These two contrasting realities are the result of the heart-wrenching drowning death of a 19-year-old man and what God did with that seemingly horrible event.

On the afternoon of May 5, 2012, my wife, younger daughter and I, along with five good friends, embarked on an easy one-hour hike to a spot on the Rogue River in southern Oregon called Rainie Falls. It was a picture-perfect spring day for a trek down the mighty Rogue.

Upon reaching the falls, which this time of year is more of a giant riffle in the river, we sat on some large boulders near the edge to enjoy the power of 5,700-cubic-feet-per-second of rushing water.

My friend Joshua Eddy, a vibrant, passionate, live-each-day-for-Christ kind of young man, asked another in our party if he could borrow her camera. Josh was a gifted photographer who hadn’t brought his camera that day for fear of damaging it.

“Don’t worry; I’ll take good care of it,” I heard Josh tell the camera’s owner.

Borrowed camera in hand, Josh began to strike whatever poses were needed on those rocks to get some breathtaking photos of this natural wonder.

A couple with a dog soon appeared nearby. The woman, a middle-age Hispanic tourist, suddenly screamed out. Josh was gone. He fell into waist-deep water initially, holding the camera aloft to protect it, but then slipped and was pulled under the raging cauldron of the falls.

Panic. Desperation. Pleading prayer.

I shouted Josh’s name into the whirling white water, knowing he couldn’t hear me. After several seconds, the Hispanic woman’s male companion shouted as he pointed downstream. Josh’s head appeared, eyes closed, as he floated quickly downstream. Then he was gone again.

Two young men from our party sped downstream on the trail-less bank hoping to help Josh if he were to re-emerge. The rest of us followed, with one woman hiking back to the cars and then driving several minutes before cell service could enable a 9-1-1 call.

Despite our searching, and subsequent searches by county search and rescue and private planes, no trace of Josh has been found. A young man with so much life and potential who had impacted so many people was gone – and yet, he was about to impact many, many more.

The next day Josh’s mom and dad, homeschooling parents of nine, created a Facebook page on which to post memories of their son.

Between the Facebook page and Josh’s blog, “The Bright and Hopeful Unknown,” thousands of people across the nation have heard of this extraordinary teenager and his passion for Jesus Christ.

His April 6 blog post, providentially titled “To Die Well,” was referenced and read by innumerably more people than if God had not claimed Josh that beautiful afternoon.

Joshua Eddy

Joshua Eddy was not perfect. He had an impetuousness that irked me on more than one occasion. Yet his sold-out commitment to his Savior that simply jumps off the pages of his writings has challenged and blessed countless people – both Christians and unbelievers – since his death.

My older daughter is engaged to Josh’s older brother. In a recent journal entry, she explains what a sovereign God was doing by promoting Josh a few days ago. It was written from God’s perspective, as if speaking before May 5, yet with the recognition that the Lord is outside of time:

“I have planned exactly where and at what time he will come home. Joshua has tied up all of his loose ends. He has surrendered his life to me, and even his death to me, to use as I will. I have a special plan for him. I have picked a wonderful spring day in Grants Pass, Ore.: May 5, 2012. He will be with some of his best friends, hiking to a beautiful falls. I will deck out the forest that day with my glory, and the water with a brilliance that will not cease to fascinate him. I have given him the gift of photography, and he will want to take a picture. … He will get himself up on a mossy rock, to get the perfect shot. And while he is capturing beauty, he will slip and be swept away.

“I will call him – ‘Josh! Josh, it’s time to come home.’ He’ll pray fervently to me to save him. He will be hoping that none of his friends jumped in after him. He will fight hard to free himself of the water’s grasp, but it is not my will that he succeed. He will think of his family, his parents, his best friends. Then he will think of me. Josh, I am going to bring you home. He will come peacefully, not quarreling. He will commit to me his spirit, and then the angels will carry him to be with me. It is for God to number a man’s days, and Joshua knows that. He has run his race well. He has endured to the end. He is my child, and it is time for him to come home.”

Josh did die well – and he encourages us to live well, to live a life of self-sacrifice, in his recent blog post, just 29 days before his death:

“What would you consider the greatest thing you could die for? You faith? Your wife and kids? If you say that you’re willing to give the ultimate sacrifice for your Savior – your life – are you not willing to give up anything less important? Your thoughts, your dreams, your anxiety? Your time?

“If you say that you’re willing to surrender your life for your family’s sake, are you not willing to surrender your pride, your rights and your comfort for their benefit also?

“You show me a man who can lay down his pride for his faith and family, and I’ll show you a man who will not hesitate to lay down his life, also.”

If every 19-year-old American man had that perspective and foundation, what a different nation this would be. Thankfully, through Josh’s death, he is challenging countless others to live for Christ, to live for others, to live well.

We miss you, Josh … but we’ll see you later.

Sure, homeschooling is a lot of work, especially for the mother, but it doesn’t compare with the work needed to effectively deprogram a child who is not homeschooled.

Christians are tasked with bringing up their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” to raise them to embrace the truth of the Bible and live out that truth in obedience day to day. If a Christian sends his children to the government schools for several hours each week – or even to the age-segregated and peer-dependent environs of a private school – how many hours and how much effort is needed to counteract the inestimable impact of the secular worldview and cultural swamp such a child experiences in even one day?

