Scouting the News: Square Talk, Paintball, and Harriet Miers

Good morning everyone!

First up this morning is,

Harriet Miers and Square Talk Radio:
The new Square Talk Radio show is up! Listen to Alex King , Tim Sweetman and myself discuss in-depth the pros and cons of Harriet Miers nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States.
My thoughts at this point are: "She was not my first choice, but as I hear more about her personal views, the better she is sounding."

Other links below:

Half of Senate Republicans doubt Miers

Transcript: Conservatives Debate Miers' Nomination

Miers gets standing ovation at church

Judiciary committee chief decries criticism of Miers

Miers Mire From Hugh Hewitt and World Magazine



Paintball:

Just a quick personal update on me, yesterday after church about 10 of the teens all got together and played paintball! It was so much fun. One of the guys(Arron) bought a stock gun at Walmart and then upgraded it to look just like a M-16, it was incredible! And one of the other guys(Joseph) upgraded his from semi-auto to full auto(machine gun)! He can get about 13 balls a second with that thing. As I arrived and took in these things, my response was one of joy for them and slight butterflies from me. I have a $20 pump action gun which gets 4 balls a second on a good day. *weak smile* But, then Joseph was nice enough to long me his spare gun, a really nice pump with great sniper capabilities. After firing it a few rounds I knew I would enjoy using it. My strategy was to work in co-op with a gunner in a swat team like manner to make the best use of both our strenghs, accuracy and rate of fire. The greatest disadvantage to using a pump/sniper is that you can fight a gunner/semi-auto or better head to head. You have to use stealth and your accuracy to win.

The first round Donny(A nice fellow with a semi-auto) and I were in a sub-team together. At the beginning of the game we moved down the middle of the field, one of us covering the other while our partner run to a forward bunker. We started to take fire from the left, which we returned. Soon Donny landed a good shot and one of their players had been eliminated. I asked Donny to cover me while I ran across a little clearing in the woods to get to another bunker. A minute or two after I dashed into the bunker, I started to see figures in camo darting through the woods in front of me. The enemy team was counter-attacking. I ducked behind the bunker and opened fire on them. Suddenly, loads of paint begin pounding against my bunker. It was Joseph(the guy with the machine gun) and one other fellow. I called for Donny to cover me, but he didn't respond. One thought when through my head, "uh oh". Paint was hitting my bunker like there was no tomorrow when suddenly I saw the enemies flanker strafing across my field of fire. I got off about 2 shots when the incoming paint found its mark. I had been eliminated. As I was walking back I saw Donny coming back to the battleline. He told me he had run out of paint and had been forced to go back and reload. Oh dear.

The next game was probably my best, Arron(the M-16 guy) and I teamed up. Gunner and sniper working together. It was awesome! We flanked on their right side and totally demolished their flank and center. That was a awesome round.

The next round Arron, another guy and myself were flanking again when we were pinned down by Joseph! He was well dug in and was pouring out the paint. Arron and the other fellow pushed on toward the flank and I remained to cover the center and work my way to a strategic bunker. I heard Arron call that he was eliminated (gulp) so I made my move and dashed to the bunker. Donny and Joseph were slugging it out and I made it to the bunker unseen. I watched and waited. Then I made out Joseph's form as he raised out of the brush. I fired twice and he quickly ducked back behind his bunker. He then opened fire on my position and I in turn ducked. Then I waited. Joseph and Donny were still trading shots and I think Joe thought I had moved to another bunker. I raised up, was very thankful I was in full camo, and leveled my gun on a tree limb and waited. Then I saw Joe slowly raising up to get a better shot at Donny. I waited until I could see his waist above the brush then fired two shots. He spun around as the first shot sang past him, and was almost back behind his cover when my second shot caught him! Whoopee! And that was then end of that round.

Altogether, it was an incredibly fun day.

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

Scouting the News

Happy Birthday!
First up today, Happy Birthday Alex and Tim! That's right SmartHomeschool and Agent Tim have been blogging for a year now! That is so cool that we all started a blog (unknowingly) within a week of each other! Truly incredible.

Virtue Magazine launched

Virtue Magazine issue 19 is up and running! Please check it out!

Rumor Debunked

Another interesting new tidbit, I have heard the rumor that at a meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, President Bush said the following:

'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.' And I did. And then God would tell me, 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq.' And I did,

This has since been proven false. Abbas calls it false as does the White House.

Harriet Miers

President Bush today gave a strong speech in support of Mrs. Miers today on his radio show.

Transcript here

Bush calls Miers a conservative nominee and asks for conservative support

Miers and a History Squinting Lefty

Hehe, this article makes me happy. The guy is obviously a lefty, but he tells us right wingers a thing or two.

"Miers, like Bush himself, is classic Texas conservative Establishment, with the addition of Christian fundamentalism. What I mean by fundamentalist is one who believes in both biblical inerrancy and salvation by faith alone."...

She is enrolled in the Valley View Christian Church of Dallas, which she attended for at least 20 years before moving to Washington five years ago. Among her fellow churchgoers was Nathan Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court, considered second only to Priscilla Owen as that court's most adamant anti-abortion judge."

Sweet! Now this guy either doesn't know his history or looks at it through left wing glasses(only sees what he wants to see) because he uses a Madison quote:

As an 1803 quote attributed to James Madison goes: ``The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries.''

to back up his point. However if you look at this history a little deeper you will find that Madison is right but this fellow is wrong. The founders did not want only on Christian denomination in power at any time. They had way to much of that back in England where you were thrown in jail if you were more Protestant then the king. However they had no intention of removing Christianity from government! They only wished to see that no one denomination could run the government and persecute the other denominations. I cover this topic in-depth in my Virtue Magazine series Christianity in Government. You can find them all here.

(Also see David Bartons article on this issue here

Thats all for now!

