hardy

The problem is not in the number of executive orders Obama has issued. The problem is that Obama uses them to make law, to go around Congress. Executive orders are only for the purpose of enforcing existing law, not as a way of doing an end run around the Congress. Even if the legislative branch is lagging in doing its job, breaking the law is not the answer to the problem. The Constitution is not an expendable document that you can abide by only when it works in your favor and discard when it becomes inconvenient. Obama wants to rule by decree and that is not the job of the executive branch. The job of the Exuctive branch is not to create jobs or improve the economy. The government cannot do that and neither should it try. Creating jobs and improving the economy is best done by the private sector. The private sector creates the job, the government's job is to provide an environment favorable to prosperity and job growh. He has used them illegally, or he will?

As a non Christian, and in fact non religious, just like everyone else we do worry and get anxienty just as anyone else. And yes, contrary I guess to some views, there is a moral code for us non believers. I think the atheist (which I am not) position is there is no absolute moral code.

The NSA kicked into high gear after 9/11 (understandably) but, apparently, no one noticed until last year. If I remember correctly they were brutally criticized in 2001 or not tracking enough people and not catching terrorists. How times change. People noticed in 2001, they complained, and others justified it. Now we have the same people who consistantly complained about it, along with those who justified it now complaining. The seachange is what admin it is now being done under. Well, yeah. A lot of those who called GWB a 'nazi' and accused him of being a would-be tyrant now justify the actions of our spy agencies. And very little has changed really. I do agree. It depends on who was or is president when its being done.

As the patriot2013 notes, because we are human. Faith or Christianity is a means to deal with those aspects of our human condition. Note sure why having what is natural is a condition to defined as guilt.

Yes we have a constitution, and it appears given the post above Executive orders are quite legal; while Obama has executed the fewest. Although I find it absolutely appalling he has to, I am in favor of going around a body of people who sole intent is to undermine anexecutive branch's attempt to do their job concerning of all things, this nations economy..

There is a stark difference between a slow Congress, and a do nothing Congress who now hold that record.

The NSA kicked into high gear after 9/11 (understandably) but, apparently, no one noticed until last year. If I remember correctly they were brutally criticized in 2001 or not tracking enough people and not catching terrorists. How times change. People noticed in 2001, they complained, and others justified it. Now we have the same people who consistantly complained about it, along with those who justified it now complaining. The seachange is what admin it is now being done under.

From the article: "New Mexico Office of the Superintendent of Insurance (OSI), which certifies navigators working with the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange." ...along with the mention of this: In 2010, New Mexico passed the Criminal Offender Employment Act, which states that a criminal conviction “shall not operate as an automatic bar to obtaining public employment or license.” It forbids state agencies from asking about criminal convictions on the initial employment application, allowing it to be considered only when a candidate becomes a finalist.​ ...leads me to believe it was someone other then the Obama admins responsibility.

They are state government employees, evidently. It has already been reported as far back as November that these navigators including the ones who are federal employees, are not vetted and could have criminal backgrounds. The adminstration has been fighting an attempt by congress to force them to inform US citizens when their information when their personal information has been compromised by hackers. If they are state employees, wouldn't it be incumbent on the state to do those criminal background checks? From the NR article: ""In 2010, New Mexico passed the Criminal Offender Employment Act, which states that a criminal conviction “shall not operate as an automatic bar to obtaining public employment or license.” It forbids state agencies from asking about criminal convictions on the initial employment application, allowing it to be considered only when a candidate becomes a finalist.​" Sounds like to me the state is asleep at the wheel.

This has been going on for how many decades now? Something is very wrong when a president (and at least this one did) comes out with reforms what they can and can't do since a court has ruled it legal, and the supreme court doesn't want to touch that desicion.

Revelation 13:18 King James Version (KJV) 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. The sovereign of this kingdom is identified with the number "666." (Revelation 13:18) The Pope's triple crown holds the inscription Vicarius Filii Dei, which is latin for "Vicar [substitute] of the Son of God." The numerical value of this blasphemous title is 666. Vicarius = V(5), I(1), C(100), A(0), R(0), I(1), U(5), S(0) = 112 Filii = F(0), I(1), L(50), I(1), I(1) = 53 Dei = D(500), E(0), I(1) = 501 Vicarius Filii Dei = 666 (the above embolden my be for emphasis) I have heard that claim before, and I have seen it called fiction, and I have never seen those claims supported. Well what is your take on it my friend Yes, that is my take on it based on the lack of support. Claims are always nice, but in the end without support; they just remain claims. What and how do you caculate the number of the beast ? I started another thread answering just that.