Do the math. If a child is subject to the current atheistic indoctrination that passes for education in the government schools for six hours a day, how many hours would his or her parents have to spend to undo that influence? And, even if it were possible, are there really Christian parents who go through such an exercise? Again, I’m just too lazy to do so.

With data that will shock the objective observer, “The Harsh Truth About Public Schools” explains why more Americans are yanking their kids from the government system.

If one of my daughters were to come home from school having been wrapped up in a juvenile scenario of matching up boys and girls, and she begins to value such silliness, how many hours might it take me to counsel her through the countless broken hearts when campus romances explode? And worse, how many hours would be needed to deal with good old-fashioned rebellion when it rears its ugly head thanks to today’s pervasive youth ethic of disrespecting their parents?

Countless Christian ministries give parents tips on how to “connect” with these supposedly strange people called teenagers and how to deal with rebellion and discontent, in hopes that a reasonable adult emerges after several years of relational angst. Perhaps Christian parents should prevent such attitudes from starting by refusing to turn their treasures over to the state (or, again, even private schools) in the first place.

A press release I received recently was headlined: “WHY AREN’T YOUR KIDS TALKING TO YOU? Creators of Website for Teens, Tweens Suggest Parents Struggling to Connect with their Children Should Stay Real and Relevant.”

This was a promotion for two ordained ministers who are trying to help parents and teenagers online. They state:

As kids enter the stages of life where they are highly sensitive to peer pressure and being “cool,” the disconnect between parents and children seems to widen. Throw in the ever-changing lingo of youth and the pop culture they are exposed to, and the communication gap increases. So what are the keys to having a great relationship with your kids?

Um, one key might be as easy as not “exposing” your children to pop culture and peer pressure – no problem, no need for a solution.

As much as these two men likely are sincere about helping Christian parents talk to their teenagers, I wish their services weren’t needed. Somehow I don’t think many of their customers are we lazy homeschooling parents.

And please don’t fool yourself into believing that a couple hours at youth group and a morning at church weekly will somehow neutralize the impact of 30 or more hours at school – especially when the influence a teen receives at a typical church youth setting often imitates the style and practices of a high-school campus. Parents, and especially fathers, are called to provide their children spiritual instruction (see Deuteronomy 6: 4-9); we are not to leave it to hired professionals and expect them to miraculously wash away the imprint of today’s American youth culture.

When I see my 18-year-old senior loving and respecting her parents and walking as a devoted believer, I wonder what kind of young woman she might have become if I had allowed the state to raise her the last 13 years. Would she know more of the world’s ways and have a greater knowledge of the vast array of cuss words in the English language? Definitely. Would she buck the wishes and values of her parents in favor of the “values” of her peers? Most likely.

Of course, my daughter has become the person she is despite myriad mistakes I have made in the last few years. Only by God’s grace can any parent raise a productive, well-adjusted child to adulthood. But why handicap yourself from the get-go by yielding so much control to the state and its demonstrably detrimental system of “education” – and the damaging peer influence that accompanies it?

There’s an old saying: “Don’t work harder, work smarter.” Maybe that applies to raising children. For the lazy Christian parent: Work smart – homeschool your kids.

Just think about what Dobson could have accomplished for our nation had he stood strong and affirmed the dead-on assessment he made of McCain several months ago.

I greatly respect Dr. Dobson and the decades of leadership and ministry he has provided to countless Americans, and I certainly respect his prerogative to change his mind. At the same time, however, I am grieved that, for whatever reason, he chose to fall into line with other evangelical leaders and support the weakest Republican nominee in memory.

It was back in February that Dobson had many Americans cheering by showing strong moral leadership and drawing a line in the sand regarding McCain.

“I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative and, in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are,” Dobson said. “He has at times sounded more like a member of the other party.”

Dobson said he was unhappy the GOP “seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, who voted for embryonic stem-cell research to kill nascent human beings, who opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, who has little regard for freedom of speech, who organized the gang of 14 to preserve filibusters and who has a legendary temper and who often uses foul and obscene language.”

Saying he would sit out the November election if McCain were the nominee, Dobson asserted: “Should John McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime.”

Unfortunately, Dr. Dobson now sings from a different song sheet. His half-hour radio show on Monday consisted of him reading his monthly newsletter to Focus on the Family supporters, pleading with them to vote for the man he had so deftly dismissed just a few months earlier.

Has McCain’s record changed? Has his history of caving on issues of life, freedom of speech and immigration changed? Of course not. The only thing that has changed is McCain has become the official GOP nominee, and Dr. Dobson has bought into the belief that every Republican nominee must be supported – no matter his policies – because to do otherwise would doom the United States with a Democratic president.

Dobson’s letter, available online, explains why he has changed his mind about supporting McCain. None of his reasons holds water.

First, Dobson points out that at the Saddleback Forum in August, McCain gave “encouraging answers” to questions about abortion. Somehow, Dr. Dobson is convinced that if a politician says what you want to hear, he deserves your support. Rather, shouldn’t Dobson, a man who has been such a valiant culture warrior in years past, know that you must look at a politician’s record and not his rhetoric?

In telling Rick Warren at Saddleback that a baby deserves human rights at conception, McCain was blatantly contradicting his record of support for stem-cell research, a record Dobson himself astutely mentioned in slamming the Arizona senator back in February. Instead of returning to what he knows about McCain’s shaky “pro-life” record, Dobson enthusiastically touts an obviously insincere answer by McCain as reason No. 1 to support him.

