a place for Tom to rant

Abby

2012-01-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

I suspect shenanigans.

Work

2012-01-12T22:19:00.001-08:00

I've worked in this building for over 18 years. It just dawned on me this morning.

Risky Rescue for Crippled Air Force Satellite

2012-01-12T10:23:00.001-08:00

A couple of more articles on the AEHF save.

Again, no mention of who the real space heroes are, just chest thumping from a space cadet.

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

This google link to an article in the UK Register is more like it. At least the headline contains the appropriate amount of drama …

Space soldiers save satellite from FLAMING DEATH‎ Register

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

Aside from the fact that every time I read this story, it seems to become more and more disconnected from reality.

I was about to make a snarky comment, but realize that everyone in this email can spot the technical errors, distortions and most importantly know the true story of which Lockheed Martin should be extremely proud.

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

This is the best version and probably the source of the others:
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2012/January%202012/0112space.aspx

Another version, pretty crappy.

Risky Rescue for Crippled Air Force Satellite

Wired, by David Axe, January 3, 2012

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/01/satellite-rescue/

It was an epic space rescue that, in audacity and risk, echoed NASA's campaign to save the astronauts

aboard the doomed Apollo 13 moon mission. The biggest difference between the 1970 Apollo operation

and the 14-month recovery of AEHF-1, an Air Force communications satellite, is that money was the only

thing immediately at stake in the latter.

Granted, it was quite a lot of money: around $2 billion. And the satellite's loss would also set back the

Pentagon's efforts to revamp its communications infrastructure as battle becomes more bandwidth intensive.

The details of AEHF-1′s rescue, completed in October this year, are only now becoming clear as

members of the Air Force team speak out. Saving the pricey, long-in-development comms satellite —

one of a planned six-craft constellation meant to relay data between military forces scattered across the

globe — involved some bold decision-making, a lot of creative engineering, not a little bit of luck and,

last but not least, a steady supply of pizzas delivered to the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los

Angeles Air Force Base, where military and contract space operators worked around the clock to plan

the satellite's recovery.

The brand-new Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite (pictured) was 140 miles

over the Earth's surface before controllers knew anything was wrong. As far as the space operators

knew, the Lockheed Martin-built satellite was functioning perfectly. It was Oct. 15, 2010, just one day

after the 7-ton AEHF-1 had blasted into orbit atop an Atlas rocket. The controllers planned to activate

the satellite's hydrazine engine in order to alter the spacecraft's flightpath, gradually transitioning from

an oblong elliptical orbit to a circular, geosynchronous one allowing steady coverage of the Earth below.

But when the operators ordered the engine to ignite, nothing happened. They tried again, still nothing.

They didn't know it at the time, but a fuel line had become clogged. The blockage "was most likely

caused by a small piece of cloth inadvertently left in the line during the manufacturing process,"

according to the Government Accountability Office.

Repeated attempts to fire the engine very nearly caused an explosion. Just in time, David Madden, who

oversees comms satellites at the Space and Missile Systems Center, consulted with his engineers and

told the operators to stop trying the engine. "We're very, very fortunate that satellite didn't blow up,"

Gen. William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command, told Air Force magazine.

AEHF-1 was intact but stranded in a slowly decaying and useless orbit.

Madden told his engineers to figure out some way to salvage AEHF-1 — and not to leave their room at

the Space and Missile Systems Center until they did. "We literally were shoving pizza under the door so

that these guys could keep working," Madden recalled.

A week later, they had a plan. Lt. Gen. John Sheridan, then the space center commander, approved it.

The basic idea was to use the satellite's small thrusters, intended for minor course corrections, to shift

the orbit thousands of miles. It would take 450 separate maneuvers, carefully managed over a period of

14 months. "AEHF-1 will be able to get to where it's supposed to go," analyst Mark Stout noted. "It'll just

take a year longer than planned."

It was risky. "There's no instruction manual for how to do that," Madden said of the thruster strategy.

"It's basically an art."

As the controllers inched AEHF-1 towards its correct orbit, Air Force officials began negotiations with

Lockheed, seeking financial compensation. "It should not have happened," Deputy Undersecretary of

the Air Force for Space Programs Richard McKinney said of AEHF-1′s fuel-line blockage.

Soon, three new complications arose with the crippled satellite.

