President Putin of Russia has once again raised his voice and rattled his sabre towards the Ukraine, that oh, so defiant neighbor to the west.  Yesterday the Ukraine signed a pact with the European Union, joining in the economic and political community of that organization.  President Putin is really upset about this, and through one of his ministers, warned the Ukraine that their joining with the European Union would have "grave consequences." 

Russia and the Ukraine have been entangled with each other for well over a thousand years.  Both were fairly important villages in the 9th Century AD when the Vikings (yes, the VIKINGS!) invaded the area.  While Moscow was relatively unscathed, the Vikings sacked Kiev, one of the most important cities in the Ukraine at the time.  The Vikings maintained control over the area for the next four hundred years.  During this time Moscow thrived and become the capitol of what would become the Russian Empire. 

Kiev and the surrounding countryside was again invaded and laid waste, this time by the Mongols, in the 13th Century.  With the city and the nation in ruins, Polish and Lithuanian forces occupied the Ukraine.  Ultimately the Ukraine was absorbed by the Russian Empire.  It was not until the Russian Revolution that the Ukraine was able to free itself from Czarist Russia and become an independent nation in 1917.  Independence was short-lived, however, as the Bolsheviks consolidated several nations, including Russia and the Ukraine, into what would become the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).  Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin considered the Ukraine, along with Russia, to be the "motherland" of the Soviet Union.  The Ukraine was also crucial to the Soviet Union because it was the gateway to Crimea, and most importantly, to the Black Sea.

In the 1930's, the Ukraine became the focus of Stalin's rage when Ukrainians refused to join the rest of the Soviet Union in creating farming "cooperatives." preferring to allow individuals to keep farms which they had owned for generations.  This "private ownership" of course did not fit in with the communist ideal of "collectivism" and the "five year plans" of agricultural production.  Stalin demonstrated his rage by "purging" around ten million Ukrainians.  It is little wonder that the Nazi invasion of the Ukraine during World War II was seen by many Ukrainians, at least at first, as liberation from the evils of Stalin.  Unfortunately the evils of the Nazi regime itself were soon revealed, as several million Ukrainian civilians were slaughtered by the German army.  Ultimately some Ukrainians fought alongside the Germans while others joined forces with the Soviets. 

After World War II, Stalin once again "purged" the Ukraine of any suspected of fighting with or collaborating with the Germans.  Many thousands were killed, while thousands of others were sent to Siberia. At the same time, thousands of Russians were sent to the Ukraine to take the place of Ukrainians who had been displaced in one way or another.  Thus, the Ukraine languished behind the "Iron Curtain" until nearly the turn of the century.  During all this time, through all the hardship, the Ukrainians never lost their desire to be free.  As soon as the Soviet Union began to collapse in early nineties, the Ukraine declared its independence.  The population voted 92 percent in favor of leaving the former Soviet Union.  Not surprisingly, the citizens of Russia who had been transplanted to the Ukraine, and their descendants, mostly voted against independence.  The President of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin, recognized Ukrainian independence on December 3, 1991.  Many other nations, including the United States, followed suit during the next few days.  The Ukraine was finally free of Russian domination, or so it may have seemed to some.

Enter President Vladimir Putin of Russia.  He was a life-long KGB agent before being brought into the highest levels of government by President Yeltsin.  Leaving a trail of dead opponents that reads almost like Clinton's Whitewater scandal, President Putin was elected to that office by a vote of 70 percent of the people.  Right....well, anyway, Putin was President and his eye turned immediately to the Ukraine.  Unfortunately for the Ukraine, Premier Khrushchev may have inadvertently set up the 2014 Russian invasion by ceding to that nation the Crimean Peninsula way back in 1954, for reasons unknown.  This was not a popular move, but still, no one at that time could have imagined that the Soviet Union would collapse less than forty years later, or that Soviet forces could ever lose access to the Black Sea via the Crimea.  Many Russians, including President Putin, believed that the Crimean Peninsula rightly belonged Russia, particularly since this was the major access route to the Black Sea Fleet which anchored there.