Secondly, Dr. Dobson points out that this year’s Republican platform is “the strongest pro-life platform in the history of the party.” Wonderful – but the man the party nominated to execute that platform is anything but the most pro-life nominee in the history of the party. Despite the fact McCain’s campaign “approved” the platform, there is nothing that binds him to actually ascribe to it as president – especially if he were not to run for re-election in 2012. Surely Dr. Dobson knows, again, that a candidate’s record is much more indicative of future action than is a platform that will gather dust at RNC headquarters for the next four years.

Next, Dobson cites McCain’s choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Like so many other pro-life Christians, Dobson has allowed Palin’s likeability and spunk to blind him to the reality that a vice president follows, not leads – it is John McCain’s policies that would dominate his administration.

Dobson’s fourth reason to back McCain probably should have been his first: to keep Sen. Barack Obama out of the White House. Just like conservatives are wont to do, Dobson is playing defense, urging a vote for an unworthy candidate to prevent someone even worse from taking the helm. My question for him is: How poor must a Republican candidate be before you will stand on principle and reject him? A 30 on a scale of 1 to 100? Or perhaps 20, or 10? If a pattern is set to embrace every Republican who manages to secure the party’s nomination, Dr. Dobson, you have reduced a very real and dangerous war of worldviews to a cynical, political exercise meant simply to slow the moral fall of our nation, rather than reverse it.

Imagine what could have occurred had Dr. Dobson stayed with his February assessment of Sen. McCain and urged his followers to support a different man for president – whether a third-party nominee or a write-in candidate – one who was faithful to the principles of the Constitution, the Bible and our Founding Fathers. Single-handedly, James Dobson, with his immeasurable influence, could have shaken this presidential election to its core and done great service to our closed electoral process.

Could his man have won? Probably not, but it would have:

• signaled the beginning of the end of the two-party system in American politics;
• shown the Republican Party that pro-family, pro-liberty voters are not an automatic constituency to take for granted every four years;
• given those same voters the joy of supporting and working for a candidate who actually reflects their values with sincerity and strength; and
• allowed God in his sovereignty to intervene and bless the efforts of millions of faithful Christians and other Americans, who stood on principle instead of fear, by placing that Dobson-endorsed candidate in the White House. Stranger things have happened (see: the Bible).

Near the end of Dobson’s letter, he defends his change of heart, writing: “No candidate is perfect, whether in this election or any other. Please don’t make your decision lightly.”

I agree with both statements. He’s right that no candidate is perfect, but again, how imperfect must one be to receive the deserved opposition of pro-family voters? And yes, Americans must not make their choice for president lightly, which is why Christians should reject Dobson’s plea and actually vote their values.

As one WND e-mail to the editor asked recently: In years to come, when you discuss with your grandchildren how you voted in the 2008 presidential election, will you be able to say proudly that you stood on principle and truth?

Ron Paul supporters aren’t the only ones who can claim spontaneous grass-roots activism online: Mike Huckabee enthusiasts point to a new website founded by teenage twins that’s organizing worker bees nationwide for the former Arkansas governor’s presidential effort.

HucksArmy.com, created by 19-year-old Brett and Alex Harris, homeschool graduates from Portland, Ore., boasts over 3 million hits thus far – and if the Harris twins’ track record of online success is any indication, the new site could attract considerably more visitors.

border=0> Alex and Brett Harris

The Harrises are founders of TheRebelution.com, a site targeting Christian youth that fosters “a teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture.” The site currently gets around 24,000 visitors daily.

HucksArmy.com displays a prominent map of the U.S. from which visitors can click on a state to get information about leadership and events planned.

“One of the most important lessons any grass-roots supporter ever learns is to never just sit around waiting for the campaign to tell you what to do,” states a page on the site. “‘Grass-roots’ is just another way of saying ‘from the bottom up.’ Real grass-roots starts with ordinary citizens taking the initiative (e.g. this website) to make things happen for their candidate.”

The site includes a page listing “16 things you can do now for Mike Huckabee,” including signing up for forums, joining local Meetup Groups and donating to the candidate’s campaign.

One suggestion is to “wave Huckabee signs during rush hour”:

“While no one likes to admit it, they do notice people on the sidewalk waving signs and they usually remember what the signs say. Since that is true, waving signs during rush hour is a great way to bring people’s attention to Mike Huckabee.

“Gather your signs (homemade are great here) and your little ones (no one can resist an 8-year-old with a Huckabee sign) and make it a family adventure at the busiest intersection in your area. If you are part of a local Meetup Group get other supporters to join you.”

Military symbolism adorns the site – things like its logo – the image of a large tank – and an invitation to join the “Special Forces.”

“The Special Forces are for people who are willing to really get on the ground and fight in their state caucuses and primaries,” explains the site. “These people are not only going to show up to vote, but are going to bring a whole bunch of people with them – even if it’s snowing outside. Joining the Special Forces is a real commitment because this election is serious business. Lives are literally at stake.”

A fundraising appeal asks supporters to “Do with less so Mike will have enough,” urging activists to give up an “extra” in their lives so they can set aside $10 a week for Huckabee’s campaign.

