TFT: Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Link: [Emerson,Lake and Palmer]

Not every song that will be featured here will be what is generally considered as being “Christian” in the eyes of this world.  For some will be anguished cries from the pit of despair while others will be quite obviously fervent rants of rebellion.  Nonetheless, be assured that they will all be of our Heavenly Father (in one way or another) and I hope that you have been given ears to hear the message.

Lucky Man

Emerson, Lake and Palmer

He had shite horses

And ladies by the score

All dressed in satin

And waiting by the door

Ooooh

What a lucky man

He was

Ooooh

What a lucky man

He was

White lace and feathers

They made up his bed

A gold covered mattress

On which he was laid

Ooooh

What a lucky man

He was

Ooooh

What a lucky man

He was

He went to fight wars

For his country and his king

Of his honor and his glory

The people would sing

Ooooh

What a lucky man

He was

Ooooh

What a lucky man

He was

A bullet had found him

His blood ran as he cried

No money could save him

So he laid down and he died

Ooooh

What a lucky man

He was

Ooooh

What a lucky man

He was

Karn Evil 9

Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Cold and misty morning

I heard a warning

Borne in the air

About an age of power

No one had an hour

To spare

Where the seeds have withered

Silent children shivered

In the cold

Now their faces captured

In the lenses of the jackals

For gold

I'll be there

I'll be there

I will be there

Suffering in silence

They've all been betrayed

They hurt them

And they beat them

In a terrible way

Praying for survival

At the end of the day

There is no compassion

For those who stay

Yeah

I'll be there

I'll be there

I will be there

There must be someone

Who can set them free

To take their sorrow

From this odyssey

To help the helpless

And the refugee

To protect what's left

Of humanity

Can't you see

Can't you see

Can't you see

Yeah

I'll be there

I'll be there

I will be there

To heal their sorrow

To beg and borrow

Fight tomorrow

Step inside

Hello

We've a most amazing show

You'll enjoy it all we know

Step inside

Step inside

We've got thrills and shocks

Supersonic fighting cocks.

Leave your hammers at the box

Come inside

Come inside

Roll up

Roll up

Roll up

See the show

Left behind the bars

Rows of bishop's heads in jars

And a bomb inside a car

Spectacular

Spectacular

If you follow me

There's a speciality

Some tears for you to see

Misery

Misery

Roll up

Roll up

Roll up

See the show

Next upon the bill

In our House of Vaudeville

We've a stripper in a till

What a thrill

What a thrill

And not content with that

With our hands behind our backs,

We pull Jesus from a hat

Get into that

Get into that

Roll up

Roll up

Roll up

See the show

Welcome back my friends

To the show that never ends

We're so glad you could attend

Come inside

Come inside

There behind a glass

Stands a real blade of grass

Be careful as you pass

Move along

Move along

Come inside

The show's about to start

Guaranteed

To blow your head apart

Rest assured

You'll get your money's worth

Greatest show in Heaven

Hell

Or Earth

You've got to see the show

It's a dynamo

You've got to see the show

It's rock and roll

Oh

Right before your eyes

See the laughter from the skies

And he laughs until he cries

Then he dies

Then he dies

Come inside

The show's about to start

Guaranteed

To blow your head apart

You've got to see the show

It's a dynamo

You've got to see the show

It's rock and roll

Oh

Soon the Gypsy Queen

In a glaze of Vaseline

Will perform on guillotine

What a scene

What a scene

Next upon the stand

Will you please extend a hand

To Alexander's Ragtime Band

Dixieland

Dixieland

Roll up

Roll up

Roll up

See the show

Performing on a stool

We've a sight to make you drool

Seven virgins and a mule

Keep it cool

Keep it cool

We would like it to be known

The exhibits that were shown

Were exclusively our own

All our own

All our own

Come and see the show

Come and see the show

Come and see the show

See the show

Man alone

Born of stone

Will stamp the dust of time

His hands strike the flame

Of his soul

Ties a rope

To a tree

And hangs the universe

Until the winds of laughter

Blows cold

Fear

That rattles in men's ears

And rears

It's hideous head

Dread

Death

In the wind

Man of steel

Pray and kneel

With fever's blazing torch

Thrust into the face

Of the night

Draws a blade of compassion

Kissed by countless kings

Those jeweled trumpet words

Blind his sight

Walls

That no man thought would fall

The altars

Of the just

Crushed

Dust

In the wind

No man yields

Who flies in my ship

Danger

Danger

Danger

Danger

Let the bridge computer speak

Stranger
Stranger
Stranger

Stranger

Load

Your

Program

I

Am

Yourself

No computer

Stands in my way

Only blood

Can cancel my pain

Guardians

Of a new clear dawn

Let the maps of war

Be drawn

Rejoice

Glory is ours

Our young men

Have not died in vain

Their graves

Need

No flowers

The tapes

Have recorded their names

I

Am all there is

Negative

Primitive

Limited

I

Let you live

But I gave you life

What else could you do

To do what was right

I'm perfect

Are you

Lyrics From: [LyricsFreak]