Putin acted quickly, and in what I am sure he perceives, in the best interest of Russia.  Maybe he will be satisfied with the re-acquisition of the Crimea.  Perhaps he will stop his apparent lustful desire for the re-annexation of the Ukraine, this freedom-loving nation that, of course, poses no possible danger to the Russian Republic.  I admire the people of the Ukraine for hanging on for so many generations to their desire for freedom.  I realize that the Ukraine is not trying to be a "mini" United States, but the people there DO want the choice to have their own form of government, and most of all to be free from Russian occupation.  One way to discourage Russian occupation is by joining the European Union, which the Ukraine has done.  Militarily the Ukraine poses no threat to Russia, and Putin knows this; however, if the Ukraine allows NATO or American forces into its territory, Putin would no doubt see this as an act of aggression.  In a sense it is easy to understand why.  Remember how upset John F Kennedy was when he learned of the missiles being sent from the Soviet Union to Cuba.  Our young president stood face to face (figuratively) with Premier Khrushchev during the "Cuban Missile Crisis," and it was ultimately the Premier who backed down.

The people of the Ukraine want to be free, whatever form that freedom takes for them.  Putin wants the Ukraine to be securely in the Russian circle of allies because Moscow is only hours away from Kiev.  More to the point, Putin wants a safety zone between Russia and the NATO aligned nations to his west.  The Ukraine has been that safety zone since Stalin first came to power those many years ago, but now the Ukraine is a member of the European Union.  This has to be a hard pill for President Putin to swallow.  I have strong admiration for the people of the Ukraine as they face such troubled times, and I pray for them, that they may have a long taste of freedom.  For President Putin, I pray that he can find a way to feel that his nation is secure without having to resort to forcibly placing the Ukraine back under Soviet rule. 

May God Bless the Ukraine, and yes, may God bless the Russians as well.

Frogs, Toads, And The Great Inland Hurricane of 2014

Last Wednesday evening (June 18th) we experienced a fairly powerful storm, even for this area.  In fact some have labelled this type of storm an "inland hurricane." I have to admit I had never heard of an "inland hurricane" in this sense.  I knew that hurricanes could travel many hundreds of miles inland before either puttering out or turning back to sea.  But the inland hurricane in question has nothing to due with an Atlantic hurricane; rather, these are thunderstorms that, for reasons known only to meteorologists, take a shape that resembles a hurricane, particularly on radar.  In other words, the storm is nearly circular in shape with an area of calm that almost acts like the "eye" of a hurricane.  In addition, these storms have sustained winds of at least fifty miles per hour with periods of wind even faster, and gusts of wind at speeds of seventy-five miles per hour or more. 

So the "inland hurricane" blew into the area with all the subtleness of a karate master breaking a board in half.  In seconds, rain was "falling" parallel to the ground and the wind was blasting at 68 miles per hour.  I was watching an anemometer on Wunderground (an online weather service) as storm raged, and I can vouch for over forty-five minutes of this weather.  At times, the wind speed reached well over seventy miles per hour for seconds at a time. After just a few minutes of this windy bombardment, parts of the hospital building were ripped off and sent flying to some other zip code.  As the wind hit 78 miles per hour, the ambulance door was ripped out of its frame, and but for the electric wiring would have sailed off to Dorothy's house in Kansas!  After nearly an hour this inland hurricane passed over, and there was a brief calm, as if the storm's "eye" were passing over.  Then the storm struck again, although with much less fury than that of the first half of the storm.  A short time later there was a calm, as if the storm had never happened.  By the time I left work, stars dotted the night-time sky. 

When I arrived at my residence, I was in for another surprise.  Instead of the usual sounds of the desert night (mostly trucks passing on the nearby interstate highway, unfortunately) I was greeted by what I thought was the sound of...well, of FROGS!  I suspected I needed a fresh dose of medication at first, but, as I stopped and listened, I realized I was hearing multitudes of frogs croaking and chirping.  The night was clear, stars were shining, and I could easily imagine that I was on that old creek where I spent much of my childhood, listening to the summer sounds I loved so much; but this was Midland, I kept telling myself, and I was listening to frogs!

It turns out that frogs and toads inhabit the semi-desert regions of the Permian Basin as they do in all other parts of the great state of Texas.  Toads are found fairly frequently in the area, especially where homeowners water their yards regularly.  But the toads proliferate when there are heavy rains.  But what about the frogs?  I cannot say for sure how frogs first got transported into this area.  Birds of course carry frog eggs and even salamander eggs on their feet, and inadvertently transfer these eggs all over the place.  Amphibian eggs apparently have the ability to survive in mud or semi-damp earth for months, until a sudden rain.  Within a few hours after the rare rain shower, frogs and toads, and even salamanders hatch and grow in the temporary playas and wetlands.  As days go by and the waters begin to evaporate, these little critters burrow into the mud or clay.  They are able to survive for months at a time as they wait for the infrequent showers that bless the desert with life-giving rain.

