Hearing about this story on today's Rush Limbaugh Show really got my dander up.


I am so glad I don't live in New York, otherwise the mayor would be getting a polite but forceful phone call from me.

Here's a salient quote from the story:

"The plan, for which the city claims support from health agencies inother cities and states, sets a goal of reducing the amount of salt inpackaged and restaurant food by 25 percent over the next five years.

"Public health experts say that would reduce the incidence of high blood pressureand should help prevent some of the strokes and heart attacksassociated with that condition. The plan is voluntary for foodcompanies and involves no legislation. It allows companies to cut saltgradually over five years so the change is not so noticeable toconsumers."

Yeah, some voluntary program that "allows" companies to cut salt gradually over five years.

Dr. Thomas Farley, the city health commissioner, doesn't know what he's talking about when he says reducing salt from those sources would save lives. For those of you who don't know this story, I was advised by physicians at Mayo Clinic to add as much salt as I wanted to my food because I wasn't getting enough out of it in the first place. And my blood pressure is perfectly normal, thank you.

The Mayo specialist put it to me this way, "Salt doesn't cause high blood pressure. It just aggravates hypertension if you already have it." I am living proof that is true, and it really irritates me when nanny state politicians want to micromanage every little thing in our lives.

On Fox News Channel tonight, I even heard Suzanne Somers say that ordinary table salt is dangerous for you. Baloney! She actually said that salt producers take all the nutrients out of salt when they process it. That's only true in the sense that table salt eliminates the trace elements that cause minor variations in color and flavor. It is certainly not true that the human body cannot process regular table salt. Again, I'm living proof!

Here are the facts on salt direct from Mayo Clinic's web site.

Just wanted to link to this article for easy reference:

Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth: Answering the Critics

A salient quote from the piece:

"The idea that increased deficit spending can cure recessions has been tested repeatedly, and it has failed repeatedly. The economic models that assert that every $1 of deficit spending grows the economy by $1.50 cannot explain why $1.4 trillion in deficit spending did not create a $2.1 trillion explosion of new economic activity."

Illusion: President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress know how to fix the economy.

Reality: They don't. Let's stop sending them to Washington to do the exact opposite of what needs to be done, huh?

Glenn Beck explained on the air today how Barack Obama and liberals like him are setting out to fundamentally change the United States of America:

1. Build a structure. - For example, Democrats are meeting behind closed doors to remake one seventh of our economy, the health care system.
2. Make it complex. - The health care bill is splashing around the 2,000 page mark. How many legislators are actually going to read the whole thing before voting on it?
3. Avoid debate. - Democrats are scrambling to find 60 votes for the bill so Republicans who have legitimate concerns about what they're about to do won't be able to have any debate on what's in it. So much for "bipartisanship."
4. Move quickly. - That's all we hear from Obama and the Congressional leadership, "This can't wait any longer." Undue haste cannot make for good legislation.

In order to do that, they have four strategies:

1. Indoctrinate. - Continually tell people that health care is a right, and that health insurance companies are the enemy.
2. Bribe. - Senator Ben Nelson, are you listening? Political favors are being granted to more than just him, though. Scary.
3. Silence or shout down the opposition. - Al Franken, are you listening? Speaking as a citizen, I object to your objection.
4. Destroy. - Liberals don't really care about the Constitution, the democratic process, or honesty. Their policies will destroy this country, so why are so many people in favor of it?

Search me.

Star Parker puts it beautifully in her column: "

America's unique success comes from freedom and limited government. Government's responsibilities are laid out clearly in our Constitution, which we choose to ignore.

"National security is a job of government. Designing health-insurance policies and forcing private citizens to buy them, running car companies, bailing out banks and subsidiziing homeowners who can't pay their mortgages, is not."

Hooray for me!

I locked in my first show of the year today. I'll be doing my first baby shower in Swartz Creek, MI.

What kind of magic do you do for a baby shower? I'm going to have to do a little thinking on this one, try to come up with a couple of tricks having to do with babies. Maybe some sort of prediction.

If you're interested in adding a little magic to your next special event, consider inviting me to share some impossible things! Visit my web site and learn more about me.

"Well, now, let's see. I know how to treat the poor. My taxes go to pay for  the prisons and the poorhouses; the homeless must go there." - Ebenezer Scrooge, The Muppet Christmas Carol.

A recent year-end Barna report revealed that only 4% of self-identified Christians believe that poverty is an issue that is primarily the responsibility of the Church. Yet, an overwhelming majority of self-identified Christians (81%)contend that spiritual maturity is achieved by following the rules inthe Bible.

Here are some:

MATTHEW 25

Caring for the poor is not primarily the responsibility of government, but of God's people. We are not commanded to lobby the government to increase everyone's taxes to provide for the poor. We are commanded to sacrifice out of what God has blessed us with to take care of those who are less fortunate.

Effective Care for the Needy

Followers of Christ have the potential to be among the world’s most effective agents for social service. They have the example of Christ to follow. They have the motivation of doing compassionate work in His name. They have the structure, community life, and pooled resources of their congregations. And they have the model of the early church, which provided standards for the systematic, ongoing care of widows (1 Tim. 5:3–22).

We can learn a great deal about delivering services to the needy by carefully observing the principles that Paul set forth for Timothy and the believers at Ephesus. For example:

1. The care described here was regular and ongoing for people who were “taken into the number” (1 Tim. 5:9), that is, put on a list of continuing recipients of the church’s support. Presumably, the church was to give short-term support to people who needed help until they could get back on their feet, but not to able-bodied people who refused to work to support themselves (compare 2 Thess. 3:10).