Travis

GOP email

Here is a copied email I just received from the GOP. Have a look. In response to a comment I would like to say that I don't feel that Miers was the best choice but she might do. Or I suppose if we conservatives got REALLY mad we could reject her nomination and demand someone like Janice Rodgers Brown, Priscilla Owens or Edith Jones. That could get kinda interesting.
- The BBS

"Dear Travis,

On Monday President George W. Bush nominated Harriet Miers to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the United States Supreme Court.

Harriet Miers has a long and distinguished career as one of the foremost lawyers in the country which makes her exceptionally well qualified to serve on the United States Supreme Court. As a Justice on the Supreme Court, she will strictly interpret the Constitution and laws of the United States, not legislate from the bench.The President has once again nominated someone to the federal bench who stand strong for our shared principles. Like Chief Justice John Roberts, Harriet Miers will bring to the Supreme Court modesty, humility, and a conservative judicial philosophy.

In recent days, many conservative leaders are rallying to support her nomination.

Dr. James Dobson:
"We welcome the president's nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court. He pledged emphatically during his campaign to appoint judges who will interpret the law rather than create it. He also promised to select competent judges who will 'not use the bench to write social policy. To this point, President Bush's appointments to the federal bench appear to have been remarkably consistent with that stated philosophy."

David N. O'Steen, Executive Director - National Right to Life Committee:
"President Bush has an excellent record of appointing judges who recognize the proper role of the courts, which is to interpret the law according to its actual text, and not to legislate from the bench. We believe that Harriet Miers is another nominee who will abide by the text and history of the Constitution."

Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel - American Center for Law and Justice:
"At a time when the High Court is facing some of the most critical issues of the day - including a number of cases dealing directly with abortion and life issues - the person who replaces Justice O'Connor is critical. She [Harriet Miers] is bright, thoughtful, and a consummate professional and I enthusiastically endorse her nomination. Once again, President Bush showed exceptional judgment in naming Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court to replace Justice O'Connor"

Roberta Combs, President - Christian Coalition of America:
"She [Harriet Miers] was the first woman to be elected the Texas State Bar Association President and the first woman to be hired in her law firm and to become President of the law firm. I trust that she will be an excellent addition to the High Court and all Americans will be proud of her."

Dr. Richard Land:"I'm supporting her because I know this president. There is no issue he is more committed to than turning around the role of judges in this culture and his commitment to strict-constructionist, original- intent jurists. There is no promise he has kept more faithfully."

Take Action! Sign our petition in support of Harriet Miers

Take Action! Let us know why you are supporting President Bush and his nomination of Harriet Miers.

Email faithandvalues@gop.com and let us know why you are supporting her nomination.

Sincerely,
David Rexrode
Director of Conservative Development "

Harriet Miers - The Winds Are Shifting

Hey guys,
As more information is becoming available about Harriet Miers, I am becoming more and more favorable towards her confirmation. After a visit to AlbertMohler.com I found two very informative posts.
The first one called, What Should We Think of Harriet Miers? is a very good post listing the pros and cons of her nomination.

In the second one here, Dr. Mohler quotes from these two articles,

In Midcareer, a Turn to Faith to Fill a Void

Strong Grounding in the Church Could Be a Clue to Miers's Priorities

Both posts are very enlightening and take a look into the character of this lady. Dr. Mohler speaks directly to concerned conservatives like myself in this selection of his first post on the subject:

"Conservatives who have long been troubled by the courts are always (justifiably) concerned that every new nominee is another David H. Souter. In other words, another nominee represented as a conservative who, once on the bench, turns out to be another judicial activist. There are two reasons why this is not likely to be a good analogy in this case. In the first place, President George H. W. Bush had no personal knowledge of David Souter when he nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1990. President George W. Bush has known Harriet Miers for over a decade and has worked with her closely. As the President made clear in his remarks yesterday, he knows Harriet Miers very well, and he trusts her heart. Given the fact that she worked so closely with the President on judicial appointments, this is a significant positive factor. Secondly, President Bush has established a track-record of outstanding judicial nominations at every level, even as he has articulated a vision of judicial philosophy and constitutional interpretation that should give us confidence. As I see it, the President deserves our support for this nomination unless clear evidence should indicate otherwise. I do not expect any such evidence to appear."

These points are very encouraging to me as well as the repeated emphasis on her membership in a conservative Christian and pro-life church and the abundant praise of the ACLJ, including the Jay Sekulow report on her overtly pro-life stance within the American Bar Association. Again I don't see why Bush didn't pick a proven conservative with a long track record, such as Edith Jones. I think that would have made most conservatives very happy, and there is not much the left could do about it. It would have also drawn some very far right wingers back into the GOP who have joined other political parties such as the Constitution Party. But, as more of Mrs. Miers beliefs come forward, I am growing more favorable.

I am hoping to get a show together today on Square Talk today to talk about the split opinions within the GOP. I think the bottom line is that conservatives aren't just willing to take the President at his word anymore. There have been too many disappointing judicial picks by Republican Presidents, and "We The People" are ready to take on anyone from the President on down to make sure our views are heard and meet. I think that is great! The power in the US has always belonged to the people(even though the people have often given it to others) and I am glad to see that the people of the United States are awaking to the fact that all Americans must play a part in their government. I don't think this is totally all about Miers, it is about the Presidents conservative base holding the President acountable on a national scale, that is something new in modern American Politics. We want facts about nominees, not just the Presidents say-so, and I think that is a good thing.

Other Bloggers covering this issue are Legal Redux, Pete's Place, Spunky Jr. and of course, ConfirmThem.com.

Miers Links and Commentary

What to think, what to think on Harriet Miers?

Some conservatives today voiced their concerns about the Presidents nomination of Harriet Miers today in a private meeting.

On the flip side, Listen to Jay Sekulow's audio clip on Harriet Miers and have a look at this.