Tonight once again I sit out in the darkness and listen to the croaking, chirping, moaning sounds of the various temporary denizens of the desert water holes, and I, like these animals, drink in the cool damp of the night.  If I close my eyes, or better yet, stare up into the night sky and look at the beautiful stars while I listen to the chaotic course of the newly awakened desert amphibians, I can easily forget that I am one of the driest regions in Texas.  Instead, I am transported halfway across the state for a little while, maybe camped on my beloved Fiefdom, or in a tent at Lake Waco.  Nature is truly amazing, and our world is full of wonders, like the frogs and toads that seem to come out of nowhere, brought to life by another wonder, the great Inland Hurricane of 2014.

James, The Faithful Brother Of Jesus, Once Thought Jesus Was "Out Of His Mind"

James, one of the half-brothers of Jesus, wrote what was probably the first book (in this case a letter) of the New Testament when he penned the "Book Of James" in about 45 AD.  The book of James is only five chapters long, but in those chapters, James teaches us very concisely about what true faith means.  He tells us to count it a joy (or consider it a joy) when we face troubles.  Further, James taught us that when we pray, we should pray in faith and full of belief that we will receive whatever it is we are praying for.  James tells us that those who pray with doubt or lack of belief will receive nothing because they are "double-minded," waves of the sea blown by the wind in times of storm.   

James was a faithful man who believed with all his heart in the words his Brother, the Good Shepherd had to say, and witnessed many miracles that Jesus performed.  One of the biggest reasons James had faith in his Brother was that the Good Shepherd appeared to him after the Resurrection.  Obviously if a person who was dead, but was now alive, appeared to you or me, we would believe.  But James knew that there would be many people who would never see Jesus in person, who would never hear Jesus preaching, never witness healings on the spot, including raising people from the dead.  So James began his mission to witness to the people that Jesus was crucified, was raised from the dead, and most importantly, was the Son of God.

But there was a time when James, and not only him, but his brothers and sisters too, believed that Jesus "had lost his mind" (Mark 3:20-21).  Jesus was preaching and proclaiming himself the Son of God.  But everybody knew Jesus was the son of Joseph, the carpenter.  James, along the other brothers and sisters, tried to convince Jesus to come home with them...you, know, come rest a little...you'll be okay.  The siblings even tried to convince Jesus to leave town, to go to a nearby city and do his miracles there.  Jesus' own family did not believe him to be God's Only Begotten Son at just that moment.  Curiously, we are not told whether or not Mary, the Lord's mother, believed him to be crazy, or if she just believed.  But Jesus continued his mission until he was crucified.

The evening after Jesus arose, he appeared to James, and from that time forward, James was  a changed man.  He had no doubt that. just as Jesus received eternal life, so would all who believed.  James knew that Christians would have troubles, and not just the kind of problems you and I have these days.  We all face setbacks at home or at work, financial problems, severe illnesses, and even the death of our loved ones.  But James knew that the Christians of his time would have some very different kind of troubles.  The Romans killed many Christians around 30 AD, then literally destroyed the city and the Temple in 69 AD, again torturing and killing many Christians and Jews.  Yet James told the Christians of that time to "consider it a joy" when they faced trials, including the ultimate trial, their torture and murder just because they were Christians.
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The Book of James is still meant to instruct Christians today, to encourage Christians to turn to our faith in times of trouble, and to have no doubt in our hearts when we pray, even when the things we pray for seem hopeless in Ior impossible.  James tells us to pray in faith and in belief, pray without doubt.  There we have it, straight from the brother of Jesus, who once thought Jesus had gone mad.    

