A 'coup' in Honduras? Nonsense. Don't believe the myth. The arrest of President Zelaya represents the triumph of the rule of law.

Obama 'meddles' in Honduras -- and chooses the wrong side

Obama's True Colors Shine in Honduras

VIDEO PROOF-- US Media Is Propping Up Chavez Lackey Zelaya of Honduras

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Read more on Honduras

Laughing With Lyrics:

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God when the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one's laughing at God when it's gotten real late and their kid's not back from that party yet

No one laughs at God when their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake
No one's laughing at God when they see the one they love hand in hand with someone else and they hope that they're mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door and they say "We've got some bad new, sir,"
No one's laughing at God when there's a famine, fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head you think that they're about to choke

God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they've lost all they got and they don't know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize that the last sight they'll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one's laughing at God when they're saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head you think that they're about to choke

God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one's laughing at God in a hospital
No one's laughing at God in a war

No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
We're all laughing with God

HT: Making Home

If you don't have time to comb the news yourself, you can count on MommyLife as a source. I sift through the news each day - thanks to many moms (and dads) who send me tips - then blend with humor, inspiration and parenting tips. I usually post 5-15 times per day.

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If you're not a blogger, consider sending an introduction to MommyLife to your email list. We all need to understand what is happening to our country right now so we will be prepared to defend it if and when necessary.

A beautiful evening and two beautiful girls dressed up to go inspired me to grab my camera:

I'm a lucky mom!

And Jonny's a lucky brother!

These are numbers 7 (Sophia), 8 (Jonny), and 9 (Maddy). Sure am glad I didn't have a "reasonable" size family!

The Obama administration faces its first real Latin American crisis. Let's hope Team Obama is aware of the goals of democracy's new-found but fickle friends.

Honduras presents the Obama administration with its first real Latin American crisis.

Since the 1981 return of civilian rule, Honduras has regarded itself as a friend of the U.S. In the '80s, it allowed the Nicaraguan Resistance or "Contras" to operate from base camps there. It lent troops for Operation Iraqi Freedom and continues to support a small U.S. military presence on Honduran soil. Economic ties are strong.

Now those cordial relations are in jeopardy.

On June 28, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was expelled from the country for multiple constitutional violations. The U.S. quickly joined an international chorus deploring the expulsion, denouncing as a military coup what the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress called for a defense of their constitution and rule of law.

The new Honduran government says it wants to end polarization, restore order, and move to elections in November, but the international community demands Zelaya's restoration to power.

The U.S., anxious to send a pro-democracy message, finds itself running with a dangerous crowd -- one whose agenda is not necessarily dedicated to defending democracy.

Begin with ex-President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya -- a marginal victor in 2005. Formerly a centrist, this erratic politico morphed into a disciple of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. His popularity plunged over the next three years, as the nation was battered by rising crime, poverty and economic recession. All the while, Zelaya's presidential clock was ticking. Honduran presidents are limited to one four-year term. Nonetheless, Zelaya launched an unconstitutional re-election bid that provoked his ouster.

In backing Zelaya to the hilt, Venezuela's elective-dictator Hugo Chavez has pitched the crisis to its current level. He did much the same back in March 2007 when he threatened war against Colombia. Yet, Chavez is no champion of democracy -- at home or abroad.

Read more here.

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Read more on Honduras

Honduras Defends Its Democracy

Fidel Castro and Hillary Clinton object.

Hugo Chávez's coalition-building efforts suffered a setback yesterday when the Honduran military sent its president packing for abusing the nation's constitution.

It seems that President Mel Zelaya miscalculated when he tried to emulate the success of his good friend Hugo in reshaping the Honduran Constitution to his liking.

But Honduras is not out of the Venezuelan woods yet. Yesterday the Central American country was being pressured to restore the authoritarian Mr. Zelaya by the likes of Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega, Hillary Clinton and, of course, Hugo himself. The Organization of American States, having ignored Mr. Zelaya's abuses, also wants him back in power. It will be a miracle if Honduran patriots can hold their ground.

