Week Ending August 1, 2008 - Washington, DC

Our blogspot blocked by Google / McCain's VP pick may be woman who was fired from CEO job / Another possible McCain pick: female governor who may be indicted / Illegals leaving US in droves / We owe and owe and owe / Senator makes accusations against Chinese / How bad is Congress now? / Defamation of religion laws? / New Chairman's Report

NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The all new July 31, 2008 Chairman's Report is now available to read in PDF format. This issue contains a full report on the July mission to the Middle East to assist Iraqi Christian refugees. There are new facts on the condition of Christians in Jordan. The bombing in Ariel and the recovery of David Ortiz's son is also covered. Click here to view new issue.

THE PRESIDENCY

ILLEGALS LEAVINGS USA - The business wing of the Republican Party, seeking cheap labor, convinced President George W. Bush that he needed to give amnesty to the more than twelve million illegals in the USA. The American people said no, and he and his allies in Congress were forced to back off. The Bush Administration then began to enforce existing immigration laws that had been ignored for years. This was primarily done to show how "cruel" the laws were, in hopes of passing an amnesty bill later. However, enforcing the laws has had an unintended effect. About 11% of the illegals in the United States have voluntarily left. Read more

WE OWE AND OWE AND OWE - Earlier this week the White House announced that the projected Fiscal Year 2009 deficit will be $490 billion, which is a record . The deficit for the current year is expected to be $410 billion. Among the factors contributing to the high numbers are the cost of military expenditures in Iraq and the $170 billion in checks sent to taxpayers to "stimulate" the economy. Hidden in the new Housing "Relief" bill was an increase in the government's limit to borrow from $9.5 to $10.5 trillion. Don't worry about it though, our grandchildren can pay off our debt.

MCCAIN MAY PICK WOMAN WITH BAGGAGE - This morning the Washington Times reported that John McCain may pick either Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) who may be indicted any day for corruption or Carla Fiorina, the former CEO of HP who was fired for nearly running the company into the ground. There are only two possibilities here:tThe story was a plant from the Obama campaign or there was a gas leak in the Washington Times building that has caused mental confusion in the editorial staff.

THE CONGRESS

BROWNBACK ACCUSES CHINESE - "I am very disappointed that the Chinese government will not follow through on its promise to the International Olympic Committee to maintain an environment free of government censorship during the Games," said Senator Sam Brownback. "The Chinese government has put in place a system to spy on and gather information about every guest at hotels where Olympic visitors are staying. This means journalists, athletes' families and other visitors will be subjected to invasive intelligence gathering by the Chinese Public Security Bureau." He made the announcement after learning that hotels had been ordered to install equipment to assist the Chinese to spy on all Olympic teams and visitors.

HOW BAD IS THIS CONGRESS? - Nacy Gibbs's wrote in Time Magazine: "The 260 laws passed by the 110th Congress represent a 30-year low, and they include the naming of 74 post offices, not to mention the nonbinding resolutions designating July National Watermelon Month and recognizing dirt as an essential natural resource." The article went on to point out that Congress has only a 9% approval rating. The worst part, however, is that 40%of voters think the Republicans are still in charge and want them out. They do not know that Congress is being run by San Francisco radical Nancy Pelosi. Read more

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CULTURE AND RELIGION

GOOGLE LOCKS OUR BLOGSPOT - This weekly update is posted every Friday at www.murrayonthehill.blogspot.com. The blog service is provided by Google. Al Gore received a sweetheart stock deal from Google when it was a start up and now owns tens of millions of dollars in shares of the company. Google has always favored the left and several conservative blog spots have been "locked" in recent weeks, having been accused of "spam." Yesterday murrayonthehill.blogspot.com was locked by Google because it had "irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site." While the site can be accessed, I cannot post any new updates to it. A complaint has been filed with Google.

NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The all new July 31, 2008 Chairman's Report is now available to read in PDF format. This issue contains a full report on the July mission to the Middle East to assist Iraqi Christian refugees. There are new facts on the condition of Christians in Jordan. The bombing in Ariel and the recovery of David Ortiz's son is also covered. Click here to view new issue.

INTERNATIONAL

OUR MISSION TO THE MIDDLE EAST- A report on my July mission to Jordan and Israel has been posted in PDF format. The report details the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition with Iraqi Christians in Jordan. Details of the bombing of our evangelist's apartment in Israel and my visit with his wounded son are in the report. View Report

FREEDOM OF RELIGION VS DEFAMATION OF RELIGION - Islamic nations want to pass UN resolutions making freedom of speech a crime under the guise of "defamation of religion." Resolutions and laws upholding the "defamation of religions" as a legal principle protect ideas rather than the individuals who hold ideas. "Defamation of religions" measures charge the speaker for expressing his views about a religion. This may sound extreme, but Canada already has such laws on its books and Christians have been punished there for criticism of Islam. Read more

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