Waste Control Specialists Ask For More Nuke Waste AND Ask To Post LESS Clean Up Money - No Surprise Here, Really

Just a couple of days ago Waste Control Specialists (WCS), through its legal mouthpiece Chuck McDonald, announced that WCS was petitioning the Nuclear Energy Agency and the Texas counter part to that agency to allow WCS to store depleted uranium at its West Texas facility.  Now you may recall that when WCS began its Waste...I mean, West Texas campaign back in 2008 or so, the spiel was that only "low-level radioactive waste such as medical waste" would be stored the WCS facility in Andrews County.  That was ALL they wanted, said WCS.  But after the hard fought campaign to get the WCS facility into Andrews County, after all the scare tactics used, such as spreading the fear that Andrews would "die" if the facility was not built, after the facility began operation, we all learned that at least thirty-seven states would be sending their "low-level nuclear waste" to WCS.  The state hearings for licensing were pretty much rubber stamped, and the scientists employed by the state walked off their job in protest after their negative report was ignored.  But, WCS assured us, only low-level waste would come to West Texas, even though it would be from over thirty states.

Now we fast forward to 2014, and here is WCS asking 1) to allow more (AND MORE DANGEROUS) nuclear waste - depleted uranium, into Texas; and 2) to REDUCE the company's liability fund for cleanups, should an accident occur.  Does this smell a little FOUL to anyone?  WCS wants to bring in more dangerous waste (MORE PROFIT!) and wants to reduce its liability for the inevitable clean up!  Here is WCS's actual request in dollars: Currently the company must have a fund available of $187 million dollars for any clean ups.  WCS wants to reduce that amount to $86 million.  Sounds reasonable, no?  Well, here is a little perspective.  Remember the nuclear accident in Japan, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown of 2011?  The clean up (which is still ongoing, by the way) has thus far cost upwards of $500 million PER YEAR!  Some scientists are predicting that $58 Billion will have been spent by 2030.  Clearly WCS is trying to save some more money while making a BIG LOAD of profit.

Does this deal sound reasonable?  I don't think so, and neither does State Representative Lon Burnam:

“The public should be paying attention, but they’re not,” said state Rep. Lon Burnam, a Fort Worth Democrat who has taken an active role in monitoring how the state handles radioactive waste. “We have less and less financial assurances and greater threat for more harm.”  (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, June 15, 2014)

According to the Avalanche-Journal "Three-Peat Rick" Perry is one of the main allies to WCS in this deal.  It was Governor Perry who brought this proposition to the attention of Texas lawmakers.  Representative Burnam, a Democrat in the Dallas area, raises a good point.  Why is the public not paying attention to this?  Why are we allowing WCS to both rip us off AND pollute our state by poisoning the Ogallala Aquifer?  In fairness to all of us, WCS pretty much financed its way through the Texas Legislature, but...we (you and I) left most of the state representatives who rubber stamped the original WCS deal in their respective offices.  Same with our federal congressmen and senators.

It turns out that WCS also has plans to expand one of its dump sites by over 6 million square feet.  This expansion is obviously so MORE waste can be dumped there.  Yet WCS is telling us that they do not "believe" they will implement this plan.  But more waste is on the way to Texas...do you really believe they will not EXPAND their facility?  Then they will tell the "State of Texas" that it would be such a waste NOT to bring in MORE waste to fill the new and deeper hole they dug.  I hope you will join me in petitioning our lawmakers NOT TO ALLOW WCS to bring in depleted uranium to their "low level" nuclear waste facility, and NOT ALLOW WCS to reduce its liability fund.  The folks at WCS have assured us over and over how safe the facility in Andrews County is.  But if that location is so safe, why are they trying to limit their liability?  I am pretty sure that someone must have assured the folks in Fukushima about how safe that facility was, and about all the safeguards built in.  Yet, three years after the accident, well over ten thousand people cannot return to their homes.  Could something like that happen in Andrews?  Not "could," but "when?"

 

An Officer's Last Watch: Chief Lee Dixon, Little River/Academy, TX - June 20, 2014

Lee Dixon, the newly-hired Police Chief of Little River/Academy answered his last call yesterday evening, and it was one of the most dangerous an officer can respond to: a domestic disturbance involving a person in a house with a gun and who knew that police were probably on the way.  Yet the shooter apparently talked civilly with the Chief when he arrived.  A short time later the shooter produced a shot gun.  Chief Dixon called for another officer but then his radio fell silent.  Within seconds the 9-1-1 system in Bell County lit up with people reporting that Chief Dixon had been shot and was down, assistance desperately needed.  The officer was dead by the time help arrived.