Associated Press

That Mr. Zelaya acted as if he were above the law, there is no doubt. While Honduran law allows for a constitutional rewrite, the power to open that door does not lie with the president. A constituent assembly can only be called through a national referendum approved by its Congress.

But Mr. Zelaya declared the vote on his own and had Mr. Chávez ship him the necessary ballots from Venezuela. The Supreme Court ruled his referendum unconstitutional, and it instructed the military not to carry out the logistics of the vote as it normally would do.

The top military commander, Gen. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, told the president that he would have to comply. Mr. Zelaya promptly fired him. The Supreme Court ordered him reinstated. Mr. Zelaya refused.

Read entire article here.

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Read more on <a href="http://mommylife.net/archives/honduras/">Honduras</a>

Read more at Photos of the pro-government anti-Zelaya rallies.

This is an incredible US Government dis-information campaign - so much like the dictator countries whose leaders Obama prefers to European nations.

We must spread the truth - through Facebook, twitter emails!!!

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Read more on Honduras

I'm late addressing this, but just want to give you a brief scoop on the situation in Honduras as it says something very telling about Obama and what he really stands for.

Remember how Obama was immediately very supportive of the mullahs and the rigged Iranian elections? How when the people began rebelling and violence escalated, he said he didn't think the US should "meddle" in Iran's internal affairs?

By contrast, he was swift to condemn what he called a military coup in Honduras, siding with Castro and Chavez - dictators of Cuba and Venezuela respectively. Oh, and Didn't you think that a little odd?

Well it turns out that what happened in Honduras is not coup at all.

What happened is this: President Zelaya, having reached the end of his two term limit, decided he did not want to give up the presidency. And so he stayed, ignoring the efforts of the Honduran legislature and courts and with the full support of his dictator pal, Chavez.

The military was sent in to force him out of office in order that the constitutional government of Honduras could continue.

The only coup was that intended by Zelaya - a coup thwarted by a peaceful carrying out of the will of the people and the rest of the Honduras government.

I have heard callers to talk show hosts this week - including a missionary who called Rush - testify to the fact that the proceedings in Honduras were completely legal. The people wanted to continue their constitutional government and not be ruled by a dictator.

Now: Why do you suppose that Our Own Glorious Leader would be on the side of a would-be dictator with the support of two other western hemisphere dictators?

And why is our media part of the propaganda effort blacking out news from Hondurans themselves?

Honduran blogger sets record straight on real story in Honduras

Not a coup: message from Honduras

When is a coup not a coup?

Leader's Ouster Not a Coup, Says the Honduran Military

Support for Honduras - and criticism of Obama and the Government Media - is running the gamut throughout the political spectrum - from radical liberalDaily Kos to conservative Senator Jim DeMint, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who yesterday released this statement:

"The people of Honduras have struggled too long to have their hard-won democracy stolen from them by a Chavez-style dictator. The Honduran Congress, the Honduran Supreme Court, and the Honduran military have acted in accordance to the Honduran constitution and the rule of law.

"For weeks leading to his arrest, Zelaya flouted the constitutional authority of the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court, and claimed for himself extra-constitutional control of his nation's military and political institutions. Every institution from the Electoral Tribunal to the Supreme Court ruled that his actions were unjustified and illegal. Zelaya's open defiance of democratic norms has set Honduras on a path toward violence, instability, and tyranny.

"I am hopeful that as President Obama grows in office, he will eventually turn away from despots like Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, and Zelaya, and give the United States' full-throated support to the people of any country who are fighting for the same values we cherish and defend in America. The people fighting for freedom around the world, in Iran and Honduras, should never have to wonder which side America will choose between freedom and tyranny.

"President Obama's call for the reinstatement of Zelaya is a slap in the face to the people of Honduras. And the resolution written by the Organization of American States tramples over the hopes and dreams of a free and democratic people.

"The rule of law is working in Honduras. President Obama should not undermine the democratic institutions that guarantee freedom by forcing an illegitimate President back into power.