So, why did the high-achieving media-savvy teens (whose new book is entitled “Do Hard Things”) choose Huckabee as their man?

“What really grabbed our attention initially about Mike Huckabee is that he is a great communicator,” Alex Harris told WND. “He says things like, ‘I’m a conservative, but I’m not mad at anybody about it.’ And that’s what young voters today are looking for, honestly – someone who can get things done not by compromising or by just plunging ahead regardless of what people think, but by communicating and inspiring people to reach for more. And that’s what every great leader has been able to do.”

Alex says it was Huckabee’s “fresh thinking on critical issues that really got us hooked” – like “developing creativity through arts and music” in the schools.

“What he realizes is that the reason so many young people are dropping out of school or taking naps in class is not because we’re dumb, but because we’re bored.”

Brett Harris rebutted criticism by Huckabee detractors that he favors big government.

“Conservatives hold to the idea that the government that governs least governs best, but by that standard Iraq has a better government than we do,” said Brett. “Mike Huckabee is not a big-government conservative; he is a right-government conservative. There is a constitutional role for government, and Huckabee recognizes that.

“The reason the people of Arkansas repeatedly re-elected him was because he got the results. He got a life amendment passed and a marriage amendment. He turned a $250 million deficit into an $850 million surplus. He improved the roads and the schools. He cut taxes and balanced the budget every year. The reason some people hate him is because he didn’t always do things their way – but they haven’t gotten the results doing it their way.”

Said Harris: “I think the people of this country are ready for a new way that works.”

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While some election commentators are looking carefully at the level of devotion Sen. Barack Obama has to Islam, it is the strong African-centered and race-based philosophy of the senator’s United Church of Christ that has some bloggers crying foul.

Obama and Wright

Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago is where Obama was baptized as a Christian two decades ago, even borrowing the title for one of his books, “The Audacity of Hope,” from a sermon by his senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

The first paragraph of the “About Us” section of the church’s website mentions the word “black” or “Africa” five times:

We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian. … Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

Focus on the African continent continues in two of the 10-point vision of the church:

1. A congregation committed to ADORATION.
2. A congregation preaching SALVATION.
3. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
4. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
5. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
6. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
7. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
8. A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
9. A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
10. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.

Commented Florida blogger “Ric” in discussing vision No. 4: “Commitment to Africa? I thought Christians were to have a commitment to God alone?”

The blogger continued: “First off just by this 10-point layout describing Barack Obama’s church, we see that on some issues they are not clear. Even though it sounds good to the reader, it still leaves one guessing and not knowing where they truly stand as a congregation.

“Second, the church seems to place Africa and African people before God, and says nothing about other races in their community or a commitment to help the people in their community.

“Third, the church seems to promote communism by the term they use called ‘economic parity.’ Is this what Barack Obama truly believes?”

On another page on the website, Pastor Wright explains his theology, saying it is “based upon the systematized liberation theology that started in 1969 with the publication of Dr. James Cone’s book, ‘Black Power and Black Theology.’

“Black theology is one of the many theologies in the Americas that became popular during the liberation theology movement. They include Hispanic theology, Native American theology, Asian theology and Womanist theology.”

Wright rebuts those who might call his philosophy racist, saying, “To have a church whose theological perspective starts from the vantage point of black liberation theology being its center is not to say that African or African-American people are superior to any one else.

“African-centered thought, unlike Eurocentrism, does not assume superiority and look at everyone else as being inferior.”

The church’s official mission statement says it has been “called by God to be a congregation that is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that does not apologize for its African roots!”

The Jan. 6 Sunday bulletin had an announcement about how to register for the winter Bible study held by the “Center for African Biblical Studies.”

Another page in the 36-page bulletin announced the “Black and Christian New Member Class.” All those wanting to become full-fledged members of Trinity “MUST complete your new member class!” warned the announcement, which included a schedule of class times. There was no mention of what class a prospective member might take if he or she were not black.

Demonstrating the church’s quest toward “economic parity,” one of the associate pastors, the Rev. Reginald Williams Jr., wrote a blurb in the bulletin decrying the powers that be for not making “fresh food stores” available in the black neighborhoods of Chicago.

Wrote Williams in a discussion of infant mortality in the black community: “In West Englewood, one of the five worst areas in the city, McDonald’s restaurants abound, while fresh food stores are lacking. The same resources should be made available in each and every neighborhood in this city.

“This is an issue which we must all attack. We must push our policymakers for programs for health education, good stores for proper nutrition and access to health care.”

The thought for the day on the same page was a quote from former Rep. Shirley Chisholm: “Health is a human right, not a privilege to be purchased.”

Obama recently talked about his faith with the Concord, N.H., Monitor.

“I’ve always said that my faith informs my values, and in that sense it helps shape my worldview, and I don’t think anyone should be required to leave their religious sensibilities at the door,” Obama told the paper last week. “But we have to translate those concerns into a universal language that can be subject to argument and doesn’t turn into a contest of any one of us thinking that God is somehow on our side.”

The candidate told the Monitor he doesn’t buy everything his pastor proclaims, saying: “There are some things I agree with my pastor about, some things I disagree with him about. I come from a complex racial background with a lot of different strains in me: white, black, I grew up in Hawaii. I tend to have a strong streak of universalism, not just in my religious beliefs, but in my ethical and moral beliefs.”