ACLJ Calls Harriet Miers - President Bush's Nominee to Replace Justice O'Connor - an "Excellent" Choice for the Supreme Court

(Below quoted from Jay Sekulow)
"Harriet Miers is an excellent choice with an extraordinary record of service in the legal community and is certain to approach her work on the high court with a firm commitment to follow the Constitution and the rule of law. I have been privileged to work with her in her capacity as White House counsel. She is bright, thoughtful, and a consummate professional and I enthusiastically endorse her nomination”

Hmm, interesting. So Mr Sekulow knows Mrs.Miers personally? That's a good thing.
He goes on to say,

“We look forward to a speedy confirmation process and will work aggressively to ensure that Harriet Miers gets full and fair consideration before the Senate. We call on members of the Senate to reject the partisan political rhetoric and focus on the judicial philosophy of this conservative mainstream nominee.”

Some pretty high praise coming from the ACLJ. If she is a conservative, (which it is looking more and more like she is) I would like to see her confirmed. The only concern I have heard from other conservatives is that we just don't know what she believes. Well, I hope we are starting to get that information. completelytly understand the conservative confusion on this ladies nomination, no news was quick to come on just where she stands on some of these issues. The best thing she can do is get some people who know where she stands(Jay Sekulow) to start telling the public her record. That is the quickest way to reunited the conservatives behind her or against her is to let her true stance come out.

I am still unhappy that Edith Jones was not appointed, but perhaps this lady will do. I would have really liked to have seen President Bush make a strong political statement by apointing a well-known conservative, but if this lady can stand in the gap against abortion supporters, I am willing to back her up.

However I still think it would be wise to wait a bit before calling her stance on the issues either way, because even Dr. Dobson isn't sure yet.

The Political Perusal: The War in Iraq - Right or Wrong?

Last week, I laid out an invitation to any interested blogger to write their thoughts on the War in Iraq. I have since received some great replies and I hope you will enjoy reading them! (Articles are listed in the order they where submitted.)

Travis

1. First up we have this great article by SecDef.

In his analysis of the War he covers five areas of discussion from which he draws his conclusion. Namely,
The Role of Government in Defense
Constitutionality of the "War"
Reasons for War
The link to Al-Qaeda (This one is good!)
"Divide and Conquer."

2. Next we have this article by a new member of the blogosphere, A Tinted View.

He is a second year seminary student and a good writer, so stop over and give him a big welcome to the blogosphere!

3. Next we have this article by Hannah of Recordari.

Her article sets out to "show that George Bush, president of the United States, made a noble and ethical decision when he initiated the Iraq War" and she covers it in six sections with many quotes scattered throughout.
The Beginning of a War
A Need for Freedom
The Motivations
A Presidents’s Reasoning
“Nothing Good”
A President’s Resolve

4. Next up is this article by Lita Harman of Virtue Magazine.

She uses quotes links and historiargumentsents to drive home her point that the War in Iraq is indeed a just war.

5. And last, but certainly not least, we have this article by David Ketter of the Account.

This very good article goes to the heart of the issue, when should a nation wage war, period? David Ketter(with a little help from Thomas Aquinas) shows that this war meets the Aquinas requirements to declare war:

Just Authority
Just Cause
Just Intent

And raps it up for this edition of the Political Perusal. A big thanks to all who contributed!

Was this fun? Did you enjoy this selection of articles? If so, would you enjoy seeing another bunch of articles next week on a different topic? Please, tell me what you think.

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

The Boy Scout Blogger's First Anniversary

Hello everyone!

Yes, it is true, I have now been at this for a whole year. Wow, I can't hardly believe it has been that long. I started this blog with the vague idea of typing something and maybe covering the 2004 presidential and senatorial elections. As I started typing about these issues and covering events, I was struck by just how incredible it was to be able to type something and it be available to just about anyone with an internet connection. Communication is a wonderful thing, and blogging has made communication that much easier. Then I started running onto other bloggers, the first 3 I met are now my fellow commentators on SquareTalk Radio, Agent Tim(a big hat tip to him for providing this great graphic), Mission3:6teen, and SmartHomeschool. We swapped links and AIM tags and haven't stopped talking since! *grin* Then later along came this idea for a teen political/news online magazine. Alex and Jake created the site for the new staff and so became Virtue Magazine, currently in its 18th issue. I began to meet other bloggers, Spunky Jr., The Account, SecDef, and even FaithMouse! :-) It has been a blast!

So, where will the BSB go from here? Well, I will be graduating this year and will most likely begin college next fall. I am currently planning to major in history(or history education) and then go to law school. I hope to grow in Christ and learn more of His wonder and glory. I want to be a man he would be pleased to call His. I think that is every young Christian man's desire and I pray that we would accomplish that goal.

Announcements:

The Political Perusal should be up tomorrow.

There is a new Scouting blog devoted just to Christian homeschoolers! Jay Ryan, a Christian Scoutleader in Ohio has asked me to help out with this blog, so be checking in there for my Scouting memoirs and suggestions. *grin*

Blessings upon all you who honor and fear His name!
The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

Square Talk Radio

Hey guys!

First up, the Boy Scout Blogger's First Anniversary is tomorrow!

Now on with the news. *grin*

Today, I am happy to report that a new Radio Show has entered the blogosphere! Agent Tim, SmartHomeschool, and I got together and tried our best to play Hannity, Mohler, and Hewitt. The 3 of us in addition to Mission3:6teen, have launched a show called SquareTalk Radio. Our first show deals with John Roberts confirmation and the constitutionality of the government rebuilding the Gulf Coast. I fear I said "Uh..." one hundred time too often , but I hope you can all over look that. :-) We should get better at this the more we do it, and I hope you can stand us until then. *grin*

With all that said, enjoy the show!

Also in the news today, President Bush nominated his new pick for O'Conners seat on SCOTUS, Harriet Miers. I have no idea what to think on this lady yet.

ConfirmThem.com has mixed feelings.

Jay Sekulow likes her.

Hugh Hewitt calls her a "B+".

Townhall.com reports:

"Democratic strategist Bob Beckel on Fox News today:

I'm telling you we're working on it. Just finish that up. So we're relieved that he didn't pick people that would have been from our standpoint quite unacceptable. We don't know a lot about her, we have to wait and see. But it's an important job and we'll learn more about her. But we didn't -- we didn't get a jones and that's important to us.
Well, at least someone is "relieved" ...