2. The care was for “widows who are really widows” (1 Tim. 5:3). The Old Testament described a widow as a woman who had no one to support her and therefore depended on the protection of the community (Ex. 22:22–24; Deut. 14:28–29; 24:17–22; 26:12–13). If a widow had able-bodied children or grandchildren, she needed to depend on them for provision, not the church (1 Tim. 5:4).

3. A widow who was “taken into the number” incurred certain responsibilities in order to maintain her eligibility for the church’s charity. For example, she needed to be frugal lest someone reproach her for living an extravagant lifestyle and the fellowship for supporting it (1 Tim. 5:6–7). Likewise, she needed to meet certain criteria related to her earlier life and character (1 Tim. 5:9–10). The point was not to keep a widow out of the program, but to ensure that she served her fellow believers in every way she could if she was going to receive support.

4. Younger widows were expected to remarry and, as was common for that day, bear children (who presumably would care for their parents in old age). Again, the church needed to avoid offering long-term support to someone who had other options. To do so might contribute to wantonness, idleness, and gossip (1 Tim. 5:11–14).

These instructions to Timothy mirror principles about systematic aid found elsewhere in Scripture. For example, Paul told the Corinthians that financial support should go only to the truly poor. Likewise, the aim of providing care is to give people enough food, clothing, and other aid for survival and health. It is not intended to give anyone a free ride, even less to underwrite an inflated standard of living (2 Cor. 8:13–15; 1 Tim. 6:6–10).

First Timothy 5 specifically addresses the care of widows, but its principles apply to a much broader range of human need. By using this and other biblical texts to develop social programs, believers can effectively render care in a way that honors the name of Christ and provides real help to needy people.

Thomas Nelson Publishers: What Does the Bible Say About-- : The Ultimate A to Z Resource Fully Illustrated. Nashville, Tenn. : Thomas Nelson, 2001 (Nelson's A to Z Series), S. 419

Don't be a modern-day Scrooge and say, "My taxes go to support the unemployment system, the welfare system, food stamps, SCHIP, and everything else, so those who need help can go to Obama for it." Quite the contrary, Christians ought to be the primary resource for those who need benevolent assistance.

Most Americans think that knowledge of the history and principles of the American Revolution is important.

So far, so good.

Most Americans think they know a lot about the history and principles of the American Revolution.

That's the illusion.

Only three percent of adults gave themselves a failing grade on the subject before they took an actual quiz on it given by the American Revolution Center.

Nearly 83 percent of them actually failed the the test. They answered only an average of 44 percent correct out of 27 questions.

That's beyond sad. That's pathetic.

I took an abbreviated 10-question quiz, and I scored 90%. One of my right answers was a guess, but only one. Check out the PDF of the quiz by clicking the link above and see how much you thought you knew about history.

Hope the phrase "don't know much" doesn't apply to you.

Puppetry is a form of magic, encouraging people to suspend their disbelief that a sock can have personality.

What a delight it was to see the Muppets guest starring on Extreme Makeover Home Edition last night. In case you missed it, see if it's still here.

As a big Muppet fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and I think the Muppets took the perfect tone. It's awesome to hear Dave Goelz still performing Gonzo, and the other character performers are really starting to get their classic characters correct. My only quibble is with Bunsen Honeydew, who sounds -- I don't know -- less pedantic and pseudo-scientific than he used to when Jerry Nelson was performing him.

Hey Bunsen, stop calling Beaker "Beakie." He may be unprofessional, but he's still your assistant.

Thanks to Disney and ABC for putting this together, and thanks to the Muppets for continuing the hilarity. You cannot leave the magic!

After a long absence, I'm attempting to restart this blog. The goal is to write something new at least five days a week, whether anyone actually reads it or not.

Having performed three shows for senior citizens in my area during December, I have earned enough money to upgrade my sound system to a wireless controller. For a year or more now, I have been employing the Happie Amp and it has been a wonderful addition to my show equipment. I had been putting my music through a Sansa Fuze MP3 player, but after my Christmas shows I found a used iPod on eBay which I have now combined with Jim Kleefeld's Sound Control device.

This new setup is going to take my show to an entirely new level! The entertainment will be seamless, and the astonishment will be constant. If you're planning a special event -- a birthday party, a company dinner, or such like -- consider adding a touch of magic, and call 989-450-8609 to schedule your special program from Proximity Illusions!

On the Bob Dutko show this afternoon, Bob interviewed Christian researcher George Barna on the trends of religious faith in America.

As it turns out, most people who identify themselves as Christian are really not "Captive Christians," absolutely focused on looking at life and interpreting it through their faith. They understand what their . Most of them are "Casual Christians," whose faith is not the driving force in their life. Barna says, "It's one of a number of influences on what they think and what they do."

This is one of the main reasons our country is almost lost. Francis Schaeffer pinpointed this way back in 1982, when he said that much of the evangelical leadership has not raised a voice against the legalization of abortion and many other things. We're no better today, and in fact we're much worse.


This is important. If you claim to be a Christian, are you really following the Lord Jesus and wishing to live your life by His standards? Or are you just keeping Jesus on the shelf and pulling Him down when it suits you? If you take Him with you throughout the day you you put Him in the trunk of the car? Is He in the back seat? Is He in the driving seat? Are you a backseat driver?

More to come ...

When I heard the comments that President Obama made on Monday to the Turkish parliament, I couldn't stop one thought from coming to mind.

The President said, "We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world -- including in my own country."

Yeah, like the skyline of New York.