No, I don't think Nero is a AntiChrist. Those who are thought to be the Antichrists is clearly laid out in the letters of John. With focus on the Beast in the AofJ, all I have done is laid out my case why I think, and depending which Bible, 666 of 616, but why the reference of the Beast points to Nero. ~be good

....or perhaps just mere coincidences... The number “666” is the numerology of Hebrew letters. It serves the same function of symbolism as Roman numerals. It’s called Gematria. In this ancient Gematria, is it just coincidence that 666 so happens to equal the name of “Caesar Neron” the most despised ruler and oppressor of the Jew in the era Revelation was written? Christians with a deeper understanding of their history will remember writings of him as the ruler who used early Christians as human torches at his parties. Some earlier New Testament copies of Revelations have “616” rather than “666” and using that same Gematria the name numerically is that of “Caesar Nero” his more common used name without the value of “N” which is 50. Here: “In both Hebrew and Greek as well as other languages, letters of the alphabet were used as numbers. So names had a certain numerical value. "Nero Caesar" transliterated into the Hebrew from the Greek (Neron Kaiser) adds up to exactly 666 in Hebrew. N=50, R=200, W=6, N=50 plus Q=100, S=60, R=200 totals 666. This spelling of Nero Caesar was found in the discovery of an Aramaic document in Wadi Murabba`at (BASOR 170, 65). The Latin form of "Nero Caesar" when transliterated into Hebrew adds up to 616. This most likely explains the textual variant in Revelation 13:18 with the number 616. It should also be noted that the Greek word for "Beast" when transliterated back into Hebrew adds up to 666. Ancient writers referred to Nero as a "beast" (See Philostratus Vit. Apoll. 4.38; Sib. Or. 5.343; 8.157). For more detailed commentary see Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 6-16 by David E. Aune." HERE Could that just be coincidence? Is it really coincidence that Nero was commonly called a “beast” in by ancient writers of that day? In Revelations there is mention of a woman drunk with blood of the Saints sitting on the seven hills. Is it again coincidence from this era there exist coins depicting Rome as the city sitting on seven hills, in which geographically it actually does? Check out the coin on the right as shown, Here: Could that just be coincidence? It is the rulers of Rome who are (killing) drinking the blood of saints, in other words that era’s contemporary Christians, and Nero was one of its rulers. In example, Apollinius of Tyana, who lived at the time of Nero, states: “In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs.... And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mother, but Nero gorged himself on this diet." HERE Nero point blank called a wild beast. Could that just be coincidence? After Nero’s death there was popular belief in a returning Nero; a belief that he had not really died. The legend was so common in that era it was known then and now historically as “Nero Redivivus.” They believed Nero would return from the East with his Parthian armies to destroy Rome and Western culture. Here is the historian Suetonius, and writing from the Sybline Oracles, and the Ascension of Isaiah 4:2-4; supporting that late 1st and early 2nd century belief: Suetonius, Nero, 57 [early 2nd century] “"Nero died at the age of 31, on the anniversary of Octavia's murder. In the widespread general rejoicing, citizens ran throught the streets wearing caps of liberty. But there were people who used to lay spring and summer flowers on his grave for a long time, and had statues made of him. . .; they even continued to circulate edicts pretending he was still alive and would soon return to confound his enemies. . . . In fact, twenty years later, when I was a young man, a mysterious individual came forward claiming to be Nero; and so magical was the sound of his name in the Parthians' ears that they supported him to the best of their ability, and only handed him over with great reluctance."“ Sibylline Oracles 5.28 [date: between 80 and 132] “"One who has fifty as an initial will be commander, a terrible snake, breathing out grievous war, who one day will lay hands on his own family and slay them, and throw everything into confusion, athlete, charioteer, murderer, one who dares ten thousand things. He will also cut the mountain between two seas and defile it with gore. But even when he disappears he will be destructive. Then he will return declaring himself equal to God. But he will prove that he is not.“ Ascension of Isaiah 4:2-4 [date: near the end of 1st century] “"And after it has been brought to completion, Beliar will descend, the great angel, the king of this world, which he has ruled ever since it existed. He will descend from his firmament in the form of a man, a king of iniquity, a murderer of his mother--this is the king of this world--and will persecute the plant which the twelve apostles of the Beloved will have planted; some of the twelve will be given into his hand. This angel, Beliar, will come in the form of that king, and with him will come all the powers of this world, and they will obey him in every wish. . . .“ In the Nero Kingdom of Rome the only way an individual could conduct commerce was by certifying performance of a pagan sacrifice, hence demonstrating loyalty to the authorities of the Roman Empire, i.e. having to first pay homage to the King; Nero. It was called the “Libellus”. They then received this slip of paper showing the approval of the Nero Kingdom. It was Nero’s “Mark” and those trading usually held it in their hands. Remember what Nero was called again? The Beast. They carried the Mark of the Beast. HERE: “A libellus (plural libelli) was a document given to a Christian to certify performance of a pagan sacrifice, hence demonstrating loyalty to the authorities of the Roman Empire. They could also mean certificates of indulgence, in which the confessors or martyrs interceded for apostatate Christians.[1] "Forty-six such certificates have been published, all dating from this same year [250 AD]."[2] This particular year falls into the period of persecution under the emperor Decius. Four libelli were found among the thousands of papyri at the archaeological site near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (POxy 658, POxy 1464, POxy 2990 and POxy 3929). Participating in pagan sacrifices was a sin for Christians and punished by excommunication, because the New Testament forbade Christians to either participate in "idol feasts" or to eat "meat sacrificed to idols". However, not participating made one liable to arrest by the Roman authorities. A warrant to arrest a Christian (POxy 3035) was also found at Oxyrhynchus, this too has been dated precisely—to the year 256. The grounds for this arrest are not documented, however, and it predates the persecution under the emperor Valerian I by about a year.“ HERE Could that just be coincidence? ...and no, I am not a pretreist. Apocalyptic literature is a genre’ meant to redress a current dilemma, and in this case their treatment under the rule of Rome with a futuristic outcome in the form of literature to provide hope and vindication. So when it comes to Bible interpretation an analogy I like to use is studying the Vietnam War. If you choose to study just the American version of events, you will embark on a good start, but yet it’s just the tip of an iceberg. You’d have to in addition look at both North and South Vietnam history, as well as the French, Russia, Japan, heck even China to make sense of it. The same goes with the Bible. If you choose to solely read the Bible and try to make sense of it without reading all the external yet extremely interconnected material found outside the Bible which provides one a better understanding of the culture; their mindset; their paradigm, their literature, it too is just a good start. Needless to say the Bible is indeed divine, but it wasn't written in a divine vacuum. As inspired as it is, it is a product of its environment to in many cases redress matters of that environment in that era. When they talk about the Beast, they weren’t talking to us.