UPDATE: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has said he is "happy" with the pick..."

(Travis's Comments) That makes me mad. Why didn't we get a Jones? We have conservative majorities in the House and the Senate. We have a Republican President. Why in thunderation are we not getting die hard pro life conservatives on the Court? Maybe one of you guys can tell me that, but I really want to know. Why in the world is President Bush waffling on topics of this importance? These people "may" turn out ok, but as I said on SquareTalk Radio a day or two ago, after a justice in on the Supreme Court for LIFE, it's a little late to find out what they believe. We can pray and hope that Mrs. Miers is what we would like her to be but it doesn't seem we have any guaranty.

Rush Limbaugh gave his thoughts today saying:

"This is a pick that was made from weakness. There was an opportunity here to show strength and confidence, and I don't think this is it. There are plenty of known quantities out there who would be superb for the court."

Which was responded to later by Vice-President Dick Cheney:

"I'm confident that she has a conservative judicial philosophy that you'd be comfortable with, Rush."

Read the very interesting transcript here.

The bottom line is I would love to see this lady turn out to be a great conservative as many people say she will be, but I would have liked to have seen a proven conservitive selected.

What do you think of this new nominee? Please drop me a comment and let me know.

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook prepares to run for Governor of Oklahoma!

Hey guys!

Another bit of local news here, one of Oklahoma's best Congressmen, House member Ernest Istook (R) is considering running against incumbent Governor Brad Henry(D). Mr. Istook is one of my favorite Congressmen largely due to his wonderful stance on Ten Commandment displays, prayer in school, and other issues of importance to Christians. I cannot think of a better candidate to run against Gov. Brad Henry. Even if a Washington poll is convinced of his defeat. Gov. Henry is playing the tricky game of being a blue governor of a red state and I think Mr. Istook could have a very good chance at the office. I will look forward to this race with great anticipation.

In other news:

The Boy Scout Blogger will be celebrating its first anniversary in 2 days! That's right on October the 4th I will have been blogging for 1 year! I can't hardly believe it has been that long! I hope to have a surprise or two for you guys on the 4th so make sure to log in then!

Also, if you are planning to enter the Political Perusal, remember your entry must be in by Wednesday. We have 4 posts submitted so far and I am looking forward to bringing them to you soon!

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

Explosion at the OU Football Game

Apparently, there has been a at least a suicide, at worse a suicide bomber at the OU game tonight in Norman. Some person blew themselves up about 100 yards from Gaylord Family-Memorial Stadium where the game took place. No damage appeared to be done to anyone else but this person. The Police found another explosive device and detonated safely.

Click here for updated coverage from Newsok.com.

A Political Perusal

Hello everyone!

I have decided to begin a new line of posts here at the Blogging Boy Scout called "A Political Perusal". This posts will contain a question of interest to me, which I will ask any readers to answer with a post or comment. If you answer with a blogpost, I will give you a link on a summary post and hopefully send your blog some new readers. Here is the question I would like you to answer.

The War in Iraq - Right or Wrong?

So please send in your answers! Some bloggers who I would love to see tackle this topic are:

Agent Tim

D3's Blog

Mission3:6teen

SecDef

SmartHomeschool

The Account

The Rebelution

But, anyone is allowed to participate, although I do reserve the right to edit or reject articles. This does not mean I will kick an article just because it is anti-war, it just means I retain sole editing power if some odd incident should bestir itself.

Please write away! Please post a comment and tell me when you have it done. The deadline for entry's is Wednesday.

Update: After some council with my good friend Agent Tim, I have extended the deadline for articles to Wednesday to allow for more time to get out the word about the event and encourage new and old bloggers to join in.

News Roundup

First lady makes her reality TV debut

Senate confirms Roberts as chief justice
Comments: My mood right now? Cautious optimism. I would really like to know where Mr. Roberts stands on abortion issues. However, I am inclined to accept Mr. Roberts as an acceptable justice due to the great support given him by such people as Hugh Hewitt and the ACLJ. We have some very critical cases coming before the court soon which will better then anything else show Mr. Roberts views on a whole plethora of issues from the Pledge of Allegiance to intelligent design in school. At this point, only time will tell.

Who's next in line for a Supreme Court nomination?
Comments: One of the people listed here, is my personal pick for a Supreme Court seat, Edith Hollan Jones. A die-hard pro-life conservative, I believe Mrs. Jones would be a great voice for the Supreme Court.

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

Doing better!

Hey guys!

Just a quick update on my health, I am feeling better, but since the pollen levels are so high right now here in OK, when I when outside today my throat got sore again. BUT, a cool front is moving through and I am hoping that will settle all that stuff down.

In other news:

I got the book "Blog" from the library today! I am really looking forward to reading it and I hope to share my thoughts about it with you guys.
Also here are a news story I found to be of interest.

Intelligent design faces first big court test @ MSNBC

Darwin's theory is just that, a theory @ Virtue Blog

This case is centered on the question:
Can a specific scientific theory that covers all the facts about life on earth AND points out gaping holes in any other theory, be taught in public school because said theory happens to contain a Creator?

To ban this theory for schools in unthinkable, if the theory fits and explains the facts better then all others, it should be taught in school, regardless or the fact that in contains a Creator. That is just pure untarnished science.
My personal ability to debate this point needs work,(I tend to spend to much time on constitutional issues *grin*) however if you would like to do so, I would like to recommend a good friend of mine who specializes in discussions of this sort. His blog is Rejection of Mediocrity so if you would like a good debate on this topic, please give him a try. *grin*

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

Sick day

Hello all,

I would like to ask for all of you to remember me in your prayers the next few days. I am dealing with allergies and have had a bit of a sore throat more of the day. I am starting to get better but would be very grateful for your prayers.

That's all for now,
Travis

Randomish Thoughts

Good day all!

Today we went to our Grandmothers after church. That was great fun, I got to wash our suburban, a 3/4 ton pickup and a sudan all after dark. *grin* It was cool to be able to get them all shiny clean and watch them glitter in the moonlight.