This murder was tragic enough, but making it even worse was the fact that the killer was a former police officer.  This man himself coolly called the police operator and stated he had shot a police officer.  As more information surfaced on the shooter, it was determined that he had served in several police departments in east Texas.  He was still a police officer as late as 2005.  The shooter had been arrested previously in Bell County for Deadly Conduct, that is pointing a gun at someone or shooting at someone.  And like many a cop-killer, he meekly surrendered rather than face the risk of getting shot himself.

I am proud to honor Chief Dixon, a long-time Milam County Deputy, on this page, though saddened to do so.  I pray for comfort of all his loved one and his colleagues as only the Good Shepherd can do.  Heaven's Thin Blue Line has one more member tonight.

Our American Heroes In Lithuania

One of the best kept un-secrets of the spring is that American paratroopers, in very limited numbers, have deployed to Lithuania, as result of threats to this small but defiant little nation, from Russia's President Putin.  The leadership of Lithuania, personified by Lithuania's president, Dalia Grybauskaite (Lithuania's first female president, by the way), dared to openly criticize the Russian invasion and occupation of the Crimea.  President Grybauskaite, in welcoming US troops, stated "...as threats emerge, we see who our real friends are."  The Lithuanian President would most likely be one of the first persons arrested (or worse) if Mr. Putin chooses to put his threats into action.  President Grybauskaite knows this full well, and this is why she is so happy to see the United States honor its NATO obligation to Lithuania, one of its newest members.

I admire President Grybauskaite's determination to keep her nation free, and I am pleased too that she believes the United States will help her nation, as demonstrated by the arrival of US forces there.  And, in one those rare moments that I don't like, but will not shirk from, I commend President Obama for sending our forces on a just and honorable mission.  Yes, I truly do not like to find myself in agreement with President Obama, but in this case I must, and I do.  I further call on him to send more troops to the aid of President Grybauskite and the people of Lithuania should the situation there warrant it.  Lithuanians have demonstrated their desire for freedom since at least the period of the Russian Revolution.  They endured Soviet occupation, Nazi invasion, then Soviet occupation again, but through it all remained true to their nation and their desire for independence.

I pray for the safety of our troops while they are in Lithuania, and I wish them Godspeed as they carryout their mission. I am, however, very concerned for our troops' safety in light of the Administration's demonstrated tendency to abandon American soldiers and American citizens when it is "politically expedient" to do so, such as in the Benghazi tragedy.  The very fact that our troops are on the ground in Lithuania is not politically expedient, but I believe it was the right thing for our President to do.  Now, I call on our President, and I call on all of us as well, to have the stomach to protect our troops in Lithuania, and the people of Lithuania as well, by sending more troops if the threat to Lithuania (and by extension, NATO) should be elevated by President Putin.  Sending one hundred fifty troops is a great gesture, and was sincerely welcomed by the Lithuanians, but will President Obama be willing to send more soldiers if the worst case scenario arises?  Will the American people stand together and demand that our heroes in Lithuania not be abandoned if the Russian threat should materialize into reality?  I hope President Obama does, and I hope we are.  Ultimately, I hope that whatever else may happen, the Lithuanian people will never have cause to doubt our friendship, and I hope our troops there never have reason to believe that President Obama, or the one who follows him, will abandon them in the face of invasion, even if it is "politically expedient" to do so.

Support Our Troops
God Bless American
God Bless Lithuania

Have Any Of You Received YOUR Questionnaire About Edward Snowden?

A headline that grabbed my attention this morning stated "Poll shows more American disagree with Snowden than support him."  The article then goes on to point out that the above statement is true when only about 60% of those responding to the poll are considered, since 40% said they "had no opinion."  The article then tells us that this poll, by NBC, roughly mirrors a poll from February, 2014 which was conducted by NBC/Wall Street Journal.  http://news.yahoo.com/snowden-poll-oppose-leak-174819082.html?.tsrc=lgw

Before I get to my most burning question, I would like to point out that NBC is behind both of these polls, and, in my opinion, has a vested interest in making sure that you and I BELIEVE that very few people support Snowden's whistle blower-action that confirmed to us the extreme degree to which the "Government" is now spying on you and me.  The NBC and many other media have a vested interest in cooperating with the Government in both covering up the 1984-type spying that is going on against us, and in making out those who openly oppose such spying to be UNPATRIOTIC!  After all, what do "good citizens" have to hide, anyway?  If the media can't make a domestic-spying opponent into a kook or idiot, it can criminalize them.  And the "Government" quickly joins in the criminalization.

I consider myself a good citizen, in that I am not a felon, terrorist, foreign agent, or any of those things.  I am sure most of you also fall into the "good citizen" category as well.  Well, my fellow good citizens, have you received your poll yet?  I mean the one about whether or not you support Snowden's actions.  So far no national pollster has been in touch with me.  I am waiting, NBC!!  If any of you received this poll, AND responded it to it, would you favor me, please, by letting me know?  Thanks.

Now for my most burning question, which I guess is really two questions.  First, WHY DOES OUR GOVERNMENT NEED TO SPY ON US...ALL OF US??!!!  Last time I checked, the Constitution still prohibited any level of government from searching any person without probable cause to do so.  Not just any old list of "beliefs" but beliefs based on facts that would support a warrant issued by a reasonable judge (who is not in the pockets of the very agencies seeking spy authority, by the way).  The last time I checked, the contents of a phone call were covered under our "reasonable expectation of privacy" and not open to government search without the above mentioned LEGALLY OBTAINED warrant.  So, unless the Government REASONABLY BELIEVES ALL OF US ARE SPIES AND ARE DANGEROUS TO THIS NATION, said Government cannot LEGALLY spy on us.  By the way, espousing such beliefs on the Internet could expose me to the danger that my Government might SUSPECT I am a spy.  Under current law agents of various government bureaus could come and get me and I would never be seen or heard from again.  No I am not paranoid, just a reader of USA PATRIOT Act and NDAA.  If you care to bore yourself with such boring material, you will find that what I have said is true, and is going on NOW.

Second, do you personally oppose anyone who risks his life and liberty to expose our Government's illegal domestic spying programs?  I support Snowden, and further, I do not follow the logic of our Government in branding him a traitor because he fled to Russia.  Snowden was in fear of being arrested under various spying bills himself, plus obviously he was a danger to the nation as defined by USA PATRIOT.  Therefore, if he were ever apprehended by United States authorities he would probably never be seen again, at least on this continent.  Snowden is not entitled to a trial, according to USA PATRIOT.  He is not entitled to a legal defense, nor is he entitled to even a phone call, again according to USA PATRIOT.  So there is little doubt that he took the wisest course available to him at the time.   He risk all by exposing, with concrete proof to back it up, what our out-of-control Government is doing to ALL of us.  Do you oppose his actions?  And whether or not you agree with what he did, do you disagree that Edward Snowden has a right to a trial, with all the trappings, including the right to post a reasonable bond, the right to a reasonable defense, and the right to have all this afforded to him in an open way so that all of us can see what is going on? 

It grieves me that our nation has reached this point, the point in which our inalienable rights are trampled at the whim of our "leaders."  It grieves me also that, instead of stopping the domestic spying RIGHT NOW, our Government has instead condemned the person who exposed this activity.  It grieves me that our nation has reached the point where Snowden's life is endangered by the very Government obliged to protect him.  I have to wonder, if Snowden were to decide right now to simply board a jet and fly back to the United States, would his jet even make it back across the Atlantic?  Asked another way, would YOU WANT TO FLY ON THAT JET WITH HIM?  Not me, my friends, as the jet would no doubt experience some sort of mechanical trouble at the same time the transponder failed, and the flight would be lost in the millions of square miles of ocean between here and there.  Can you say Malaysia Flight 370?

The moral of this post is that news headlines are not just misleading; they are intended to LEAD us, to form our opinions, and to condition us never to question what the Government tells us, whether directly, or through a media "poll."  A national media giant tells us that "most Americans" do not support Edward Snowden and his actions in exposing a national disgrace.  But I, like you (and like "most Americans") did not receive a poll regarding our opinion on this issue.  We are simply asked to follow along in the bleating crowd as our cell phone calls, and probably our land-line calls, are monitored illegally because any one of us "might be a terrorist."  Drones are flying over us here in the United States spying on us, again, because we might be terrorists.  And we are expected to join the axe-mob against Edward Snowden, while the most powerful terrorist the world has ever seen is watching over all of us at this moment.  Don't you feel so much safer?  By the way, have you received your poll yet?