First, with each firing of its thrusters, AEHF-1 was held stationary, exposing it to greater amounts of

sunlight — and potentially overheating the spacecraft. Madden's people had to devise new maneuvers,

periodically flipping the satellite to allow hot components to cool down.

Second, AEHF-1 risked running out of gas. Engineers wrote new software meant "to save every ounce of

fuel," according to Air Force's detailed account of the rescue.

Finally, the orbital shift required crossing paths with scores or even hundreds of other spacecraft. Air

Force controllers from a separate unit handled traffic management while Madden and his people

focused on the fuel and heat issues.

On Oct. 24, AEHF-1 reached its originally planned orbit. Testing began soon afterward. The Air Force

expects to bring the satellite into service in March. Meanwhile, two more AEHFs are slated to launch in

2012.

After an initial bout of very bad fortune, the Air Force got "very lucky" with AEHF-1, service

Undersecretary Erin Conaton said.

The space and flying branch might need that luck again very soon. Lacking its own production and

launch facilities, the Air Force has no choice to but to trust Lockheed to get AEHF-1′s sister spacecraft

right, Stout wrote. "While Lockheed is no doubt embarrassed, I don't think they're quaking in their boots

as another five AEHFs are in the queue."

Somewhere in Los Angeles, AEHF-1′s rescuers are no doubt holding their breaths, hoping they won't

have to repeat the yearlong feat of engineering derring-do that saved the Air Force $2 billion and

preserved the Pentagon's space communications systems.

Obama is destroying America?

2012-01-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

I was reading some comments (trolling) at CNSNews (yeah, what was I thinking? The stupid! It burns!) and kept seeing the comment "Obama is destroying this country". Really? How so? The right has been saying this for years and I finally wanted to try to understand why they think that. It wasn't hard to find some blogs and articles but the paragraph below from biggovernment.com seems to nail a basis for the fear.

"Liberals think that the U.S. is arrogant and needs to be taken down a notch or three. Liberals think that U.S. history is filled with nothing but evil and any attacks on the U.S. are richly deserved. Liberals think that theU.S. was founded by evil, selfish, hateful white men who were only interested in their own power and didn’t want to empower others. So, liberals want the founder’s memory eviscerated. Liberals think that ourcapitalist system needs to be eliminated. In short, liberals value nothing about the U.S. except its tradition of self-actuation, liberty, and its freedom to re-make itself and they want to use that capacity to erase everything that makes the U.S.A. the U.S.A. Once that is done they want to build a U.S. to their own liking using the very freedoms they used to lay her low."

So, I want to take this apart. My opinion here as a liberal, not doing any research.

The US is arrogant and needs to be taken down a notch: I think the US has made some mistakes and backed some bad people for purely selfish reasons. We have done and I expect we will do much good in the world and want to continue to do more good with fewer mistakes.
US history is full of evil: No, we have done many good things and we do not deserve punishing attacks like 9/11 or whatever they imagine. We do deserve criticism like any other country. Because we are the most influential, we are the biggest target and get more than other countries. Are we perfect? No. Can we improve? Yes.
US was founded by evil selfish white men: It was founded by white men, yes. Evil? Not at all! Jefferson, Pain, Madison, Adams, Franklin and others weren't evil! No liberal thinks that! The Constitution has got to be one of the greatest documents ever written. Certainly greater than any holy book. The fact that this is a capitalist country is not evil in itself, but it is evident that capitalism requires control by government. The trick is to balance the control properly. Don't want to empower others? If I like the Constitution and don't think corporations are people how is that not wanting to empower others? This makes no sense.
Liberals want the founders memory eviscerated: Wow. I think he is making stuff up out of his own fears. Where has a liberal said that?
Our capitalist system needs to be eliminated: No. It needs controls to prevent corporations from abusing the power they have over people. Unchecked capitalism has no morals. Again, the power of government is a tricky thing and in this country, we haven't succeeded in getting it right and because of the fears the right has about government, it is hard to get consensus in this divided country. Capitalism isn't perfect but I know of no better economic system.
Liberals value nothing about the US: No, not at all! What makes the USA the USA? Is it the fact that health care is a for-profit industry? That corporations are people? That education is mediocre? That corporate profit is all important? That most wealth and wages are concentrated in 1% of the population? I don't think so. I think these things need to change because they are not American values and goals and certainly not the America the founders were founding. I do value highly my rights to opinion, not to have religion, freedom of speech, freedom to pursue my way of life and ability to go where I want. Fearful right wing policies have done more harm to these freedoms and rights than anything Obama has ever done.