I also had time to watch a bit of the History Channel, they were recreating a Egyptian mummy.

I think I shall plan some tennis games for our church in the near future as well as a LAN party perhaps. *grin*

Also I am currently reading a very interesting book on the Spanish Armada, called, cleverly enough "The Armada". It almost is a continuation of the G.A. Henty book, "Saint Bartholomew's Eve". It goes into more detail on what happens in France after that grave event.

On another note, Virtue Magazine is up.

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

School and Lawn Mowing

Hey guys!

Today has been a pretty normal day. School work, cattle feeding and a bit of lawn mowing filled the day. Also had a little time to watch the hurricane Rita coverage on MSNBC. It looks to be a bad storm but not near as bad as the traffic out of Houston right now. Cars are backed up as far as 100 miles in some places. Yikes!

Also had an update on John Roberts confirmation hearing. He passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 13-5 in favor (that includes Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn voting in favor) The ACLJ tells us to expect the Roberts confirmation to go to the full Senate tomorrow, with a vote by the middle of next week.

Also if you would like to keep "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, please add your name to the ACLJ petition here

There is also big new breaking over at The Account. I don't think I could have said it better then David so here it is!

"D3, author of In Rejection of Mediocrity, has teamed up with Ryan B, a fellow teen from Mississippi who found himself and his family disinherited by Hurricane Katrina. Not one to sit around (as D3 has always been, and apparently, Ryan B is the same...), the two put their heads together and started a blog called Gulf Coast Connection. According to the site, the purpose is to find "a way for teens displaced by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita to connect with their friends." They do this by collecting a profile and email address of the said persons and posting them for their friends to find. Personally, I think this approach is visionary and hope that it goes well for Ryan and others like him. If you know someone affected by Katrina or Rita, please get them hooked up with GCC."

Man, what a cool idea! I may have to slip over there and get an interview in with one of those guys. *grin*

Well, that's all for now!
Travis

New Poll!

Hey guys! As I am covering the Pledge of Allegiance controversy, I have decided to ask you, my readers, what you have to say in this matter. Therefore my new poll question is:

"Should the phrase "Under God" remain in the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Please cast your vote and tell me.

Also, here are the results from my last poll question,
"Should audible prayer be allowed in school for Teachers or students?"


Yes (56)58%
Yes - See comment (5) 5%
No (32)33%
No - See comment (4) 4%

I am happy with these answers. Approximately 63% of my readers are sensible prayerful folk, as for the other 37% well, I am glad your reading. I hope I can show facts through this blog and on Virtue Magazine that you will consider and possibly change your mind on this issue.

That's all for now!
Travis

Update: I have reset the poll votes and rewritten the poll question due to the fact that the question on this post and the question in the poll differed. But it is all fixed now so please vote again!
Thanks,
The BBS

Oklahoma and its Tornados

This topic may not be that inclusive with my many readers from out of state, but some of these jokes are quite funny. (I predict that Jake will be rolling on the floor laughing). Without further ado, a Tornado Glossary(a forwarded email).

Travis
P.S. Look for the rest of my Pledge of Allegiance post later today.
Update: It is up!


For those of you who aren't familiar with tornadoes & are hearing news coverage of them, I put together a short glossary to help you understand....

Fujita Scale: Scale used to measure wind speeds of a tornado & their severity.

F1: Laughable little string of wind unless it comes through your house, then enough to make your insurance company drop you like a brick.Oklahomans enjoy standing on their porches to watch this kind.

F2: Strong enough to blow your car into your house, unless, of course, you drive an Expedition & live in a mobile home, then strong enough to blow your house into your car.

F3: Will pick your house & your Expedition up & move you to the other side of town.

F4: Usually ranging from 1/2 to a full mile wide, this tornado can turn an Expedition into a Pinto, then gift wrap it in a semi truck.

F5: The Mother of all Tornadoes, you might as well stand on your front porch & watch it, because it's probably going to be the a last sight before you die.

Meteorologist: A rather soft-spoken, mild-mannered type person until severe weather strikes, & they start yelling at you through the TV:"GET TO YOUR BATHROOM OR CLOSET OR YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!"

Storm Chaser: Meteorologist-rejects who are pretty much insane but get us really cool pictures of tornadoes. We release them from the mental institution every time it starts thundering, just to see what they'll do.

Tranquilizer: What you have to give any dog or cat who lived through any of the Oklahoma tornados because every time it storms, they tear your whole house up freaking out of their minds.

Moore, Oklahoma: A favorite gathering place for tornadoes. They like to meet here & do a little partying before stretching out across the rest of the Midwest.

Bathtub: Best place to seek shelter in the middle of a tornado, mostly because after you're covered with debris, you can quickly wash off & come out looking great for the local & national TV crews.

Severe Weather Radio: A handy device that sends out messages from the National Weather Service during a storm, though quite disconcerting because the high pitched, shrill noise just like an alarm, sounds suspiciously just like a tornado. Plus the guy reading the report just sounds a little too turned on by the tornado activity.

Tornado Siren: A system the city spent millions to install, which is really useful, unless there's a storm or a tornado, because then of course you can't hear them.

Storm Cellar: A great place to go during a tornado, as it's almost 100% safe, though weigh your options carefully, as most aren't cared for, & are homes to many rats and snakes.

April - July: Tourist season in Oklahoma, when people who are tired of bungee jumping & diving out of airplanes decide it might be fun to chase a tornado. These people usually end up on Fear Factor.

Barometric Pressure: Nobody really knows what this is, but when it drops a lot of pregnant women go into labor, which makes for exciting moments as their husbands are trying to drive them to the hospital & dodge tornadoes at the same time.

Cars: The worst place to be during a tornado (next to a mobile home). Yes, you can outrun a tornado in your car... unless everybody on the road decides to do the same thing, & then you're just in a traffic jam.

