scored 23 and am planning to take it again. This year I served as a Senate Page here in Oklahoma and learned a lot from that. I got to go to Boy's State, passed a prayer protection bill for public schools while there, and meet and interacted with a world of new people, some good and some bad. Within the last year or so, I became too old for Scouting, but I still look back on those days with many, many fond memories of campfires, capture the flag, football, and mountains. Mr. Parks, our Scoutmaster took great care to instill in our Scouting experience Christ at every opportunity. As our troop pushed forward up the road to Eagle Scout the verse be adopted as our unofficial troop slogan lead us forward. This verse, even now, hangs in my room, with a magnificent eagle as its background.

"Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up {with} wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary."

Is 40:31

I love this verse. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
Again, within the last year or two, my friends and I made a western movie which I greatly enjoyed being a part of. After Scouting my dad and I took Tae Kwon Do, a self defense class I greatly enjoyed. Within this same time period, my sister and I were baptized in water, symbolic of dying with Christ to sin, and being raised up in newness of life. My ongoing interest in history lead me to watch with great passion the 2004 presidential election. As my political views and opinions grew, I discovered a delightful little internet program known as "blogger". Having equipped and prepared my wonderfully creative and utterly verbose URL "travis17blog" I began to explore the wonderful world of "blogging" while covering the presidential race. Along the way, I meet Agent Tim, Jake Smith and Alex King, three experienced bloggers who befriended me and where the first linkers to my blog. And the rest is history.

How as I face my last year in school, I look to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to guide me through 100 more such glorious and some not so glorious times.

Looking forward to today,
Travis

Virtue - Oh, what a Mag!

Good morning everyone!

Virtue Magazine has launched a new issue this morning as well as a great new site design!

This issue covers the topics of:

Evolution vs. Creation.
Blondie's 75 anniversary
Homeschool Apologetics
Movie Review: War of the Worlds
And part 1 of Christianity and Government, a three part series I am writing on our Christian Heritage. I hope you enjoy this issue!

But the great new world of Virtue does not end there...

A new group of bloggers has decided to take up the keyboard in the ongoing fight to preserve freedom and conservatism. This young group of dedicated bloggers is determined to bring you the best Conservative, Christian, Teen Blogging on the Web.

Enter Virtue Blog, your new home page for Christian commentary by teens on everything from world events to culture.

Headed up by team leader Tim Sweetman, the Virtue team includes the writings of Jake Smith of Mission 3:16, Kristin Braun, daughter of the popular SpunkyHomeschool, and Casey Coolidge, a distant relative of former president Calvin Coolidge (you know this guy is good). We also have Travis Henry, the Blogging Boy Scout, and Alessandra Kroger, the Editor of Virtue Magazine. In addition, we have the extremely promising blogger Matt S., and awesome technician and blogger, Alex King.

We are very excited about this we group blog and hope you will all enjoy it. Have a great day everybody!

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

Paintball, Age of Empires III and the Virtue Blog

Hello everyone! Here is a rundown of thing that are going on in my life at this time.

Thoughts of paintball are floating in the air over here these days. A fight is planned for tonight at 8. The guys at our church are going to get together and play in the dark with spotlights.

*grin*

Also I found a really good deal on paintballs, themselves yesterday and I got some 7000. *shocked look* However most of them are not for me, some 6400 of them have been sold to friends with really good guns that use much paint. :-)

The lawn has grow once again and I have it 90% done. :-)

There is a essay contest I think I will enter, it wants to know what is the best way, in my opinion, to control nuclear weapons proliferation. I have been giving it so some thought and think, after some more research I hope to present an interesting essay.

Now for the biggest gaming news of the year...my favorite game of all time is coming out with a new version... Age of Empires III!!!!!!! I have been playing Age Of Empires II ever since it was released 6 years ago and had almost given up on ever seeing a third game release. But it has come! The programmers set out to make this the best looking game ever and boy howdy, they got pretty close. I am thinking of starting a clan for AoE soon, if there is any interest.

Tomorrow is the opening day for Virtue Blog! We have a great lineup of bloggers including Agent Tim, Spunky Junior, Jake of Mission36Teen, Alex of SmartHomeschool, myself and many others! I hope to provide a link for you tomorrow morning.

That's all for now!

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

News of Travis

Hey guys!

Dad and I have been looking into getting on at the Postal Service and I got letter yesterday about that. The test day is set and now I just need to study, study, study. *grin*

We are getting ready to start school here in a week or two.

I am wanting to play some paintball really bad now that I read Jake's post.

I have been thinking about doing some computer upgrades. Right now I have a:

Athlon XP 1600+
256 SD RAM
Geforce 4 MX 440, 64 MB, AGP graphics card.
80GB hard drive
CD Writer

Some upgrades I have been think of are:

Athlon XP 2000+ or Athlon 64
512 DDR RAM
Geforce FX 5600, 128 MB, AGP

Or I thought about getting a laptop, however those seem to be to high for my budget at this time. Hey, what are the specs of you computer? Leave me a comment and let me know. *grin*

I have been trying to beat the computer at Axis and Allies, but I have not as yet. They keep blowing me away with tanks and bombers and the like. Oh well, I guess I shall defeat them someday.

That's all for now!
Travis

The Past Week's Activities

Hello everyone!

As explained by an earlier post, I have been quite busy. Now that I have some breathing time, I thought I would let you know what I have been up too.

Our family has been attending the ATI basic seminar this week. It is a week long study on how to improve and understand character and attitudes in yourself and others through scripture. It has been very eye opening. One of the things they encourage is Bible reading. A system they recommend is reading the Proverb that goes with the day of the month. I have started that and it has been very enjoyable. They also told of a neat way to read through the psalms each month. It goes like this. Each day you read the psalm that corresponds with the day of the month, for example, today is the 5th so you would read psalm 5. Then you add 30 to the days date and read psalm 35, after that psalm 65 and so on, until you have read 5 psalms. So by using this system you read 1 Proverb and 5 psalms a day. Not bad at all. As a side note, these meeting take place in the evening, so I have not been able to keep up with the news as I normally would.

The hay mowing is complete and my uncles well satisfied with the hay they collected.

My aunt, uncle, and one of our cousins from Texas came up for a short visit and I greatly enjoyed that.

We went to the library and I got a Henty book, entitled "With Lee in Virginia". I have not read this title is some time and am greatly enjoying perusing it pages.

I downloaded a neat, new, computer demo for the game "Axis and Allies- RTS". It is pretty fun. It allows a player to replay World War II. You get to use airplanes, tanks, and even paratroopers. :-)

Well, that's all for now!
The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

Brusque, Bossy, Busyness

Busy, busy, busy... A lot of things are going on right now, most of which would make good blog posts, however the arch enemy of all things related to blogging, known here by the code name "Triple B", has raised its head, and demands attention. I hope to grace the blogosphere with a post at some time this evening.(or whenever Pluto changes orbit, if not before)

*goes to make spaghetti*

Reviewing Roberts

Hat Tip: faithmouse.com