Obama’s popularity has soared in the last several days, with journalists from NBC even admitting to getting caught up in the “feel good” aura of the campaign.

As WND reported, the network’s Brian Williams noted on MSNBC yesterday: “”[Reporter] Lee [Cowan] says it’s hard to stay objective covering this guy. Courageous for Lee to say, to be honest. … I think it is a very interesting dynamic.”

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A full-length film whose cast and crew are homeschoolers from around the nation will open this spring after the team films “pickups” this month at a Virginia Christian college.

Pickups allow filmmakers to re-shoot scenes, add effects and get new footage for a final cut.

Teaming up with Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Va., site of the original and final filming, Advent Film Group has made a point of using the production of the movie, “Come What May,” as a training ground for aspiring Christian filmmakers.

“This fulfills part of AFG’s mission,” says director and AFG founder George Escobar, a homeschooling dad. “We are training students who will one day direct big-budget films with moral integrity. To get there we’re turning the traditional film school model upside-down.”

Unlike film schools where students pay large tuitions to make short or student films, AFG productions are feature-length from the start, explained a statement from the company. AFG actually pays college students a small stipend as they receive on-the-job training, qualifying them to earn professional credits and giving them profit-participation.

In fact, Escobar explains, new students will work behind the camera during the pickup week for “Come What May,” learning from a professional crew and veteran AFG students. A special AFG Film Day Jan. 30 will see a contingent of homeschool families from across the country join the set to serve as extras in the film.

AFG’s movies are similar to the highly popular “Facing The Giants” in scale, scope and aspiration.

“We are building AFG from within the homeschooling community because homeschoolers have a strong track record for innovation, organization and success,” Escobar remarks. “Just ask Mike Huckabee.”

It is Escobar’s hope that in the future, faith-based films like “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “Amazing Grace” will be directed by Christian directors who have received the necessary training and experience, rather than secular ones.

A shared vision

border=0> Victoria Emmons as ‘Rachel’

“Come What May” tells the story of a college moot court team member, Caleb Hogan, who is tasked with arguing for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. “Along the way,” states the AFG website, “he is caught in a moral tug-of-war between his parents – a newly Christian father, and a feminist Supreme Court attorney mother.” Romantic interest in Caleb’s moot court partner, Rachel, adds a powerful subplot to the film.

Victoria Emmons, a 2007 homeschool graduate from Grants Pass, Ore., plays Rachel in the film. Emmons says she got involved in the project after auditioning while competing at the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association speech tournament in Belton, Texas, in June.

Emmons says she liked “just about everything” about the experience of shooting the movie, the bulk of which occurred in July and August.

“I had never acted before, so it was a new experience,” Emmons said.

“The only thing I didn’t like was the sleep deprivation during shooting,” she noted.

“I appreciated working with Christians who have the same vision.”

“Come What May” is scheduled to open in the spring, first in select theaters, followed shortly by DVD sales.

Emmons says she will be reunited with “Caleb,” Austin Kearney, this summer to act in a short film.

The trailer for “Come What May” is available to view on AFG’s website.

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It’s finally been found: the agenda the Democratic Party would pursue should it take control of Congress Nov. 7. For those voters who have been confused about what exactly the Democrats would do if they were to take power, things have just gotten a lot clearer.

Prior to the 1994 takeover by Republicans, GOP leaders touted their “Contract with America,” a specific list of policy changes they would make if given power. This year, pundits have hammered the Democratic leadership for not providing a similar set of initiatives so voters could understand specifically what they would do if entrusted with congressional control. These merciless commentators have suggested the Party of Clinton has no concrete plans but instead hangs its collective hat on unending criticism of President Bush.

But alas – such criticism is unfounded! A list of bills introduced by Democrats over the last two years was released this week by Paul S. Teller, deputy director of the House Republican Study Committee. Finally, we voters know what kind of government we might enjoy under Democratic leadership.

As I began to read the list, I was initially skeptical. After all, there are a lot of hoaxes floating around in cyberspace. How did I know this list was accurate and not the latest offering from a spoof site like the Onion?

After looking up a few of the bills on Congress’ official legislation website, I was assured that Teller was not telling us a whopper with his list of Democratic ideas – they are actual bills that have been introduced, seemingly with a straight face, and whose development was financed by our tax dollars.

Here are a few of my favorites from the list:

The Justice for the Unprotected against Sexually Transmitted Infections among the Confined and Exposed Act, or JUSTICE Act, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. This bill would make sure the “guests” housed in federal prisons have government-issued condoms aplenty for their use. Subsidized homosexual activity by convicts – yep, that’s the kind of America I want to live in.

The Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act, sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. The bill would eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence for crack-cocaine convictions. Finally – a bill to start reversing the silly tough-on-crime mindset that has kept far too many crack-cocaine dealers behind bars.

A bill “to provide for coverage under the Medicare and Medicaid Programs of incontinence undergarments,” sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., would make adult diapers a covered item under Medicare and Medicaid. Now here’s a piece of legislation our Founding Fathers would be proud of. After all, we all know their intent was for government to provide for the “common Depends.” A diaper in every drawer! (or drawers).