A Ditch: Supposedly where you're supposed to go if you find yourself without shelter or in your car during a tornado. Theoretically the tornado is supposed to pass right over you, but since it can lift a 20 ton truck & uproot a 300 yr old tree, I'd bet my life on outrunning it in a car.

Mobile Home: Most people are convinced mobile homes send off some strange signal that triggers tornadoes, because if the ere's 1 mobile home park in a 100 mile radius, the tornado will find it.

Earthquake: What any Californian would rather go through on any scale of severity than face a tornado. Tornado: What any Oklahoman would rather go through on any scale of severity than face an earthquake.

Twister: Slang for 'tornado' & also the title to a movie starring Helen Hunt, which incidentally everyone believes to be corny & unrealistic unless they live in Oklahoma, then they know the movie didn't do our tornados justice.

Power Flash: 1 of the most reliable ways to track a tornado at night, it's the term used when the tornado hits a powerline & a bright light flashes. It's also the emotion experienced by meteorologists when they get to make the call to interrupt prime-time must-see TV & $1,000,000 worth of advertising to track a storm for viewers.

----------------------------------

Here are some phrases you migh t want to learn & be familiar with if you're a new resident to Oklahoma:

"We'll have your electricity restored in 24 hrs," which means it'll be a week.

"We're going to be out for a week, so buy a lot of supplies & an expensive generator," means it's going to be on in 12 hrs, probably as soon as you return from Wal-Mart.

"It's a little muggy today." Get the heck outta town. It's getting ready to storm!

"There's just a slight chance of severe weather today, so go ahead & make your outdoor plans." Ha. Hahahaha...

When your electricity goes out, & you go to bed at night, be sure to turn off everything that was on before it went out, or when it's unexpectedly restored in the middle of the night, every light, every computer, your dishwasher, your blow dryer, your washing machine, your microwave & your fans will all come on, all at once.

1) You'll just about have a heart attack when they all come on at the same time, waking you from a dead sleep; &

2) Your breakers will blow, leaving you in the dark once again.

Agent Tim is on the Radio!

WOW! Agent Tim was on Albert Mohler's Radio Show! And Jake from Mission36Teen.com called in and was on the show! Have a look!

The Pledge of Allegiance - Unconstitutional?

I got this email today from the American Family Association:

A federal district court in San Francisco has ruled that reciting the Pledge of
Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional.

U.S. District
Judge
Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation
"under God"
violates school children's right to be "free from a coercive
requirement to
affirm God." Karlton said he was bound by 2002 precedent of
the Ninth U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals.

Your Senators could have
stopped this nonsense
last year but they failed to act. In 2004, the House
of Representatives passed a
bill that would have prohibited liberal judges
from ruling on issues involving
the pledge, but failed because the bill died
in U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

S. 1046 The Pledge Protection Act of
2005 has been introduced in the
U.S. Senate. Let's not let this happen
again! S.1046 - The Pledge Protection Act
of 2005 - reads as follows:
'No court created by Act of Congress shall have
any jurisdiction, and
the Supreme Court shall have no appellate jurisdiction, to
hear or decide
any question pertaining to the interpretation of, or the validity
under the
Constitution of, the Pledge of Allegiance, as defined in section 4 of
title
4, or its recitation.'

By exercising the authority of Congress to
regulate the jurisdiction of federal courts, the Pledge Protection Act will
do
more than express an affirmation by Congress that the Pledge is
constitutional.
It will rein in a renegade judiciary that has confused the
freedom for religion
with freedom from religion. Email Your Senators Now! If
your Senator is already
a co-sponsor, be sure to thank him or her for
supporting this vital legislation.

If not, urge your Senator to sign on
as a sponsor S.1046 - The Pledge
Protection Act of 2005.

Click Here To Email Your Senators Now!

Interesting article is it not? Having a great interest in this topic, I took a bit of time to look into this issue.

1. An acclaimed atheist Michael Newdow is coming before the Supreme Court to attempt to take "under God" out of the pledge of Allegiance.

Note: Mr. Newdow doesn't even have custody of this daughter, his wife does and his wife wants her daughter to recite the pledge.

2. Mr. Newdow is under the false impression that his daughter hearing the pledge forces "God" on her. Please view this FAQ from one of Oklahoma's representatives, Congressman Istook.

Question:

So I'm a school student, and a fellow student wants to say a
prayer over
the intercom and I don't want to hear it. Or, I'm a parent and I
don't
want my children to hear it.
Are my children protected? Where do they
go? Do they have to leave the room? Don't they have the same rights as
those
saying the prayer in that room?

Answer:
The parent is making two incorrect
assumptions in this scenario. The first is an underlying assumption that
hearing
a prayer, or expression from one religion, is inherently harmful,
much less
unconstitutional. The second error is that the amendment
would somehow DICTATE prayer. This amendment does not mandate prayer. It
expressly prohibits such a mandate. But the Constitution never guaranteed to
protect us from hearing
something with which we disagree. Students (and
others) who engage in religious
expression should no longer be singled out
for censorship. Our religious rights
should not be lost when we set foot on
public property.
Everyone remains under the Equal Protection clause of the
Constitution. This amendment does not removed that, nor the ban on establishing
an official religion. We will always support and keep those protections.(emphasis mine)

3. Someone's morality will be inforced. I feel this cannot be stressed enough. I heard just the other day that Planned Parenthood or some such organisation was attenpting through a court case to force a Christian hospitel to conduct abortions. This is a prime example, someones morality will be inforced. If you are driving down the road at 100 miles per hour and the policeman stops you, he is inforcing his beliefs(rules made by the government) on you. If you take "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegence you are suppressing religion. I have heard argument after argument saying just make education nuetral, don't put anything in there controlversel, just state the facts. Well, I want to see public school curreculem state the facts about our founders and the greatest men of our nation. I want public schools to return Washingtons Farewell Address to the textbooks.(Where it once stood quite well, I might add) I would like schoolchildren to read this quote from that great speech:

"Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

I think if America's education was reformed we would laugh these crazy cases out of court. Even Justice Sandra Day O'Conner recconised this fact:'

''It is unsurprising that a nation founded by religious refugees and dedicated to religious freedom should find references to divinity in its symbols, songs, mottoes and oaths. Eradicating such references would sever ties to a history that sustains this Nation even today.''