"This is not an ideal transition, but Hondurans are adhering to their constitution. The United States should support the Honduran people and their legitimate leaders in their brave and heroic stand for freedom and the rule of law."

Since it is so obvious that this is an unusual turn of events in a country trying to live by its constitution and seeking to oust a would-be dictator, why is our Government Media still referring to it as a coup?

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Read more on Honduras

Monday, July 6 at 9am I will pick two winners for the two copies Pleasant St. Press so graciously have provided.

I love the book!!! It is so authentic and so real and illustrates so beautifully the sentiments of siblings of children with Down syndrome. Although the focus is positive, there is attention given to the negative feelings - which will be a great way to stimulate your children to share honestly about their own.

From a Christian point of view - that every life has value in God's eyes:

She peers long and hard at crickets and June bugs and dragonflies, She watches ladybugs warm themselves on our red door.

Then she counts their dots: "One lady dot, two lady dot, three lady dot . . . "

I think God is glad someone notices these things.

Authentic, real and beautifully illustrated. Love it!

You can read more or buy it at Amazon:

More resources:

Children's books on Down syndrome
Down syndrome books for parents
Children's books on disabilities

The Fear of Loss

In C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters we see with startling clarity the cleverness of the enemy in deceiving human beings.

Selfishness has a thousand forms, most of which we are slow to recognize for what they are. I was thinking about the fear of loss and what a stranglehold it can have on me. As I listed some of the things I dreaded to lose, it occurred to me that this fear is a deadly form of selfishness. Selfishness does terrible things to us, but it does not stop there. It does terrible things to others. "Saving our own skin" usually results in skinning somebody else. Think, for example, of the fear of losing: reputation, opportunity for advancement, credit, recognition, position, beauty, youth, health, money, the love of friends or children, compliments, popularity, security, privacy, rights, people you love, job, home, dreams, power.

As I considered each of these separately, I began to think what sort of sin each kind of loss tempts me to commit. Then I thought about what kind of faith is required to enable me to commit those fears to God. Has He, in fact, made provision for these things? The list is not a list of sins--make no mistake about that. It is a list of blessings, of gifts from God. But to grasp them selfishly and greedily, to hang onto them fiercely and allow myself to be enslaved by the fear of losing them, is to deny Christ. Do not fear, He says to us. I am with you.

With the past year our family has lived through - losing just about everything on EE's list above - I can say this is true.  The only thing I've gained is dependence on God.  But that's what He was after all along....

Obviously emboldened and full of themselves. Let's start keeping tab on our individual legislators and publicizing their "junkets" with delegations to fun places that thanks to them we'll never see.

From the Wall Street Journal (That's Nancy Pelosi, by the way, checking out high-end souvenirs on her last trip to Egypt.):

Congress's Travel Tab Swells Spending on Taxpayer-Funded Trips Rises Tenfold; From Italy to the Galápagos
July 2, 2009
By BRODY MULLINS and T.W. FARNAM

WASHINGTON -- Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Galápagos Islands.

The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago.

The cost of so-called congressional delegations, known among lawmakers as "codels," has risen nearly 70% since 2005, when an influence-peddling scandal led to a ban on travel funded by lobbyists, according to the data.

Lawmakers say that the trips are a good use of government funds because they allow members of Congress and their staff members to learn more about the world, inspect U.S. assets abroad and forge better working relationships with each other. The travel, for example, includes official visits to American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Journal analysis, based on information published in the Congressional Record, also shows that taxpayer-funded travel is a big and growing perk for lawmakers and their families. Some members of Congress have complained in recent months about chief executives of bailed-out banks, insurance companies and car makers who sponsored corporate trips to resorts or used corporate jets for their own travel.

Although complete travel records aren't yet available for 2009, it appears that such costs continue to rise. The Journal analysis shows that the government has picked up the tab for travel to destinations such as Jamaica, the Virgin Islands and Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Lawmakers frequently bring along spouses on congressional trips. If they take commercial flights, they have to buy tickets for spouses. If they fly on government planes -- as they usually do -- their spouses can fly free.

Read entire article here.