The Gas Stamp Act, sponsored by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., a bill that would creates billions of dollars in gas stamps each year for people to get free gas. The stamps would to be distributed to those already eligible for food stamps. Now you’re thinkin’. Rather than drop restrictions on domestic energy production, which would increase supply and lower prices, let’s just have the taxpayer buy gas for those who can’t afford it. This bill also imposes a windfall-profit tax on those evil oil companies – nice touch.

The Democrats also have big plans for U.S. foreign policy. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., represents his party with the End the War in Iraq Act. Otherwise known as the “Admit Defeat, Place Tail Between Legs and Scurry Home Act,” the bill would completely defund the U.S. military in Iraq, forcing an immediate withdrawal of all troops. So simple yet so profound – why couldn’t the Republicans think of that?

Congresswoman Lee continues her leadership by sponsoring A Living Wage, Jobs for All Act. According to the Republican Study Committee, it would create rights to “decent” jobs, income for individuals unable to work, a “decent” living for farmers, freedom from monopolies, “decent” housing, “adequate” health care, Social Security, education, work training, collective bargaining, a safe working environment and other wonderful things too numerous to mention. Wow, I can envision the utopia now – how incredibly “decent” of Ms. Lee to provide so much decency to her fellow Americans.

For those of us who are too selfish for our own good, Rep. Rangel offers the Universal National Service Act, requiring all Americans between the ages of 18 and 42, to perform a two-year period of national service. Good ol’ “mandatory volunteerism” – an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one. I’m just sorry I recently aged out of this program; if I wanted to volunteer, I’d have to do so on my own, without the federal government to help me – hmm, not sure I could do that.

And from the “Government’s job is to protect us from ourselves” department, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., brings us The Menu Education and Labeling Act. This vital piece of legislation regulates what certain restaurants must print on their menus. Yes! What a perfect proposal to help us dimwitted Americans who just might order a dessert loaded with trans fat and not even realize it. How in the world have we existed for over two centuries without federally regulated restaurant menus? How barbaric.

You can see the entire list of inspirational bills online.

I hope this list of proposals will give American voters a clearer picture of how the Democratic Party wants to govern the nation. If nothing else, perhaps it has given the Onion an idea of two for its next edition.

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Though the developer of a technology that uses water to produce a flammable gas says it provides a solution to high gas prices plaguing the nation, detractors claim the businessman’s idea is a scam.

Denny Klein is president of Hydrogen Technologies Applications in Clearwater, Fla. His patented machine uses an electrical charge to separate the atoms of H2O into HHO, a gas he calls “Aquygen.”

“You get a huge energy response,” Klein told the Tampa Tribune. “But this gas is very, very safe.”

He first used the fuel to power a welding tool, but soon tried it out in a hybrid automobile.

The flame, though on its own registers just 259 degrees Fahrenheit, heats up to the melting point of whatever substance it touches, explained Steve Lusko, project manager for Hydrogen Technologies Applications.

“For example, when you ignite our flame and touch it to steel, it will cut right through it at 1,400 degrees,” Lusko told WND.

“It will melt a hole right through a brick at 4,500 degrees. … It reacts to whatever it touches.”

So, Lusko says, the gas has the ability to bond to whatever fuel it is mixed with, like gasoline in a hybrid car.

“Upon combustion, you get a dramatic increase in energy BTUs,” he said, “and you get an equally dramatic decrease in emission pollution, because the burn is so highly efficient, what would have come out of the tailpipe as an emission ends up getting burned up and used.”

An “electrolyzer” in Klein’s 1994 Ford Escort uses electricity from the alternator to initiate the electrolysis process to make the HHO gas out of water, explained Lusko. That gas is then pumped to the manifold and into the gas tank.

“The gas then bonds with the gasoline in the gas tank,” Lusko said, “and then upon combustion, that’s when you get the reaction, giving you higher gas mileage and cleaner emissions.”

Why not run a car with exclusively HHO gas?

“We have combustion engines here that have run completely on our Aquygen,” Lusko said, “but it would be a matter of engineering.”

Lusko says in tests the mileage of the hybrid vehicle has improved anywhere from 25 to 53 percent.

Hydrogen Technologies Applications has a patent on its generator and has one pending on Aquygen.

Lusko says the company has already talked to some auto companies about using the technology in new vehicles.

Not everyone in the tech world is cheering for Klein and his process.

Writing on peswiki.com, Ken Rasmussen stated: “[Klein] may have an efficient way to break down water for pure hydrogen and oxygen to run an engine. Several of us are on the verge of perfecting the process, but none of us want to make fools of ourselves with TV claims until ALL the bugs are exterminated.”

Rasmussen was referring to a TV news story that ran about Klein on Fox affiliate KRIV-TV in Houston, Texas.

“Gases are dangerous and hard to store and hard to compress – they do not do an efficient job of temporarily storing energy,” wrote Eric Kreig on the same site. “The gas produced by separating water is dangerous and has been called many things. … It has been available for years from many sources. These machines are heavy and suck in a lot more power than you ever get out of them by burning the gas back into water.”

Wrote a message board participant at peakoil.com: “Overall, [the technology is] rather pointless, as it wastes lots of energy. Just a simple charge-and-go electric car sounds like a much better idea.”

Yet another opined: “Some scamsters have claimed that their miracle electrolyzer produces a magical mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, that is somehow different from other mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen in that it is not explosive and contains three to 10 times as much energy as hydrogen. Historically, scammers have given their magical mixtures all sorts of names. HHO or Klein gas appears to be nothing more than the latest name given to this nonsense.”