Amen, Mrs. O'Conner. Amen.

ACLJ Update from Jay Sekulow

This is a report I got from the ACLJ about the Supreme Court comfirmation process, with video included. Have a look!
Travis

I have just sat through another day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Judge John Roberts, Jr.
Because this is such a critical time for our nation, I wanted to give you a quick report on how the hearings are proceeding.

Please click here to view a video report made from outside the Senate Judiciary hearings just moments after today's session convened.

(BSB's Comments: Please watch this video. Mr. Sekulow talks about John Roberts position on Roe v. Wade and alerts us to the fact that any day President Bush will nominate the new replacment for Justice O'Conner.)

The entire video takes only about a minute to view, but it is important information you need to know as a member of the American Center for Law and Justice.
It is your support that has enabled us to fight this ongoing battle for the Supreme Court confirmation, prepare for critical cases heading to the high court this term, and continue all of our crucial work for your rights and freedoms across the country.

Our opposition in this ''race'' for the Supreme Court is strong! People For the American Way, NARAL: Pro-Choice America, and the National Organization for Women are well-funded competitors. This year, the ACLJ is battling these organizations and the multi-million-dollar abortion lobby on many fronts. Not only in this hearing and future ones (remember: there is another Supreme Court seat to fill), but also in several pro-life cases that the ACLJ has coming before the Supreme Court this next term.

PLUS, we have just learned that an activist federal judge in San Diego has ruled the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional in public schools. We will not allow this ruling to stand! We will fight it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.

End of Article

You guys know what? I think I would enjoy working for the ACLJ. :-)

That's all for now!

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

Liberals Begin Attack On Judge Roberts

I got this from the American Family Association this morning. Have a look.

The U.S. Senate will soon be voting to confirm nominee for the Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. Now is the time to let your Senators hear from you in support of Judge Roberts' nomination. The liberals are doing all they can to get Judge Roberts' nomination defeated.

A look at what one liberal group stands for shows the philosophy of those who oppose Judge Roberts. They say that Judge Roberts is outside the mainstream of American values. They want to bypass the legislative branch of government and continue to use the judicial system to impose their agenda on every American.

Here is a list of what People for the American Way, which strongly opposes Judge Roberts, stands for.

People for the American Way opposes:

pornography filters on public library computers
regulation of hardcore internet pornography
restrictions on simulated child pornography
school choice
voluntary prayer in public places

People for the American Way supports:

deleting "under God from the Pledge of Allegiance
homosexual marriage
voting rights for felons
forcing Boy Scouts to permit openly gay scoutmasters
partial birth abortion
judicially imposed tax hikes
removing The Ten Commandments from public settings
(View my article on this issue here @ Virtue Magazine)
racial quotas in college admissions

If People for the American Way is using everything it has to defeat Judge Roberts, then surely Judge Roberts deserves our support. Please send your email now asking your Senators to vote to confirm Judge Roberts! Then forward this to others asking them to do the same. The vote is expected to be very close. It is vitally important that we secure as many letters of support as we can for Judge Roberts.

Click Here To Email Your Senators Now!

Comments: All the issues that People for the American Way are supporting are crazy! A person could not be a Christian and support such things. Look at these issues...homosexual marriage...partial birth abortion... forcing Boy Scouts to permit openly gay scoutmasters(!). They wish for no moral standards, that for one thing is clear. They DON'T want porn filters in librarys for crying out loud! What is that, restrictingsomeone'ss right to view sick, sick, pictures in front of school children? Do these people care about the effects on the kids who might happen to walk past the computers at the library? Nope. All they care about is easy porn access.
That tells you what kind of perverts they are doesn't it?
(End of rant)
To conclude, please support John Roberts confirmation as the Chief Justice of the United State's Supreme Court. While on that note, have a look at my pick for O'Conners seat, Edith Jones.

On a much happier note, the demo to Age of Empires III has been released! (Click on link to view AoE3 screenshots or download demo) Age of Empires II has been my favorite game for 6 years running and this new version looks to beat it all hallow. I am really looking forward to that.

That's all for now!
Travis

News of Interest

Here is a roundup of some news I found interesting.

Supreme Court News
Senate to start Roberts' hearings today
Click here to sign a petition in support of John Roberts.
ConfirmThem.com carries the story.
Who to replace O'Conner? What about Edith Jones?

U.S. Tennis Open
Federer wins 2nd straight U.S. Open title
Comments: WOW! I didn't get to watch that game. Andre Agassi vs. Roger Federer. That had to be an incredible game. Having played tennis in our homeschool tennis team for 3 years, watching the U.S. Open really makes me want to start playing again. One way I could play competitively again would be to join the USTA. (or United States Tennis Association)

General News of interest
Ford, Honda unveil latest hybrid autos
Comments: Maybe these will offer Americans some more fuel economic options. I personally think I might go for a traditional vehicle, just because I bet these are harder (and more expensive) to work on.

Virtue Magazine's newest issue is up!
See my final article on Christianity in Government by clicking here.
Click these links for parts one and two.

Generous Home Educators Reach Out to Home Schooling Hurricane Victims

Eagle Scout Pens a 'Moving' Defense of the Boy Scouts
Comments: A fellow Eagle Scout writes what looks to be a great defense of the Boy Scouts policy.
Calif. Governor Plans to Veto Homosexual 'Marriage' Bill; Traditionalists Pleased
Comments: Good deal.

4th Anniversary of 9/11

Yes, it has already been four years. And four years of kicking Taliban turbans. This administration has been defending our nation in the very best way, by keeping terrorists on the ran or fighting our highly skilled military and not civilians in New York or elsewhere.

See this site for any information you might want about 9/11(pictures, notes, etc.).
SpunkyJunior also posts on that topic.