Please Also Visit:

[FishHawk Droppings]

and

[The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter]

Come Monday...Systemic Malpractice

“Come Monday…” is a weekly series that will involve a review of, or commentary about,  websites, movies, documentaries, television shows, sports, music, and whatever else may tickle my fancy at the time.  Be assured that these reviews will be generally positive, as in accordance to the Jimmy Buffett song “Come Monday.”  This is subject to change, however.  In fact, I would be most derelict in my duties to neglect going on a rant every once in a while.  For rants promote change, and change can be good—right?  Therefore, since good is generally considered as being a positive force in 99.3% of the parallel universes that I am aware of, even a rant could be considered as being something positive, and a genuine hissy-fit would be even better (so I’m told).

Be assured that I am very much in favor of universal health care, but I have a real problem with the quality of care that is generally available in this country.  Therefore, [Obamacare] would be a huge waste of time and money until great improvements can be made in my opinion.

Of course, the main argument against such a position is that any care is better than none at all, but I would hope that those who hold to that would think differently if they would have had to have gone through what we have.  For aside from the quality of care I have received over the past 20 years, Arlynda has been recently (2-3 months ago) diagnosed with non-alcoholic [cirrhosis] of the liver, and given 2-5 years to live without a transplant.

Okay, I suppose it would be better to know what one is dying from (along with how long they may have to live) than not knowing anything, and seeing a doctor would be a good way of gathering such information.  That is, unless the doctor neglects to say anything, such as in the case with my wife.  For after going through her medical history, she discovered that she had been diagnosed with [fatty liver disease] over 10 years ago, and yet, it was not until her [ascites] became a genuine problem that the rest of the story was actually told to her by a new doctor.

The dots seem to clearly connect to me.  For alcohol breaks down into sugar in the body, and alcoholism is one of the major causes of cirrhosis of the liver.  Therefore, since it was clearly in her medical history that she has non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and she has been being treated for [type 2 diabetes] for a number of years, which is a disease where blood sugar can get way too high, the doctor she has been seeing for her diabetes should have at least said something about her being in danger of developing cirrhosis of the liver, but I am not a doctor—am I?

Her new doctor is absolutely wonderful.  Well, at least he is for now.  For I am quite sure that it will not be all that long before “they” get to him, or drive him out of the medical profession completely.

There are already some indications of that.  For after Arlynda asked him to prescribe something stronger than aspirin or Tylenol to help dull an intensely sharp pain deep down in her upper left side, he told her that it might mask other symptoms, and that she would have to wait until after she had a gall bladder test he had scheduled—10 days from then!

Oh, and she still hasn’t received any pain medication.  Subsequently, she has not been able to actually lie down in a bed to sleep for close to a month now.  In all fairness, she has always been able to go to sleep almost anywhere, but I am thinking that the thought should count for something.

Her new doctor, who is a [gastroenterologist], sent her to a highly-respected liver specialist in St. Louis, who basically told her that a liver transplant was the only viable treatment for her at this stage in the game.  He then informed her (in no uncertain terms) that he would not even consider her eligible to be put on the transplant list until she quit smoking completely ([electronic cigarettes] don’t count) and lost at least 100 more pounds.

She is receiving some treatment for her ascites, but it leaves much to be desired.  For the last time she went to have as much of the excess abdominal fluid sucked out as possible, the doctor in charge declared that they had got it all after only six liters being collected.  Back at home four hours later, a clear fluid started pouring out of her belly button, which was not where they had inserted the [catheter].

Let us now get to the bills we have received for that last procedure.  There is $1,450.52 for the CS Lab, $809.50 for the CS Pharmacy, $506.52 for the CS Radiology Infusion, $980.60 for the CS Ultrasound and $259.00 for the Pathologist, which comes to a grand total of $4,006.14 for what took less than an hour to perform.

Those prices are what someone without health insurance is charged.  Do you really think that the quality of care will improve with the federal government only paying pennies on those dollars?

Alas, I used to believe that the American health care system was at least as good as any offered anywhere.  Then I became really sick and have had to face looking at the blank stares of my doctors after telling them that I feel like I have been suffering from a fairly severe case of the flu since 1993.

Arlynda’s sister came close to dying when her main doctor failed to recognize the smell of rotting flesh (for several weeks) coming from an infection in the incision he had made clear across her lower abdomen, and now it is my wife’s turn to suffer under the care of a hospital system that frequently runs commercial advertisements about them being one of the top 100 in this country.

In all fairness, Leslie’s ordeal was under the care of the other major hospital system in this town, but they also claim to be one of the top 100 in this country.  By the way, just how indestructible are you?