Lusko was adamant the technology is real and the company has nothing to hide.

“We are what we are,” he said. “The technology is what it appears to be. Do you think we would expose ourselves on Fox News if it were a scam?”

Added Lusko: “The only fools that would [call the technology a scam] are people who haven’t seen it. It’s not possible to make that statement if they have any idea what they’re talking about. … I witness the technology every single day of my life.”

Lusko says he became an investor in the company a year and a half ago and told Klein at that time he “must be a part of this.” That’s when Lusko began working for the firm.

“This technology is going to end up being in the mainstream eventually,” he predicted, “and then the critics are going to look absolutely foolish.”

Klein says he plans to take Hydrogen Technology, which now has private investors, public this year.

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A couple that lost a daughter to the terrorists who destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 and who refused $5 million of “blood money” from strongman Moammar Gadhafi in connection with the attack are livid at President Bush for restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya.

Daniel and Susan Cohen lost 20-year-old daughter Theodora, their only child, in the attack over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

width=185 height=207 border=0> Libyan President Col. Moammar Gadhafi (Courtesy: Sky News)

Though they were part of a lawsuit by families of slain Americans, they dropped out after seeing that Gadhafi’s payments amounted to what they consider “bribes.” He was getting something – namely the lifting of U.N. sanctions, travel restrictions and getting off the list of terrorism sponsors – for the payments rather than giving them as a means to admit guilt in the attack.

“We may be the only living Americans that ever turned down $5 million,” Susan Cohen told WND. “What we really wanted was justice.”

Cohen called it a “rumor” that Gadhafi has taken responsibility for the Flight 103 attack.

“Yes, the Libyan government issued a well-lawyered, very limited statement of ‘civil responsibility’ in order to avoid U.N. sanctions,” wrote Daniel Cohen in the Los Angeles Times this week. “But Col. Gadhafi himself has continued to insist that Libya had nothing to do with the bombing, and, after all, his voice is the only one that really counts in Libya.”

Said Susan Cohen: “The money was pegged to Gadhafi getting what he wanted, which we felt was a bribe. … It has turned the Pan Am 103 families into people whose focus was then on getting the money.”

Cohen explained she and her husband are totally out of the lawsuit: “We do not have the lawyers; we are out of it.”

“We don’t want to be rewarded for his getting what he wants,” said Cohen.

About a year and a half ago the Cohens officially pulled out of the suit.

The Coker family is one of the families that took the money.

“People feel guilty taking the money. It’s like a trade for your child,” Tom Coker told the Syracuse Post-Standard earlier this year. “Blood money is difficult to deal with.”

Saying the re-establishment of relations with Libya, announced by the State Department Monday, is a “horror,” Cohen blasted the Bush administration.

“Everything this administration has put its hands on has been a disaster,” Cohen stated. “It’s almost like the Midas golden touch in reverse. … I absolutely detest George Bush and Dick Cheney. I think they are scoundrels.”

Added Cohen: “Gadhafi has gotten everything he wanted; he has totally triumphed.”

When the offer came in, Cohen says, the couple’s attorneys asked if they wanted to give it to charity.

“We said no, it’s the taking of it that’s evil,” Cohen said.

“That was my only child;, it has destroyed my life; I am a wreck and I miss her every moment. I will be damned if I will be bribed by Moammar Gadhafi.”

Dan Cohen’s opinion piece in the Times opens: “How would you feel if the man who murdered your child was forgiven – and embraced – by your government?”

He goes on to say the Bush administration “has dishonored our country.”

Wrote Cohen: “Nothing can bring back Theo and all the other slain innocents. Col. Gadhafi and his cronies who planned and carried out the bombing are now beyond reach. But at least we should leave a clear record of what happened – and who was responsible. By normalizing relations with Libya and exonerating Col. Gadhafi – and that is clearly what the Bush administration has done – we have even lost that chance.”

The Cohens, who live in Cape May Courthouse, N.J., did accept an initial $5 million as part of a U.N.-approved package deal for the families, 20 percent of which went to attorneys.

“We were willing to take the first payment because it was part of the … U.N. package” of requirements, Dan Cohen told WND. “We had signed on for the U.N. deal from the very beginning.”

Cohen told the New York Post he is considering a protest of Libya’s formal embassy when it opens in Washington, D.C.

“We are considering something, some sort of a protest,” he said. “Maybe I will spit on a few diplomats as they walk in.”

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border=0> Fibers removed from facial lesion of 3-year-old boy

A nonprofit foundation is working to drum up awareness of a border-area mystery disease that’s been described as something out of a horror film, but which most mainstream doctors refuse to admit exists.

The Morgellons Research Foundation hopes to inform lawmakers and public-health officials of the disease to try to work toward an eventual cure.

As WorldNetDaily reported, Morgellons disease, a mysterious infection seemingly similar to one documented 300 years ago, is spreading throughout South Texas. While the disease has not been known to kill and doesn’t appear to be contagious, it’s the horrible symptoms that have some working feverishly to find an effective treatment.

The South Texas outbreak’s proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border comes at a time when the issues of illegal immigration, border security and possible amnesty for over 12 million illegal aliens are being debated in the U.S.