So Obama is destroying America? If you really believe the above is what liberals think and want, then you would think Obama is doing this. The things the right thinks he is doing to accomplish this is mostly exaggerated and fear based. Like growing government. Santorum said Obama is "expanding federal government" out of control. Really? Federal employment has been dropping for years. The budget has been falling with respect to GDP. How is government expanding? Regulations? Is that it? Then say it. But that is what capitalism needs. Uncontrolled capitalism has no morals. If this is what Obama and liberals are against, then so be it. But uncontrolled capitalism is not America.

Spaceflight Now | Atlas Launch Report | The fight to save AEHF 1 produces remarkable rescue

2012-01-05T23:04:00.000-08:00

Spaceflight Now | Atlas Launch Report | The fight to save AEHF 1 produces remarkable rescue

Yes it was... oh... well... Lockheed caused the problem and performed the rescue. Must be why Lockheed wasn't mentioned.

-1 + 1 = 0

"The best option was using the craft's much smaller hydrazine thrusters to lift the orbit a bit, then rely on the exotic electric thrusters in a way never planned -- firing them for days, weeks and months as their whisper-like push eventually accumulated to propel AEHF 1 where it was supposed to go.
It was an unprecedented rescue campaign, like no other in recent memory for Air Force spacecraft. But after 14 months and nearly 500 maneuvers, AEHF 1 finally reached a circular geosynchronous orbit on Oct. 24, 2011.
"The tremendous demonstration of engineering excellence, superior teamwork and remarkable creativity truly is what saved this vehicle," said Madden.
The craft unfurled its antenna wings in the final days of October before commencing four months of in-orbit testing that is expected to last through March."

Will 2012 Be the Year of the Atheist?

2011-12-30T19:03:00.001-08:00

Think Hitler (Christian) and Jim Jones. Atheists are moral without the need for divine justification and bribery.
About Atheism
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Skin in the game.

2011-12-25T09:34:00.001-08:00

A Christmas Message From America's Rich | | Rolling Stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/a-christmas-message-from-americas-rich-20111222

People like Dimon, and Schwarzman, and John Paulson, and all of the rest of them who think the "imbeciles" on the streets are simply full of reasonless class anger, they don't get it. Nobody hates them for being successful. And not that this needs repeating, but nobody even minds that they are rich.

What makes people furious is that they have stopped being citizens.

Most of us 99-percenters couldn't even let our dogs leave a dump on the sidewalk without feeling ashamed before our neighbors. It's called having a conscience: even though there are plenty of things most of us could get away with doing, we just don't do them, because, well, we live here.

Take the test | Pharyngula

2011-12-25T09:30:00.001-08:00

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/12/25/take-the-test/

Why does anyone like Ron Paul?

2011-12-22T13:48:00.001-08:00

So, why are these people supporting a crazy, racist Christian fundamentalist?

http://ashleyfmiller.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/why-does-anyone-like-ron-paul/

Translate this joke please...

2011-12-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

From: Khaghani, Mojan [mailto:mojan.khaghani@lmco.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2011 12:13 PM
To: Khaghani, Mojan; Hail, Tom
Subject: Conversation with Khaghani, Mojan, Hail, Tom

Khaghani, Mojan [12:02 PM]:

merry xmas

Hail, Tom [12:03 PM]:

poor puppies... to be made to pose for a mythical event like that. animal abuse.

Khaghani, Mojan [12:03 PM]:

Hail, Tom [12:04 PM]:

Am I terrible?

Khaghani, Mojan [12:04 PM]:

some one sent me a joke

the title is farmers joke

all the people cc'd thought it was funny

but I did not get the joke

can you translate for me please?

> Cletus is passing by Billy Bob's hay barn one day when, through a gap in the
> door, he sees Billy Bob doing a slow and sensual striptease in front of an
> old green John Deere.
>
> Buttocks clenched, he performs a slow pirouette, and gently slides off first
> the right strap of his overalls, followed by the left. He then hunches his
> shoulders forward and in a classic striptease move, lets his overalls fall
> down to his hips revealing a torn and frayed plaid shirt.
>
> Then, grabbing both sides of his shirt, he rips it apart to reveal his
> stained T-shirt underneath. With a final flourish, he tears the T-shirt
> from his body, and hurls his baseball cap onto a pile of hay.
>
> Having seen enough, Cletus rushes in and says, "What in the world are ya
> doing, Billy Bob?"
>
> "Good grief, Cletus, ya scared the bejeebers out of me," says an obviously
> embarrassed Billy Bob.
>
> "But me 'n the wife been havin trouble lately in the bedroom d'partment, and
> the therapist suggested I do something sexy to a tractor."
>
> (Don't make me come splain this to you!)