That's all for now! It is getting hot and I have yet to feed the bovine yet this morning. *grin*

Please comment on any issue that strikes your fancy.

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

Sekulow TV this weekend!

Hey guys, have a look at this...

1. ACLJ Television Special. On Saturday, September 10, at 5 p.m. (EST) on TBN, I will host a two-hour special concerning the ''race for the Supreme Court.'' Our guests will include former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Senator Sam Brownback, Senator John Ensign, and others.

2. The Logan Show. Watch a clean alternative to late-night television! Hosted by my son, Logan Sekulow, The Logan Show is a family-friendly, wholesome version of The Late Show mixed with Saturday Night Live. The electricity of a live audience plus great music and hilarious comedy sketches make The Logan Show ''must-see TV''!

Join Logan, the cast, and special guest Building 429 for the season opener at the following show times this weekend:

Friday night at 10 p.m. (PST) on JC-TV,Saturday night at 11 p.m. (EST) on

FamilyNet,Saturday late night at 11:59 p.m. (EST) on iLife and INSP,Sunday at 1 a.m. (EST) and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on World Harvest Television.

Visit http://tracking.technomania.com/cgi-bin/track.cgi?11-2567-1481373-11290-http://www.theloganshow.com for further details.

I don't know what to think about "The Logan show", but "The Race for the Supreme Court" looks cool!

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks so much Tim for posting my message about my absence from the internet! The problem that was plaguing our computer has now vanished. I thank you all so much for your prayers and praise the Lord for His goodness. Look for my thoughts on John Roberts, Edith Jones and the Supreme Court soon.

Praise the Lord y'all!

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

*goes to catch up on last 2 days of everyone's blogging*

Internet Problems: Agent Tim Saves The Day

Hello readers of this fine blog! I, Agent Tim, have completed the hacking process on The Blogging Boy Scout's blog, and have finally entered and gained access codes making me capable of posting the words you read here.

Well...not quite.

Travis emailed me and asked me to let you guys now that he is fighting Internet problems on his computer (sounds familiar!) and cannot currently blog. (Even though he is bursting with news of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, and the U.S. Open.) So please join with me in earnest prayer for Travis and his computer, wishing the computer a speedy recovery and Travis a speedy return to the blogosphere.

Thanks,
Tim

Roberts Bush's pick for Chief Justice

For Full Story click here @ World Magazine

Bush has a chance to solidify the courts conservative wing

Also see: Timeline: The life and career of Chief Justice William Rehnquist

Also in college news:

Free to Agree - An article about how liberal colleges have become.

Faithful and true? - How Christian is the Christian college your thinking of attending?

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has died

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died in his home in Virginia Saturday evening.

To view his life story click here

From what I know of this man, he tried to do what is right. May we all strive for the same.

Blessings Mr. Rehnquist.

The battle over the Surpreme Court is just begining.

Also see my post at Virtue Blog

The Battle for New Orleans - Updated

Guys, I am watching the DateLine coverage from New Orleans tonight and that city is in tatters. Armed thugs are roaming around, people are trying to walk out, it is horrific. I tell you what, there is a lot that needs to happen in that city FAST! The national guard is coming in and with them will come food and water. Just from what I can see on TV I would say several things need to happen soon.

1. The first thing I would like to see is bulldozers rolling done the interstate into New Orleans with a following convoy of water, foodstuffs, portapottys, generators and whatever else might possibly be needed.

2. The second thing is to get the airport cleared and operating. As soon as that gets running you can start flying supplies in and people out in mass.

3. While rescue efforts continue get workers in there to get the city's dikes and pumps working again. This will cut down on potential sickness as well easing transportation and raising the city's moral.

4. After the city is clear of refugees clear main roads and extend rescue operations. As areas are cleared of survivors began clearing the city of rubble. At the same time crack down on looting and restore order. Until that is done, you can't restart the town.

5. Restart the city's infrastructure. (Get power back on, water running, sewers operating, gas shipments coming in...) During this time, get the oil companies working on their rigs.

6. Repair the port area. Get shipping back in the harbor. (More supplies can come in this way and at a lesser price)

7. Start rebuilding the town. Getting it safe to live in. Help people move into their new homes.

8. Now start looking for ways to protect the city from this type of disaster again. Look at things like stronger dikes for starters then branch out into building a breakwater or two to brake the force of the waves. Explore other options.

That's about all I can think of. But that town needs help and fast! Folk's, everyone remember to pray for these people how are down there tonight. Pray that help gets to them soon. Pray that the Lord will watch over then as the live through this horror. Pray for those who cannot locate loved ones.

May the Lord protect and save them all.

Update: Hey guys! As I have again been watching the news I was excited to see the army/national guard doing pretty much what my ideas were in New Orleans! They have already done numbers one and two and are working on 3. Kinda cool huh? :-)

College: A Big Challenge to Faith

As a 18 year old boy soon to be facing the world of college, I find this article by Agape Press very interesting. This article speaks about the alarming amount of teens that enter college as Christians and leave as atheists. This is positively scary. As a friend of mine put it:

"College will either make you or break you spiritually"

and I believe him. A secular college can be a beehive of liberal and atheist thought for a fresh-from-high-school home educator. So what is a young Christian to do?

Well, let me see.

1. You can attend a Christian college.
2. You can attend a secular college but live at home and avoid much after class mishmash. But that really doesn't help with the liberal atheistic teachers, so you must...
3. Study the Bible, history and science so much beforehand that you can refute the guy with the doctorate degree.
4. Not attend college.

Hmm well, what's a guy to do? I had thought of attending ECU near my home here in Oklahoma, but after finding out that one of the political science teachers is gay, I started to look for other options. I have always loved the thought of going to Patrick Henry College, but that is thousands of miles from home and that would put me seeing friends and family here only on holidays.
For more of my thoughts on college please see this post. It includes a list of colleges I am looking at and the pro's and con's of each. Have a look!

After that, let me ask you guys a question or two. What do you guys think about college? What are your plans? What do you see your self doing in 5-10 years? Please leave me a comment and let me know.

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

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