According to the foundation’s website, symptoms include skin lesions that do not heal, a crawling sensation on the surface of the skin, fatigue, cognitive difficulties and, perhaps the most disturbing, fibers popping out of the skin.

border=0> Fibers removed from facial lesion of 3-year-old boy

States the site: “[The fibers] are generally described by patients as white, but clinicians also report seeing blue, green, red, and black fibers, that fluoresce when viewed under ultraviolet light (Wood’s lamp).”

Travis Wilson, a Morgellons sufferer for over a year, once called his mother in to see a fiber coming out of a lesion in his chest.

“It looked like a piece of spaghetti was sticking out about a quarter to an eighth of an inch long and it was sticking out of his chest,” Lisa Wilson told the San Antonio Express-News. “I tried to pull it as hard as I could out and I could not pull it out.

“He’d have attacks and fibers would come out of his hands and fingers, white, black and sometimes red. Very, very painful,” said Wilson.

A variety of other symptoms range from neurological and gastrointestinal problems to changes in skin pigment. Some people have also reported black, tarry beads of sweat.

While it’s impossible to know how many Americans – who appear to be concentrated in California, Texas and Florida – suffer with the disease, the foundation says thousands with one or more symptom have registered with it.

Even so, most of the medical community don’t see the disease as real, with some doctors telling patients it’s all in their head.

“They (doctors) told me I was just doing this to myself, that I was nuts. So basically I stopped going to doctors because I was afraid they were going to lock me up,” said sufferer Stephanie Bailey.

A big question medical professionals are wrestling with is how victims come down with the disease.

“It is difficult to say whether Morgellons is contagious,” states the FAQ page on the foundation’s site. “Many of our group have family members who exhibit no symptoms whatever. On the other hand, many entire families have reported becoming infected at or near the same time. At this juncture, it remains unclear if these households with multiple infected members reflect contagion, due to human-to-human transmission, or some type of mutual exposure.”

The name for the disease comes from a condition involving “black hairs” emerging from the skin of children, which was documented in France in the 1600s. While experts say it is doubtful the modern-day disease is linked to the 17th century occurrences, the name was chosen, says the Morgellons Foundation, to provide “a consistent label when addressing politicians, physicians and health departments.”

Mary Leitao is executive director of the Morgellons Foundation. She became involved several years ago when her 2-year-old son began exhibiting symptoms.

“The goal of the foundation is to find a cure for Morgellons disease,” Leitao told WND. “The other goal is to determine the cause.”

Leitao explained that Randy Wymore, Ph.D., of Oklahoma State University is working on getting research work started at the school.

“His goal is to see patients and to investigate it medically and scientifically,” Leitao said.

One obstacle, she explained, is that there is not a diagnostic test for Morgellons disease. Even so, Leitao stressed that the skin lesions with fibers appears to be a symptom that links nearly all victims.

“If a physician is able to view these skin lesions under magnification, they may see these fibers,” Leitao said.

Since the disease is hard to pin down, treatments vary widely.

Said Leitao: “Some physicians are treating it with pretty high-dose antibiotics. Others are using other meds, including pain medications. It can be a very uncomfortable disease for people.”

Leitao said officials at the Centers for Disease Control are “not sure there’s a situation going on here” so are reticent to take action.

“I don’t think the CDC has heard from enough physicians, because many physicians don’t recognize the illness,” she said. “They just think the illness is psychosomatic.”

Leitao stressed she is committed to finding a cure because of the devastation she has seen in the lives of victims. Many no longer work because of the brain fog that often accompanies the disorder.

“They can’t mentally focus on tasks,” she said. “They’re extremely fatigued and severely depressed – in addition to the skin symptoms.”

Indeed, Travis Wilson committed suicide three weeks ago.

“I knew he was going to kill himself, and there was nothing I could do to stop him,” his mother said.

Dr. Adelaide Hebert of the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston is unconvinced Morgellons is an actual medical disorder.

“I think if we look at what is truly evidence-based medicine, what has been proven based on scientific fact we know we don’t have a means to substantiate [Morgellons],” Hebert told KVUE-TV.

Hebert believes Morgellons exists only in the patient’s mind.

“Many of these patients do have delusion of parasitosis,” Hebert is quoted as saying. “It is actually not uncommon to have patients come in and describe the sensation that something is crawling on their skin.”

Ginger Savely is a nurse practitioner in Austin, Texas, who has documented over 100 incidents of Morgellons.

“[Sufferers] can’t get anybody to help them in the medical profession. It’s just a nightmare, a living nightmare. I can’t imagine any worse disease,” she told the TV station.

Some doctors who do recognize the disorder as a medical disease sit on the Medical Advisory Board of the Morgellons Research Foundation.

Says Gregory V. Smith, M.D., a member of the board: “This disorder is much more common than anyone suspects. … During the course of my practice activity, I have seen numerous children … a minimum of three children daily in my office with suspicious skin lesions.”

Adds another board member, William T. Harvey, M.D.: “The Morgellon’s phenomenon is real. It is also clearly devastating, life-shortening and infectious. I have observed the herald lesions microscopically with their central fibers in dozens of patients.”

Leitao remains hopeful for a cure – not only for her own son but countless others.

“It’s a bizarre disease; I will admit to that,” Leitao said. “But it’s a real disease and the people need real help.”

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