Hail, Tom [12:06 PM]:

Ha ha ha!

Khaghani, Mojan [12:07 PM]:

I really dont understand anything

Hail, Tom [12:08 PM]:

Billy Bob was supposed to do something sexy to attract his wife. But he misunderstood, being the country hick he is, and thought he was told to do something sexy "to a tractor".

Khaghani, Mojan [12:08 PM]:

why did he miss understood?

Hail, Tom [12:08 PM]:

an old green John Deere is a tractor.

Khaghani, Mojan [12:09 PM]:

I understood the same thing....

Hail, Tom [12:09 PM]:

"to a tractor" and "to attract her" sound the same in english.

Khaghani, Mojan [12:09 PM]:

ohhhhhhhhhh

Hail, Tom [12:10 PM]:

Khaghani, Mojan [12:10 PM]:

man that was hard

Hail, Tom [12:10 PM]:

LOL!

Why get married conversation...

2011-12-22T09:26:00.001-08:00

My friend Violy wonders why Liz and I don’t get married and we’ve had this on-going conversation over the last few months in the hallway. Yesterday I get this question about decency, that somehow being married is more decent? …

Continuing our discussion about marriage … the decency (conventional?) to introduce this is my wife/husband matters.

Me:

Why?

Who decided that married is decent, unmarried is not? Isn&# 8217;t the nature of the relationship is what matters? The label “married” has nothing to do if the relationship is good or not.

Barely 50% of US adults are married.

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/12/14/barely-half-of-u-s-adults-are-married-a-record-low/

Violy:

I am not going to click the link …

I got to thinking on my way to the ladies room that there isn 217;t anything you care about … in what people say or think about you. What matters to you is what you think/feel about yourself. I am not saying it is wrong to think that way. It would almost be one is untouchable.

So can you feel hurt? If you don’t care about what anyone says or think, then you can’t get hurt.

Me:

There are lots of things I care about. I do care and it is important what people think of me and how I live. I do care to be socially accepted. But there are limits to what I will do to be accepted. I will not pray to a make-believe god. Nor wi ll I pretend to just to look like I do. I care how people see my relationship with Liz. It doesn’t need a label to be a good relationship. I care that a loving, respectful, happy relationship is seen because that is what it is, without coercion by a religion or dogma. The social norms have always changed and will change in the future. You live in a world where the marriage label is important, but that may be a shrinking world. You can have that world, it is important to you and I have no problem with it. Just don’t expect me to conform to it.

Violy:

My views are too simplistic and narrow … I realized it after I sent the last email. Sorry …

Me:

Don’t be sorry, it is worthwhile to discuss and think about these things.

Take the risk of thinking for yourself

2011-12-21T21:13:00.000-08:00

"Take the risk of thinking for yourself. Much more happiness, truth, beauty and wisdom will come to you that way."

As did Hitchens, my grandfather Evan lived his life like he didn't know enough, couldn't know enough.

Christopher Hitchens 1949-2011

2011-12-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

Christopher Hitchens 1949-2011
"Hitchens is gone. His brain – which was everything he thought, felt, remembered, and all the insight he had to offer the world – no longer functions, and never will function again. The same fate awaits us all. Without regret, Hitchens seemed to understand the flip side of this reality – we are the lucky few who get to live. So make the most of it while you can."

I'm going to miss Christopher Hitchens

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

North Korea and heaven. Heaven would be worse.

The Wind Storm of December 2011

2011-12-08T22:03:00.001-08:00

There was some wind in California last week (Nov 30 to Dec 2 2011) that caused problems all around the state. In Santa Cruz County, we had power outages all over, especially in the mountains where I live the wind in the redwoods played havoc with the power lines. The wind wasn't particularly strong, but the power lines were clobbered everywhere. We lost our power Wednesday morning and it wasn't restored until Saturday night. The cell tower near here went off line. The cable tv/phone/internet also was out from Wednesday evening until Sunday. But no damage to our house. No limbs through a car or the roof. The little generator kept the fridge cool, the TV running with old TiVo recordings, and the most important, the sewage pump to the septic tank. Propane heat for water and warmth! No problem!