Revelation 13:18 King James Version (KJV) 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. The sovereign of this kingdom is identified with the number "666." (Revelation 13:18) The Pope's triple crown holds the inscription Vicarius Filii Dei, which is latin for "Vicar [substitute] of the Son of God." The numerical value of this blasphemous title is 666. Vicarius = V(5), I(1), C(100), A(0), R(0), I(1), U(5), S(0) = 112 Filii = F(0), I(1), L(50), I(1), I(1) = 53 Dei = D(500), E(0), I(1) = 501 Vicarius Filii Dei = 666 (the above embolden my be for emphasis) I have heard that claim before, and I have seen it called fiction, and I have never seen those claims supported. Well what is your take on it my friend Yes, that is my take on it based on the lack of support. Claims are always nice, but in the end without support; they just remain claims.

Revelation 13:18 King James Version (KJV) 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. The sovereign of this kingdom is identified with the number "666." (Revelation 13:18) The Pope's triple crown holds the inscription Vicarius Filii Dei, which is latin for "Vicar [substitute] of the Son of God." The numerical value of this blasphemous title is 666. Vicarius = V(5), I(1), C(100), A(0), R(0), I(1), U(5), S(0) = 112 Filii = F(0), I(1), L(50), I(1), I(1) = 53 Dei = D(500), E(0), I(1) = 501 Vicarius Filii Dei = 666 (the above embolden my be for emphasis) I have heard that claim before, and I have seen it called fiction, and I have never seen those claims supported.