Please Also Visit:

[FishHawk Droppings]

and

[The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter]

A Sunday Drive

Back during my childhood, our parents would often load up my brother and me after Sunday morning church services for a leisurely drive around where we lived.  Even though we were seeing mostly familiar sights, it was still good to see them, and this is why “A Sunday Drive” sounded about right for the name of a weekly series revisiting familiar sites that are well worth seeing again and again.  The link below the image is to the site itself, and the image is linked to the post it was first included in here.

 Link: [A View from the Edge]

 Link: [A Woodsrunner's Diary]

 Link: [Alex Horton Blog]

 Link: [Alias Jinksy]

 Link: [An Arkies Musings]

 Link: [Around Roanoke]

 Link: [Art Happens 365]

 Link: [Art, Movies, Wood and Whatnot...]

Link: [Birds from Behind]

Link: [On The Box]

Please Also Visit:

[FishHawk Droppings]

and

[The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter]

Trib Updates

This is a weekly series that will include a brief summary of the latest articles that have been published on The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter.  Hopefully, this will encourage you to go check out some truly outstanding articles that have been published by a number of truly outstanding authors.  Moreover, I hope this will also encourage you to want to become a contributing member/author, as well.  The “Hear Ye!  Hear Ye!” site explanation near the top of the side-bar should answer many of your questions.  Yes, this series also included an “SOS! (Spam On Saturdays)”  segment before, but it just wasn’t working for me.  Therefore, that will be replaced by a republishing of one of the Trib articles.

[ESPN Additions] goes to show what a bad influence soccer can be upon social behavior.

[WhiteHeart Wednesday] contains a video and the lyrics for How Many Times (Seventy Times Seven).

[Not Seeing So Well] has a video and the lyrics for The Jayhawks’ Stumbling Through The Dark.

[No Joke]

An old joke has flood waters creeping closer to where a man sits on the roof of his house.  In a loud voice, he prays, “Lord, please come to my rescue in my hour of great need!”  A few minutes later, a neighbor paddles his canoe up next to the man and invites him to come join him in the canoe.  “No,” the man answers, I have prayed to the Lord, and I must remain where I am until He sees fit to deliver me out of this peril.”  As the neighbor was paddling away while shaking his head in disbelief over the man’s refusal to be rescued by him, he noticed that the flood waters were now almost up the man’s waist as he clung to the chimney sticking out of the roof of his house.  In an even louder voice, the man prayed again, “Lord, please come to my rescue in my hour of great need!!”  A few minutes later, a large rubber raft, with several members of the Navy onboard, floated right up next to him, and a Naval officer told him to reach out his hand in order to make it easier to be brought into the raft.  Again, the man answered the call for him to accept help, “No, I have prayed to the Lord, and I must remain where I am until He sees fit to deliver me out of this peril.”  The Naval personnel all had looks of great shock on their faces as they speed off to go help someone else, and after they had went a fair piece away, one of them told the commanding officer that he had seen through a pair of binoculars that the man was now hanging from the top of his chimney, with his head barely above the water line.  In a voice that now sounded more like a scream than a prayer, the man cried out, “Lord, please come to my rescue in my hour of great need!!!”  A few minutes later, a Coast Guard helicopter eased over his position, and a rescue diver dove into the water to help him get into the basket that was being lowered from the helicopter.  Again, the man answered the call for him to accept help, “No, I have prayed to the Lord, and I must remain where I am until He sees fit to deliver me out of this peril.”  The helicopter was not quite out of sight before the flood waters rose above his head, and the man drowned.  When the man stood before the Lord on Judgment Day, he asked Him, “Why did you not come to my rescue?”  With great sadness in His voice, the Lord answered him, “My son, I sent two different types of watercraft and a helicopter, but refused to see my hand at work.”

The absolute truth of the matter truly is that far too many in the Christian community fail to see our Heavenly Father’s hand at work because of the situation at hand not fitting in with their beliefs.  Alas, who can truly see without looking at things through His eyes, but who is so blind as the one who refuses to see?

Please Also Visit:

[FishHawk Droppings]

and

[The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter]

Sites To See

The SOLE purpose of this weekly series is to help call attention to sites that I think many would find most interesting—in one way or another.  Just to be clear, inclusion in this series is not necessarily meant as a recommendation, and I have included sites that are rather disturbing to me.  The link below each image is to the site itself, and each image is linked to the particular post from which it was taken when applicable.  Please, go see for yourself.  Oh, and as of August 10, 2012, I will be no longer including sites that have auto-play and word verification engaged.

 Link: [Archive]

 Link: [Around the Table]

 Link: [Artful Affirmations]

 Link: [Backwoods Cottage]

 Link: [Been there, done that.]

 Link: [Bellemere Cottage]

 Link: [Between Naps on the Porch]

 Link: [Beyond the Garden Gate]

 Link: [Black Cab Designs]

Link: [Bob's Home For Writing]

Please Also Visit:

[FishHawk Droppings]

and

[The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter]