Michelle Obama’s Ostentatious Staff

Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn’t perform any official duties. But this hasn’t deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession.

Just think, Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary.

How things have changed!

If you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Miz Michele are the same as members of the National Security and Defense Departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public:

$172,2000 – Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)

$140,000 – Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant To The President And Director Of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)

$113,000 – Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant To The President And White House Social Secretary)

$102,000 – Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant To The President And Director Of Communications For The First Lady)

Winter, Melissa E. (Special Assistant To The President And Deputy Chief Of Staff To The First Lady)

$90,000 – Medina, David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff To The First Lady)

$84,000 – Lelyveld, Catherine M. (Director And Press Secretary To The First Lady)

$75,000 – Starkey, Frances M. (Director Of Scheduling And Advance For The First Lady)

$70,000 – Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director Of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)

$65,000 – Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director And Deputy Social Secretary)

Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director And Deputy Social Secretary)

$62,000 – Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director Of Scheduling And Events Coordinator For The First Lady)

$60,000 – Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director Of Advance And Trip Director For The First Lady)

Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant And Personal Aide To The First Lady)

$52,500 – Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director And Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)

$50,000 – Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant For Scheduling And Traveling Aide To The First Lady)

$45,000 – Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director Of Correspondence For The First Lady)

Tubman, Samantha (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)

$40,000 – Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant To The Chief Of Staff To The First Lady)

$36,000 – Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant To The Social Secretary)

Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)

Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director Of Correspondence For The First Lady)

Maxine Waters (D) Admits Liberals Are Socialists!

Joe Legal vs. Jose Illegal

There are 2 families…“Joe Legal” and “Jose Illegal”. Both families have 2 parents, 2 children and live in California.

“Joe Legal” works in construction, has a Social Security Number, and makes $25.00 per hour with payroll taxes deducted….”

Jose Illegal” also works in construction, has “NO” Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash “under the table”.

Joe Legal…$25.00 per hour x 40 hours $1,000.00 per week, $52,000 per year

Now take 30% away for state and federal tax

Joe Legal now has $31,231.00

Jose Illegal…$15.00 per hour x 40 hours $600.00 per week, $31,200.00 per year

Jose Illegal pays no taxes….

Jose Illegal now has $31,200.00

Joe Legal pays Medical and Dental Insurance with limited coverage, $1,000.00 per month, $12,000.00 per year

Joe Legal now has $19,231.00

Jose Illegal has full Medical and Dental coverage through the state and local clinics at a cost of $0.00 per year

Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00

Joe Legal makes too much money is not eligible for Food Stamps or welfare

Joe Legal pays for food, $1,000.00 per month, $12,000.00 per year

Joe Legal now has $ 7,231.00

Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for Food Stamps and Welfare

Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00

Joe Legal pays rent of $1,000.00 per month, $12,000.00 per year

Joe Legal is now in the hole – Minus (-) $4,769.00

Jose Illegal receives a $500 per month Federal rent subsidy

Jose Illegal pays rent $500.00 per month, $6,000.00 per year

Jose Illegal still has $25,200.00

Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.

Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.

Joe Legal’s and Jose Illegal’s children both attend the same school.

Joe Legal pays for his children’s lunches while

Jose Illegal’s children get a government sponsored lunch.

Jose Illegal’s children have an after school ESL program.

Joe Legal’s children go home.

Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same Police and Fire Services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay.

California’s Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics

Last week, we discovered that the state of California will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

With California mired in a budget crisis, largely the result of a political impasse that makes spending cuts and tax increases impossible, Controller John Chiang said the state planned to issue $3.3 billion in IOU’s in July alone. Instead of cash, those who do business with California will get slips of paper.

The California morass has Democrats in Washington trembling. The reason is simple. If Obama’s health-care plan passes, then we may well end up paying for it with federal slips of paper worth less than California’s. Obama has bet everything on passing health care this year. The publicity surrounding the California debt fiasco almost assures his resounding defeat.

It takes years and years to make a mess as terrible as the California debacle, but the recipe is simple. All that you need is two political parties that are always willing to offer easy government solutions for every need of the voters, but never willing to make the tough decisions necessary to finance the government largess that results. Voters will occasionally change their allegiance from one party to the other, but the bacchanal will continue regardless of the names on the office doors.

California has engaged in an orgy of spending, but, compared with our federal government, its legislators should feel chaste. The California deficit this year is now north of $26 billion. The U.S. federal deficit will be, according to the latest numbers, almost 70 times larger.

Bleak Picture

The federal picture is so bleak because the Obama administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the U.S. I would imagine that he would be the intergalactic champion as well, if we could gather the data on deficits on other worlds. Obama has taken George W. Bush’s inattention to deficits and elevated it to an art form.

The Obama administration has no shame, and is willing to abandon reason altogether to achieve its short-term political goals. Ronald Reagan ran up big deficits in part because he believed that his tax cuts would produce economic growth, and ultimately pay for themselves. He may well have been excessively optimistic about the merits of tax cuts, but at least he had a story.

Obama has no story. Nobody believes that his unprecedented expansion of the welfare state will lead to enough economic growth. Nobody believes that it will pay for itself. Everyone understands that higher spending today begets higher spending tomorrow. That means that his economic strategy simply doesn’t add up.

Character Deficit

Back in the 1980s, Reagan’s own economist, Martin Feldstein, spoke up when he felt that the Reagan administration was pushing the deficit too far. Where are the economists with such character today? Apparently, the job description for economists has transformed from recommending policies that are defensible to defending whatever policies that the political hacks in the West Wing dream up.

As bad as the California legislature has been over the years, it has never entered a fiscal crisis like the one that we face today and then doubled down with a massive spending increase. In the end, when times got tough, patriotic and sensible Californians of both parties stood up and began acting like adults.

Maybe the same thing is starting to happen in our nation’s capital. The key players in Washington are Senator Evan Bayh and 15 Senate Democrats who joined him this year in forming a coalition of moderates. One thing that has distinguished moderate Democrats from the garden variety of the species is heightened concern about fiscal responsibility.

Off a Cliff

With the price tag of Obama-care likely to exceed $1 trillion, moderate Democrats face a simple choice. They can jump off the cliff with the president, or they can stay true to the principles that they have espoused throughout their careers.

There are reassuring signs that principle is winning. One of the most expensive components of the Obama plan is the so- called public-insurance option, which opponents fear would result in massive government subsidies. Senator Mary Landrieu said that she is “not open” to a public option that will compete with private insurance.

Many other Democratic Senators, including Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, and Tom Carper, also oppose the public option. As the cost estimates increase and support wanes, the Senate Finance Committee is even going as far as to pursue its own health-care plan, meaning that the health-care end game is now in sight.

Tax Bite

Moderates might support Obama’s health-care objectives if the bill also included tax increases to cover the spending increases. But those tax increases would likely be unpopular, making it almost impossible to pass a bill.

Given the increasing public concern about deficits that heightened significantly last week because of the California crisis, there are only two possibilities left. Either the Obama plan will come crashing down or Senate Democrats will concoct some bill that has health in the title but costs almost nothing and does even less. With Al Franken arriving in the Senate and providing Democrats with a crucial 60th vote, the latter seems most likely.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aTKrn1jUJwdE

Former Marine Claims Illness From Mystery Vaccine

Military Source Believes Experimental Shots May Have Been Given

Clermont County, Ohio – Target 5 has discovered that an alarming number of U.S. troops are having severe reactions to some of the vaccines they receive in preparation for going overseas.

“This is the worst cover-up in the history of the military,” said an unidentified military health officer who fears for his job.

A shot from a syringe is leaving some U.S. servicemen and women on the brink of death.

“When the issue, I believe, of the use of the vaccine comes out, I believe it will make the Walter Reed scandal pale in comparison,” said the health officer.

Lance Corporal David Fey, 20, has dialysis three days a week. His kidneys are failing, his military career is over, and he feels like his country abandoned him.

“I can’t look at my old pictures. I really can’t,” said Fey. “I start looking at my old pictures, and I start crying.”

Fey grew up amid the farm fields of Clermont County.

“I never missed a day at school,” he said. “I was never sick. I was never sick.”

A passion for sports and a sense of patriotism prompted the Blanchester High School athlete to join the Marines the day he turned 18.

“I looked at every branch, but I wanted the Marine Corps, because the Marine Corps was the few and the proud,” said Fey.

Fey said he loved every minute of boot camp and combat training at 29 Palms in California. But on Nov. 28, 2005, his life would change forever. Fey was one of a group of Marines who lined up for an undisclosed shot.

“They asked us our name. We stood on these yellow footprints, and they gave us this shot, and we got the rest of the day off,” he recalled. “After that shot, I started swelling up. I gained 30 pounds of water. My eyes swelled up where I couldn’t see. I started snoring. I developed a rash on my hand.”

Three weeks later, Fey was back in Clermont County on his death bed at Clinton Memorial Hospital. His kidneys were failing, and his body was so swollen that it left stretch marks.

“I would pray a lot,” said Fey’s mother, Cindy. “I would pray a lot, ‘God take him.’ When I couldn’t hug my son because he would scream in pain or yell at me for touching him and stuff, I used to pray to God, ‘just take him tonight.’”

Cindy Fey began pouring over medical records in search of answers. She said the shot was never listed in he son’s medical records. The military claimed he never received a shot.

But as Target 5 discovered, the military’s story would change.

The Department of Defense stated that “all service members’ vaccinations are documented in the individual’s permanent medical record.” But Fey’s military medical records revealed no shot on that day. Another Marine in Fey’s unit told Target 5 that there is no shot listed in his medical records either and also said that the people who administered the shot never told his unit what it was.

When Cindy Fey called the U.S. Marine Hospital in 29 Palms to find out what kind of vaccine her son was given, she was told that the information was confidential.

Eleven months later, her son’s medical records were mysteriously changed with a handwritten notation indicating that the mystery shot was a flu vaccine.

The military official who spoke to Target 5 on the condition of anonymity said that it was not surprising that nothing appeared originally in Fey’s records.

“We have a lovely term for that,” he said. “We call it C.Y.A. That’s unfortunately an S.O.P. in the military.”

Fey is one of a growing number of U.S. servicemen and women who are getting sick after receiving vaccines. And the highly praised Department of Defense medical officer who spoke with Target 5 said that the number is up in the thousands. The symptoms range from joint aches and pains and arthritic symptoms to death.

The Department of Defense said that it encourages “healthcare workers and vaccine recipients to report adverse (reactions) events.” But the military never reported Fey’s reaction to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FDA.

“I see the way the propaganda and information war is waged against America’s sons and daughters and how patients are treated who claim to be injured from a vaccine,” said the unidentified health officer. “That’s troubling. That should trouble America.” The officer said those who have claimed to have had adverse reactions to shots are treated like it is all in their heads.

Asked whether servicemen and women are receiving experimental vaccines, the officer said, “I would hope to God not. But from what I’ve seen, I would have to say yes.”

The Department of Defense maintains that the vaccines given to U.S. troops are safe.

Meanwhile, Fey is still waiting for a kidney transplant.

“My biggest wish — just to get up and be without pain,” he said. “To get up and just be happy again.”

Fey’s mother has been in contact with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in an effort to receive some answers. Target 5 contacted Brown’s office and received the following statement:

“My office is in frequent communication with the Marine Corps and the family, and we’ve requested answers to the family’s specific questions. I have also assisted Mr. Fey in receiving his VA benefits for health care, service-connected disability, and education assistance. His mother has been a strong advocate on his behalf, and I look forward to continuing working with her to resolve outstanding issues. It is imperative that everything possible is done to keep the brave men and women serving in our military safe.”

From WLWT Channel 5 News http://www.wlwt.com/news/13271378/detail.html

The Most Violent Country In Europe: Britain Is Worse Than U.S. And Even South Africa!

The Result Of Sixty Years Of Gun Control In The U.K:
Britain’s Violent Crime Record Is Worse Than Any Other Country In The European Union.

Official crime figures show the UK also has a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and even South Africa – widely considered one of the world’s most dangerous countries.

In the decade following the Leftist Labour Party’s election in 1997, the number of recorded violent attacks soared by 77 per cent to 1.158 million – or more than two every minute.

The figures, compiled from reports released by the European Commission and United Nations, also show:

• The UK has the second highest overall crime rate in the EU.

• It has a higher homicide rate than most of our western European neighbors, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

• The UK has the fifth highest robbery rate in the EU.

• It has the fourth highest burglary rate and the highest absolute number of burglaries in the EU, with double the number of offences than recorded in Germany and France.

But it is the naming of Britain as the most violent country in the EU that is most shocking. The analysis is based on the number of crimes per 100,000 residents.

In the UK, there are 2,034 offences per 100,000 people, way ahead of second-placed Austria with a rate of 1,677. Remember guns are banned in the U.K.

The U.S. has a violence rate of 466 crimes per 100,000 residents, Canada 935, Australia 92 and South Africa 1,609. Guns are widely available to citizens in the U.S.

Humm, what does that suggest? Let’s see – In a country with no guns the crime rate is four times higher than in a country with millions of privately owned guns.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: “This is a damning indictment of this [Leftist] government’s comprehensive failure over more than a decade to tackle the deep rooted social problems in our society, and the knock on effect on crime and anti-social behavior.” Do you think he means, People Commit Crimes?

Police Minister David Hanson said: “Levels of police recorded crime statistics from different countries are simply not comparable since they are affected by many factors, for example the recording of violent crime in other countries may not include behavior that we would categorize as violent crime.” Oh, how true this is! It is a crime in the U.K. to defend yourself! Most other countries are not that supportive of the criminal! http://onemansthoughts.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/murdered-man’s-family-denied-compensation-because-he-tried-to-fight-off-his-killers/

The Leftist Labour Party tries to pull the wool over the public’s eyes buy giving the impression they have law and order credentials. For example, they banned Samurai swords last year! http://onemansthoughts.wordpress.com/2007/12/24/england-outlaws-samurai-swords/

To a Leftist, people just can not be bad, can they? The criminal acts because he has available to him weapons and those weapons are possessed by some supernatural force to influence the criminal to act unbecomingly. Or maybe his Mum disciplined him when he was a child and he is acting out his deep seated frustrations.

Wake up America! This kind of insanity is in control of the White House, The House of Representatives, and the Senate Today! If we don’t defeat every attempt to disarm the American People, we will end up in the same condition as the U.K.!

California Foreclosure Moratoriums An Exercise Of Stupidity

Except for bankruptcy attorneys, most want the massive spike in foreclosures to end. However, it is impossible to wish foreclosures away or for that matter legislate them away. Unfortunately, economic illiterates do not understand the dynamics.

Please consider CA Lawmakers Impose 90-Day Foreclosure Moratorium.

California is imposing a 90-day moratorium on housing foreclosures under a new law that takes effect Monday.
The law is expected to make lenders try harder to keep borrowers in their homes. Loan companies must prove they tried to modify the delinquent loans before they can begin foreclosing.

But supporters acknowledge the California Foreclosure Prevention Act won’t stop thousands of foreclosures from eventually happening. There have been more than 365,000 foreclosures in California since early 2007, with many more already scheduled.

This bill is no more likely to work than a bill declaring poverty to be illegal or the sky to be green.

Home prices will bottom when they bottom, unemployment will bottom when it bottoms, and foreclosures will stop when they stop. Those are simple economic facts.

The 90 day extension gives anyone sitting on the edge of walking away as well as those wanting a reduction in principle an incentive to stop paying their mortgage, safe and secure in the fact they cannot be thrown out of their house for another 90 days.

This bill is pure idiocy and will not stop a single foreclosure. Instead, the bill will increase late pays and foreclosures. It’s an exercise of sheer stupidity.

I thank Mike “Mish” Shedlock at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com for this post.

Obama Now Wants Your Pocket Knife

Beware! That folding knife in your pocket may turn you into a criminal if the Obama administration gets its way. Although there has been a lot of fear and speculation that the new administration wants to take your guns, the most pressing threat now is actually to your pocket knives.

With the changing of the guard at U.S. Customs, that agency has now embarked on redefining “switchblades” under federal law to include a wide variety of one hand opening knives that never were intended to be prohibited. In fact, many of the knives U.S. Customs now seek to prohibit under the Federal Switchblade Law had not even been invented at the time of its enactment! Furthermore, four previous U.S. Customs ruling letters (prior administrations) specifically determined “assisted opening” knives not to be defined as switchblades.

This new proposed U.S. Customs regulation is so broad that thousands of pocket knives will fall under its sweep and millions of knife owners will be affected. The problem is not simply that imports will be banned (which is bad enough), but that the “agency determination” will be used by domestic courts and law enforcement to determine what a “switchblade” is under both federal and state laws. Many states, including New Hampshire, fail to define switchblades and simply rely on the federal definition.

Luckily, the two premiere knife organizations in the US, American Knife and Tool Institute (AKTI) and Kniferights.org, are fighting hard on this issue, but they both need your immediate help. Customs is attempting to jam this new regulation though at record speed.

As stated on the www.kniferights.org website:

U.S. Customs has proposed revoking earlier rulings that assisted opening knives are not switchblades. The proposed new rule would not only outlaw assisted opening knives its broad definition could also easily be interpreted to include one-handed opening knives and even most other pocket knives.

Note that customs interpretation of the Federal Switchblade Act forms the basis for national, state and even local law and judicial rulings in many cases. The effect is NOT limited to just imports.

As stated on the www.akti.org website:

URGENT NEWS – U.S. Customs Proposal would characterize assisted-openers as switchblade knives and jeopardize all pocket knives.  On behalf of the entire sporting knife industry and knife owners across the country, AKTI will be filing an official response to U.S. Customs.

This is the biggest threat to American knife owners in U.S. history. AKTI informs us that this “Customs’ proposal will make criminal out of 35.6 million Americans.”

AKTI further states:

U.S. Customs proposes to bypass Congress and expand the switchblade definition to include all knives that open with one hand. These include multi-tools, traditional pocket knives, one-hand openers, and assisted-openers.

More than 35.6 million law-abiding Americans now own one-hand-opening knives in one of the above four categories.

The U.S. Customs proposed new rule and the four prior letters they want to overturn can be read in their entirety here: http://www.akti.org/PDFS/U.S.CustomsProposedRuling.pdf

AKTI suggests that to register your opposition to the U.S. Customs’ plan (19  CFR  Part 177) to re-classify assisted openers and all folding knives; address your comments by June 21, 2009, to:

19  CFR  Part 177
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Office of International Trade, Regulations and Rulings
Attention: Intellectual Property and Restricted Merchandise Branch
Mint Annex,   799 Ninth St. N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20229

by Evan F. Nappen, Esq. http://www.pgnh.org/obama_now_wants_your_pocket_knife

How the Wall Street Bankers Bought Congress

You would think that causing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression might have repercussions. You would think being a major factor in the destruction of around 40 percent of the world’s wealth might get you in trouble. You would think being the cause of the worst housing crisis in history — with millions of people losing their homes because of you — might force a restructuring of how Wall Street does things.

You would think that. But you’d be wrong.

For Wall Street’s lobbyists in Washington, it’s business as usual. Since Barack Obama took office, the bankers have succeeded in pushing through bogus “stress tests” of financial institutions’ solvency, escaping tougher government oversight, and steamrolling attempts to give working-class borrowers a break.

Even the much-hyped limits on CEO pay are being rolled back. In mid-June, Barack Obama lifted a five-month-old limit on executive compensation at financial firms that took federal bailout money. Apparently, only $500,000 a year in salaries and other perks was just too much of a sacrifice for the financial system to bear. Instead, Obama has established a “special master of compensation,” who will decide on pay to top executives at banks still reliant on government money.

While having a “special master” oversee pay might sound like a big deal, the banks aren’t sweating it. “Our people kind of thought it was a non-event,” one unnamed executive of a large bank told the Washington Post. “I don’t think there are worries about it on Wall Street.” And, the executive added, “It’s not like the horrible and unethical action from Congress, where they were putting artificial caps on pay or trying to steal back bonuses.”

The sense of entitlement on display in comments like these is staggering — as if the “wizards” of Wall Street deserve the billions in compensation showered upon them in the past decade for producing what has proved to be fictitious wealth, while destabilizing the economy and destroying the lives of people across the U.S.

As for legislation aimed at stemming the kinds of predatory lending practices that helped exacerbate the housing bubble and ultimately triggered the financial crisis, Senate Banking Committee Chair Christopher Dodd recently said, “We’ve got a lot on our plate. We’ve got other things to do.”

To read the rest of this article go to http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/06/how-the-wall-street-bankers-bought-congress/

‘Shooting Back’ Author: Why Guns, Church Must Mix

Author Charl Van Wyk, who shot back at terrorists attacking a church meeting, will be touring the U.S. with tales of his African ministry, including his first-hand experience with Christian churches that aren’t prepared to defend themselves.

Van Wyk’s story of shooting back on July 25, 1993, when terrorists attacked and killed 11 people and injured another five dozen at a South African church, has been chronicled in “Shooting Back: The Right and Duty of Self-Defense.”

Police later told him the terrorists confessed their plan was to kill everyone in the church, possibly 1,000 people or more, and his armed response is credited with saving many lives that day.

Through his ministry with Frontline Fellowship, Van Wyk has been working in regions that could be called ” murder zones” sections of Africa.

Van Wyk warns of the plight of Congolese churches he’s seen in a nation where outlaws carry guns, but the people have no right to bear arms.

“It is very difficult for armed thugs to perform such tyranny if the local population were armed and could defend themselves,” van Wyk writes. “This kind of thuggery can only take place in a gun-free zone.”

Van Wyk will be touring the nation April 24-May 12, with stops in at least seven states and several radio and television appearances. When he stops at churches, he’ll likely be discussing his ministry among the persecuted believers in Africa, but in media appearances, he’ll often be called upon to address gun rights in America.

“To create a safe nation, arm the population,” Van Wyk said. Referring to the recently much-publicized massacre of more than a dozen immigrants in New York, he added, “An armed citizen could have made a difference at Binghamton.”

“When last did you hear of a multiple-victim shooting taking place on a firearm range, in a police station or at a gun show, or wherever many firearms are found anywhere in the world? You haven’t. That’s because criminals prefer unarmed victims, or soft targets,” Van Wyk says. “No wonder they love gun control – it makes their work so much easier and their working environment much safer.”

In Christian circles, Van Wyk concludes, there is an additional imperative to be armed for self-defense.

“The Apostle Paul wrote in a letter to Timothy, ‘But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially of those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever,’” noted van Wyk. “Provision includes providing security. In fact our Lord Jesus taught, ‘If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.’”

Quoting Jesus again, Van Wyk added, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself,’” he said. “Are we loving our neighbor when we stand by and do nothing when he is being murdered or a woman is being raped?”

Van Wyk’s experience in regions of Africa where criminals are armed but the citizenry is not has seasoned his perspective, but he warns that Americans cannot fail to be diligent in protecting their Second Amendment rights.

“We are on the brink of global change,” Van Wyk said. “The United Nations has a disarmament program to remove private firearms from all nations. Hundreds of millions of people throughout the world suffer hideously through political systems, which have imposed a disarmament program based on oppression and lies.”

He added, “In South Africa, the communist-inspired African National Congress is imposing a politically motivated disarmament program that will leave law-abiding citizens defenseless. … There is a war of worldviews on gun control being fought right now across the world.

“We have no choice except action,” he said. “The results of gun control can indeed be catastrophic, e.g., Rwanda was a gun-free zone and so too is Zimbabwe today. This period of our history is decisive. Are our children going to live as slaves or as a free people?”

Van Wyk was compelled to draw his firearm a second time, when he encountered a gang of thugs apparently intent on robbery or hijacking at a South African conference.

When the attackers’ attention was diverted from him briefly, he drew and cocked his handgun. He shouted at them to distract their attention from his passenger, then opened fire, apparently injuring one of the three assailants. Van Wyk and two other men intended as victims were unhurt, but the Frontline Fellowship incurred significant expenses replacing paperwork such as passports taken by the attackers.

“I firmly believe that the most Biblical action I could take at the time was to protect the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ from the onslaught. In fact, if I did not try to protect them when I had the opportunity to do so, I would have broken the commands of Scripture,” he said.

“We as Christians have not only a right but also a duty to protect the innocent and to look after those whom God as entrusted to us,” he said. “There is a war of worldviews going on in the world and people need to understand the threat and how they can make a difference.”

By Drew Zahn, WorldNetDaily