So what happens? Liz gets a nail in a tire coming home Thursday. I see it Friday morning. I tell her to take my car to work and I'll drive my truck in. She is nervous about my car and asks about the lights... I mention something about them coming on automatically and point to the switch. Coming home from work Friday and she calls me, "Tom, your car won't start!" Huh? Did you push the clutch in? "Yes!" Did you try turning the key all the way off and then try again? "YES!" Uh oh. Did you turn the lights off when you got to work? "YOU TOLD ME THEY WERE AUTOMATIC! I am going to cry!" Wait! Do the lights come on when you open the door? "NO!" Oh hell. Ok, I'll come jump start it. I am an hour away. I get there, battery is pretty dead, and successfully get it started and we get home.

Saturday. You take my car to work and I'll get your tire fixed. "Ok! You would do that for me?" I had to make up for confusing her about the lights on my car. She takes my car and goes to work, I get her car on level ground and change to the spare tire, no problem. I drive it to Firestone and they patch it for "free" since I bought the road hazard insurance, and I pick it up on my way back from the airport. So far, good day. I get home and fire the generator back up since the power is still out. Liz is still gone. Shortly she calls. "I'M STUCK IN THE ROAD ON HWY 9! YOUR CAR WON'T MOVE!" Oh no. What do you mean it is stuck? "I can't get it into gear to get moving! I've tried, the flagman tried, people are honking. I HATE YOUR CAR!" The engine is running? "Yes. PG&E is working on power lines and a lane is blocked and we had to wait until it was our turn to go around them." Oh. I know. Another Jetta feature. Is the clutch petal stuck down on the floor? "Yes!" Stick your toe under it and lift it up. "Wait a second... that worked! BYE!" Liz got home safely. The look she gave me wasn't too full of hate.

Sunday. Got up, went to town for breakfast and then came back home. Ok, lets put the fixed tire back on Liz's car. Hey Liz, want to see how this is done? "Ok." Got the tire and jack out, set the jack under her car, loosened the lug nuts, jacked up the front. Taking lug nuts off. One off. Another off. Uh oh. No. The third one is totally jammed up. It won't come off. It won't even tighten back up. CRAP! (Liz would tell you I wasn't really this calm about it.) Tightened the rest back up. I gave Liz her car keys back and told her to go to Firestone and get that fixed.

2011-11-17T16:36:00.001-08:00

Pictures from the memorial for Evan this week.

Evan Chappuis

2011-11-07T18:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my grandfather Evan Chappuis passed away. He was well past the age of 101 and doing very well living in his own home, sleeping in his own bed. He had around him family and friends who he could talk to when they came to visit. I am sure he enjoyed the World Series last month and was probably reading on his latest electronic book up to his last day. Evan was always trying to learn new things and never stopped. He was constantly reading history, figuring out the new tools of the world like GPS and cell phones, trying to understand our politics, and concerned with those less fortunate than him. Evan and my grandmother Juen were generous to those in need, my first memories of charity was through them and later I recognized the efforts he provided to his communities.
I have known all of my grandparents, I know that many people are not so fortunate. All of my grandparents were strong people in their special ways and taught me things from their strengths. From Evan I learned integrity and honor, a strong work ethic, and the importance of being part of my community. I could see that as a CPA people trusted him with their money and their finances, I could see that he took that trust seriously. I could see his dedication to the support of his wife and daughters and to his brothers and sisters. That dedication expanded to support his friends and community. And that community was large, it was the cities he lived in, his state of California, his nation, his ranching community, and his aviation community. I may not have appreciated all of this immediately as I grew up, but it is obvious to me now and it should be to all who know him.
I'm sure we all appreciate the things that he did for us, the good times he was part of, the bad times he helped us through, in the accomplishments that he made in his life. He will long be remembered in our memories and in our histories.

Personalized Billboard.

2011-11-03T13:05:00.001-07:00

FW: Funny

2011-10-31T16:52:00.001-07:00

Stupidity isn’t illegal. It isn’t a disability either.

