Fighting Evil always has a price

In the Battle with Evil for Justice there is always a price to be paid. Sometimes it is small, other times the price is horrorific. I think we as Americans take our imperfect institutions of Justice, Fairness and Openness for granted because so few of us outside the military have ever sacrificed anything for them. Rather we bitch and whine and find the little problems of life overwhelming. The war on drugs is really a war with greed and mercilessness as this family has and the world now knows in such a visceral sense and in a way I hope my family will never know.


Our prayers are with these new victims and for all the men who did the right thing and their families that are now at risk for it.

Mexican Marine's Family Murdered in Suspected Revenge

Just hours after the funeral of a special forces marine, gunmen murdered the marine's family in what Mexican police suspect was a revenge attack.  Melquisedet Angulo was fatally injured when he took part in a raid that killed notorious drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva and five bodyguards last week.  Local authorities say the assailants broke the door down with a sledgehammer and sprayed the family with bullets in the living room and bedrooms.  The murder of Angulo's mother, sister, brother, and aunt was condemned by Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

[Felipe Calderon, Mexican President]:  "These reprehensible events are a display of the lack of scruples with which organized crime operates, preying on innocent people. This only spurs us to redouble our efforts to root out such a singular cancer from our social life."

Despite the deployment of 49,000 troops across Mexico, killings by drug gangs have soared into the thousands.  Mexican soldiers usually wear masks during drug operations to keep their identities secret.
But Angulo was named and lauded as a hero by the Mexican navy, making his family an identifiable target.
Source: http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_sa/2009-12-24/726125620330.html


Psalm 10:15
Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.

Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving

As I sit here next to my son, supervising his homework, I am reminded of all the things that I should be thankful for and have not acknowledged as much as I should.  It is appropriate to do this now due to this upcoming holidays (wow original blog post-thankful on Thanksgiving Day-but I digress).

I am thankful for:

1. A God that cares enough for me to send his son to die for my sins so I will not have to go to hell. What really blows my mind is that he did not die just for my big sins, but for all of them. I remembering watching part of the Passion of the Christ and shaking my head wondering why he would be willing to suffer and die in such a way so that I am not condemned for all the little stupid bits of evil I do everyday.

2. For Carol my wife of soon to be fifteen years. I met her when she was fourteen and when we finally dated, we dated for four years. I did everything I could to mess this up and yet here we are and I am thankful.

3. For Rosario-my firstborn. His personality is as different from mine as it possibly could be and yet he is a precious stone slowly being cut into a gem.

4. For Rebecca-the best challenge that I could ever have.  First Becca has to lookout, then lookout world!

5. For Police work- provided me with a purpose and a paycheck-especially in a time where most people lack both at the same time.

6. For the Adler School of Professional Psychology Masters of Police Psychology-came at a dark time in my career-repurposed me till I was granted an assignment that I was able to utilize my talents once again. Bill Powers will never be forgotten, R.I.-well deserved-P..

7. The United States of America-through the blessings of God and the forethought of our founding fathers-I have the ability to say what I wish, to worship how I choose and work how I may.

8. Family-got a good start with love

9. Friends- life is a team event with individual scoring

10. Health-little actual sickness-my cut off finger, broken left hand, broken right hand, ruptured right ACL, broken nose, perforated left eardrum, broken right ankle, broken right foot, 2nd degree right shoulder separation, torn right calf, etc and etc. Were all self inflicted in one form or the other.

I and I can safely say many others, loose sight of how truly blessed we all are and focus on the very few things we lack. Now is a time to remember all that we should be thankful for and help others to fulfill their needs so that they may become equally thankful.

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Lake Nipissing - Ontario Canada

My wife's grandparents bought a lake house on Lake Nipissing some forty years ago. It became a summer vacation for the grandparent's grand kids (Some 25+) of which my wife was one. She has been trying to talk me into going for a number of years and for the first time this year I was able to go. So we loaded the two kids in the minivan and drove the 12 hours up to the cabin.

There is an outhouse and you bathe in the lake. Your cellular telephone probably will not work (my two did not), the best television channel is blurry, and the radio will only get two stations.

This was not only a vacation away from work and a chance to spend some quality time with the family but a vacation from all the distractions of modern life. We swam, we fished, we jumped off of rocks into the water, played board games, water skied, tubed, canoed and slapped mosquitoes.

We all need rest and a time to refocus on what is really important; the love for our Lord and the love for our family. Police Officers tend to get locked on the job and quickly discard all the other more important tasks of family and faith. A good break/rest/vacation should allow a re-prioritization of life in general. Our family is not there so we can work but rather we work so that we can partake of family.

Genesis 2:2
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

Leviticus 23:39
" 'So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and the eighth day also is a day of rest