2011-10-13T21:51:00.001-07:00

This is my 1st post using Dragon dictate on my Mac. I'm trying to not use the mouse too much. I'm trying to learn how to dictate to the computer, control it, and write something that is intelligible. So for right now this thing seems to be doing okay. So, all I have to do is to be able to compose my thoughts in such a way that I can dictate them out clearly.
The pain in my wrist gets pretty intense by the end of the day. It isn't in the carpal tunnel, the pain is in the tendons to the side of my wrist. I am currently using ergonomics, Aleve, aspirin, and anti-inflammatory cream. Usually through the day I can manage the pain with a glove and posture although the pain usually starts as soon as I sit down at the keyboard in the morning.
This is can be a test of how much that ranting I can do and see how much it actually gets before his 1st rent a gobbledygook. Wow, it knows how to spell gobbledygook! So here goes. I cannot believe how much time Republican Congress has wasted on antiabortion legislation that didn't need to be done that doesn't need to be legislated. I need the longer. This is awkward, I rant at the computer all time and now I'm tongue-tied. How freaking stupid.Okay, I need to practice some more. Maybe I should try something I know more about.
On Sunday this weekend the Monterey Bay 99's are going to have a fundraiser for their aviation scholarship program. They sell airplane rides for $.10 a pound. I will be flying my Bonanza in this charity event along with several other airplanes that Sarah has scared up. Usually this is pretty fun, most of the people really have a good time seeing the world from the sky in a small airplane. The bonanza is flying very well right now, oil leak has been fixed, it has a new battery now that makes starting a whole lot easier. Last year this event got rained out surprisingly. We ended up in the EAA hangar eating hotdogs that were supposed to be given to the public coming to visit. The weather so far looks really good for this weekend. So all I need is for my 60-year-old airplane to not break.
Well I tried a blog post with the Dragon Dictate and it wasn't too bad. This is probably a good way to practice so maybe I'll make some more blog posts can be more prolific. The level of pain is certainly a lot less this way.

44D display at Watsonville Air Show & Fly In

2011-09-19T22:35:00.001-07:00

Photo Courtesy of FlightAware.com

Out of Body, Roger!

2011-09-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

I love Radiolab. Particularly this one. Out of body experiences. Listen.

9/10/11

2011-09-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

19 terrorists attacked the US with box cutters. It took us nearly 10 years, an additional 6000 dead and 60,000 wounded, $2 Trillion to kill Osama Bin Laden. We may be safer, we are not stronger. We are in debt, our military exhausted, our politics in deadlock, our people fed up with our leaders. Our civil rights and freedoms are under question and attack. Who is winning?

Irrational belief in rhino horn power...

2011-08-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

"IPSWICH, England — The Ipswich Museum contains many alluring and potentially theft-worthy items, including a spectacular 2,000-year-old gold-leaf Egyptian death mask on loan from the British Museum and a rare Hawaiian cape featuring feathers from the extinct o’o bird. But when two thieves forced their way in after midnight on July 28, they were seeking something else entirely.Never mind that their target, a large rhinoceros horn, was still attached to its owner, which had been standing blamelessly in the museum since 1907."

And now they are stealing horn from museums? For some reason the killing of rhinos for their horn so that some inadequate prick somewhere can pretend to be enhanced sexually with it enrages me. (yeah, what else is new?) Why is that? Could it be the stupidity of a totally irrational belief in rhino horn power causing the slaughter of thousands of people.... oops rhinos?

The demon hunter

2011-08-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

An emerging Christian movement that seeks to take dominion over politics, business and culture in preparation for the end times and the return of Jesus, is becoming more of a presence in American politics. The leaders are considered apostles and prophets, gifted by God for this role.

I am not sure if to be worried or happy. Perry must not become President. I don't think that is likely if the Republicans nominate him, but the fact that he could be nominated is frightening in itself. Like Richard Dawkins recently said:

" There is surely something wrong with a system for choosing a leader when, given a pool of such talent and a process that occupies more than a year and consumes billions of dollars, what rises to the top of the heap is George W Bush. Or when the likes of Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin can be mentioned as even remote possibilities."

"For the past several years... the NAR has run a campaign to reclaim what it calls the "seven mountains of culture" from demonic influence. The "mountains" are arts and entertainment; business; family; government; media; religion; and education.

"They teach quite literally that these 'mountains' have fallen under the control of demonic influences in society," says Tabachnick. "And therefore, they must reclaim them for God in order to bring about the kingdom of God on Earth. .."

They are looking to gain control and remove the demons that are preventing the second coming of Christ.