"I'm Gonna Git You Sucka!"

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is the first European leader to visit Obama since the Jan 20 inauguration. In honor of his visit, Brown presented Prez BO with the following gifts:

• A pen holder fashioned from the oak timber of HMS Gannet, a Navy vessel that served on anti-slavery missions off Africa.
• A framed commissioning paper for the HMS Resolute, a Royal Navy ship that came to symbolize British-American goodwill when it was rescued by the U.S. from icebergs and given to Queen Victoria. It is the sister ship of the HMS Gannet.
• A first edition of Martin Gilbert's seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill, whose World War II partnership with President Franklin Roosevelt symbolized the U.S.-Anglo alliance.

BO gave the Prime Minister a set of 25 classic American movies to mark his historic visit to the White House. Brown reportedly tried to keep the present a secret, declining to say what movies were included in the set. ""One reason for the secrecy might be that the gift seems markedly less generous and thoughtful than the presents taken to Washington by the Prime Minister," London's Evening Standard newspaper reported.

According to another source, the movie set included ET, Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz. Now THAT is an historically significant gift.

Does anyone else get the feeling we've got a bunch of High School sophomores in Washington PLAYING GOVERNMENT??!! Where was the "Diplomacy Czar" on this one?! "Er, uh, Mr. President, with all do respect, I think a box set of DVDs from Blockbuster may be just a little bit...CHEAP!!!

Oh, and don't think for a minute that if George Bush had done the same thing, the media would have been ALL OVER this, talking about what a dope GW was. And by the way, Brown is NOT known to be a movie buff.

Source

Take Your Political Correctness and...

I'm sick and tired of all this politically correct crapola surrounding how we address the holiday season many of us refer to as "Christmas." Oh, my! Someone might be offended if we use the "C" word. Tough!

I heard from someone the other day that their child's first grade "holiday concert" ended with the singing of We Wish You a Merry WINTER. oh, brother.

I've said it before, I'm saying it again: the First Amendment protects ALL free speech. It does NOT guarantee you protection from being offended! I may disagree with you; you may disagree with me. One of us may be offended. Get used to it.

M E R R Y

C H R I S T M A S !

Bailout?! You've Got to Be Kidding?!

The Wall Street Journal reported today that the Ford Foundation has over $13 BILLION (that's with a "B") in assets. That's right boys and girls, the same group of auto execs that have their hands out are sitting on a pile of cash...but they expect you and I to help them out! Check out the WSJ story here.

I'm Voting Democrat

I'm voting Democrat because English has no place being the official language in America.

I'm voting Democrat because it's better to turn corn into fuel than it is to eat.

I'm voting Democrat because I'd rather pay $4 for a gallon of gas than allow drilling for oil off the coasts of America.

I'm voting Democrat because I think the government will do a better job of spending my money than I could.

I'm voting Democrat because when we pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq , I
know the Islamic terrorists will stop trying to kill us because they'll think
we're a good and decent country.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe people who can't tell us if it will rain in two or three days, can now tell us the polar ice caps will disappear in ten years if I don't start riding a bicycle, build a windmill or inflate my tires to proper levels.

I'm voting Democrat because it's all right to kill millions of babies as long as we keep violent, convicted murderers on death row alive.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe businesses in America should not be allowed to make profits. Businesses should just break even and give the rest to the government so politicians and bureaucrats can redistribute the money the way they think it should be redistributed.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe guns, and not the people misusing them, are the cause of crimes and killings.

I'm voting Democrat because when someone with a weapon threatens my family or me, I know the government can respond faster through a call to 911 than I can with a gun in my hand.

I'm voting Democrat because oil companies' 5% profit on a gallon of gas are obscene, but government taxes of 18% on the same gallon of gas are just fine.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe three or four elitist liberals should rewrite the Constitution every few months to suit some fringe element that could never get their agenda past voters.

I'm voting Democrat because illegal aliens are not criminals, are not sucking up resources through government aid, hospital services, education, or social services, but are just people trying to make a better life by coming to America illegally. We can't blame them for that, can we?

(I'm Barack Obama and I AM THIS MESSAGE!)

Marching Bands

I went to our local high school football game last Friday--we got beat--but that's not has me wound up. I've noticed a trend for some time now and that is this: marching bands DON'T MARCH anymore!!!

I'm sitting in the stands, waiting for the halftime "show" to begin, and what appears to be a host of band parents begin wheeling out all kinds of props, backdrops, ground cover, and a plethora of instruments that traditionally and physically were never intended to be part of a MARCHING band, e.g. timpanis, gongs, xylophones, assorted mounted percussion, etc. Then there's the assortment of flags that will be twirled, tossed, and waved by a sea of "support" personnel, i.e. the flag team.

THEN, the music--and I use the term loosely--begins...and I say that because I can BARELY HEAR IT!!! and it sounds like some kind of symphony or something. All I can hear are the flutes, a single snare drum and the timpani. And all the while, the band is doing some kind of flowing type of walking or something. Where is the high-step marching? Where are the blaring trumpets and trombones? Where are the booming sousaphones? Where are the strutting drum majors and fire baton twirlers?!!! And...what in the world are they doing with those "flags?!" They're not American flags. They're not flags from other countries. They're just brightly colored strips of cloth attached to an aluminum pole! I wouldn't salute that thing.

Why are you people just standing there? It's MARCHING band for crying out loud! What happened to March Grandioso or Stars and Stripes Forever?!

It just ain't right.

Murderers and Words *UPDATED*

Another One Bites the Dust
Jose Ernesto Medellin, the convicted murderer and rapist of two teenage girls, Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman, was executed late August 5th by lethal injection in the death chamber at Huntsville State Prison in Texas.

Texas Governor, Rick Perry was quoted as saying: "It's not my job to judge, it is not my job to forgive." He said, "That's the Lord's job. The Lord can forgive and the Lord can judge." My job as the governor of Texas is to arrange the meeting between Medellin and Jesus." Well said Governor Perry...and well done Texas!!!

Words
I've come to understand that the two most overused/misused words in the English language are: "Always" and "Never." No one is ALWAYS right and no one is NEVER wrong.

Update: A correct use of the word "never": That scumbag Medellin will NEVER hurt another person.

Touch Not Mine Annointed

In light of a recent blog conversation, I've noticed a few things about defenders/followers of Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven Church (PDC) and Purpose Driven Life (PDL):

1. It is beyond their comprehension that anyone would not be familiar with Mr. Warren, his teachings or writings (hereafter referred to as "PDC/PDL").
2. If they happen to stumble upon someone as described above, it becomes their misssion to introduce and indoctrinate them into the "truth" ("truth" being defined as anything that procedes from the mouth or pen of Mr. Warren).
3. It is beyond their comprehension that once someone has been exposed to PDC/PDL they would not whole-heartedly embrace it or *gasp* might even speak out against it.
4. It is further beyond their comprehension that anyone could/would muster a Biblical defense against PDC/PDL. Any attempt to do so is immediately met with comments such as:
   - "your position is extreme...nonsensical."
   - overuse of acronym ROFL--Translation "your comments don't agree with my opinion and are therefore so stupid they make me laugh."
   - "[your opinion] obviously is unable to stand up to scrutiny." Translation "my scrutiny is superior to yours."
   
5. It absolutely infuriates them when they cannot convince, intimidate or berate someone to their way of thinking.

Look, I'll be the first one to admit that I can be hard-headed, but this (PDC/PDL) is not a topic I am unfamiliar with. I've read both books. I've listened to/read sermons by Mr. Warren. I've scrutinized PDC/PDL in light of my own understanding of Scripture and I just can't embrace it. And just in case you're contemplating the idea that just MAYBE I might be pursuaded otherwise...save yourself a lot of time; don't bother.

Psst...don't tell the PDC/PDL "fan club," but there is also a large segment of the population that doesn't like broccoli. God help us if Rick Warren comes out with "Purpose Driven Broccoli" and ANYONE speaks out against it.

"Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." 1 Chronicles 16:22 (NIV)

That's How I Remember It

I haven't had the opportunity to write anything lately because I've been out-of-pocket, so to speak. I couldn't say anything at the time, but now that I'm home, I can safely tell you that I spent the last couple of days at the International Space Station.

I know a guy that knows a guy and he was able to get me a stand-by ticket. We left Friday afternoon and hooked up with the Space Station that evening. Talk about AWESOME!!! They had a special dinner all ready for us when we got there and then they gave us a tour. Man, they've got some really cool gadgets up there in space! Saturday morning, they took us on a space walk and I got to help them work on some of the solar panels. (I'm qualified to do that because I've seen the sun before.) Saturday afternoon was spent in the laboratory working on some experiments--we built a perpetual motion machine, found a cure for cancer in white mice and developed a face cream that will take 20 years off your appearance.

After a very nice brunch Sunday morning, we packed and headed back home. As we were landing in Florida, we were told there might be sniper fire, so when we got off the shuttle, we had to run very quickly to the hanger! All in all though, it was a really nice trip. One thing taht was disappointing: they didn't have food or drink service on the Space Shuttle which I thought was kinda cheap!

 
The above story may or may not be true, but if Hillary can get away with it...

Special thanks to michellemalkin.com for the photo.

Weekend Thoughts

Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them
-Suzanne Curchod Necker (1739-1794)

You're Gonna Need a Bigger Barn
The above quote appeared on my Google Home page today and it made me think of some things that are going on around the office. I mentioned a while back that our company is for sale. The three principles have been around since the early 70's and they are ready to retire. They offered the company to the current shareholders (we are employee owned), but the price was simply more than any of us can/are willing to afford.

So, the process has begun to find a buyer. In the process, figures have been thrown around that frankly are almost unbelieveable. I don't want to devulge too much here, but suffice it to say, there are some people that will pretty much be set for life if this sale goes through...which brings me back to the Necker quote. It's very interesting to watch people that suddenly acquire or THINK they're going to acquire a large sum of money. Even more interesting are the reactions/responses from those that own very little or no stock at all. They're not nearly as excited to sell as the other group. Lots of things are being said that will probably be regretted later. Go figure.

The whole thing reminds me of Jesus' parable in Luke 12:18ff--the rich man and his barns.

You Asked
I post the contents of this blog on another blogging site--I actually started blogging there first and ended up "meeting" some interesting people, so I've continued to maintain both. I'm fascinated by the conversations/relationships that occur in the blogoshere. Several times, visitors to my blog have asked me to pray about situations in their lives. I've never met these people face to face, but we share a common bond in our faith, etc. so I pray. Some have asked what I believe about certain topics and I have done the same. What is baffling is when someone comes to my blog, asks me a question, then gets angry when my answer doesn't agree with what they think? They came to my "house" and THEY ASKED--so I told them what I thought. Now they're mad at me?!

The Bible Says...
Another blog I read was discussing how some Bible verses get taken out of context to prove a point. I've also noticed a similar situation, you know when you question someone's motives, actions, etc. and they shoot back with: "Let him without sin cast the first stone" or "Judge not lest you be judged!" They think they've really come up with a zinger and I won't have a comeback. I usually ask them: "Do you know where those verses are found, what the circumstances where surrounding those statements, or even who said them?" They usually don't.

With All Due Respect

We (human beings) are an interesting lot--especially when it comes to our vocabulary. We/they combine some of the strangest words to express ourselves (profanity and the like). Take the phrase: "It's colder than h*** out there!" Does that really make sense? And yet, people understand exactly what you're talking about. It's not just cold...it's REALLY cold. How did inserting that one word make that comment more understandable or imply a more sever degree of "coldness?"

Even more interesting, is how disengenuious we can be in our converstations. Think about some of the possible responses to these questions/statements:

• Does this dress make me look fat?
• Do you think she's pretty? (Men, don't answer this one if your wife asks)
• Have you read [fill in book title here] or seen [fill in movie title here]? I loved it!
• Does my hair look OK like this?
• What do you think about or how do you feel about so-and-so?

In some cases, you may answer honestly, but may not be quite as "harsh" VERBALLY in comparsion to what you are thinking. In some cases, you may just flat-out lie.

I'm thinking about words and honesty here because of a blog I was reading yesterday. A fairly civil "debate" suddenly turned ugly when one commentor wrote (in response to a previous statement) something like: "With all due respect..." and then proceeded to tear into the guy like a monkey on a cupcake! As I read the post, I thought, "This guy is showing absolutely NO respect! In fact, it's obviuos that was never his intention." When someone begins a sentence/statment with "with all due respect," you can pretty much bet you're not going to get any--respect. Same thing goes for...

To be honest...Red flag!!! Most of the time, the sub-title to this statement should be: "Normally when I talk to you, I'm lying, but TODAY, I'm telling you the truth." Maybe we should approach this from the opposite angle and just say: "Well, to bald-face lie to you..."

Bless his/her heart...Let's face it. Most of the time this phrase is used, it's because we've just ripped someone apart and we're trying to recover the conversation or at least end on a high note. Years ago, I worked with a guy that was in his 50's and still lived with his mother. She called him every day at work, and ever day they would get into some kind of argument on the phone. They'd raise their voices (you could hear her on the other end) and within minutes he'd be slamming the phone into its cradle. EVERY TIME he hung up on his mom, he'd exclaim: "That b**ch!" Followed by: "Bless her heart." I guess that made it alright.

No offense, but...RIGHT! A conversation that starts out like this IS going to offend you. That's a fact.

In my humble opinion...Actually, I am NOT humble about my opinion. I believe I am right, that I am the absolute authority on this subject, and you are a blithering idiot!

With all due respect and to be perfectly honest, this is my humble opinion. Bless your hearts.

 

¹ dis·in·gen·u·ous adj. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating

Weekly Wrap Up / Friday Photos

What a Pile of...
What do the two pictures above have in common? They're both a pile of...well, you know. The "pile" on the right is one Cardrico Lajuan Nash who was arrested this past week for leaving his four children--ages 3 months to 7 years-- in his car...parked outside a local topless bar...at 1AM...in near freezing temperatures (35 degrees according to the Tulsa World)!

Nash had picked up three of his children earlier in the evening after having not seen them in a year according to Tulsa Police Captn Rick Helberg. The mother of two of the children was working at another Tulsa strip club; the mother of the other two children was at home. Nash has been booked into the Tulsa jail on four felony counts of child endangerment. He already has felony convictions for "failing to provde for a child, false impersonation and possesion of a firearm while under Department of Corrections supervision." He is also facing a Jan 23 jury trial on a felony drug-trafficking charge. Bail was set at $25,000. (Source: Tulsa World)

Several observations re: this story--

• This guy ain't up for the "Father or Citizen of the Year" award!
• There are two VERY STUPID women out there who should have kept their clothes on around this idiot.
• When you haven't seen your children in a year, your first thought after picking them up should never be--"I think I'll drop by Suds-N-Jugs and leave the kids in the car!
• Cardrico Nash is my choice for the 2007 Support the Death Penalty Poster Child.

Microwave Instructions
I was heating up my lunch today, reading the all important instructions when I noticed the last sentence: "...remove product from microwave. WARNING: container is hot!" Of course it is! Isn't that WHY I put it in the microwave in the first place?...so it would get "HOT!" I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Road Trip
Loaded up the fam last week and went to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO for their "Old Time Christmas" celebration. They claim to have over 4 million lights--I lost count around 956, 228. They whole town is decorated for Christmas and there are several stores/areas that have been revamped especially for the holidays. Our favorite places are still the glass blowers shop, the candy shop and the woodcarvers.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at one of the restaurants in the park and then spent the evening just walking around, looking at the lights and enjoying the fragrances and sounds of Christmas. We returned the next day so the boys could ride the roller coasters, etc. while Dana and I did some shopping...and EATING! (The photos directly below and the one above are from the SDC website. Click on the thumbnails for larger view)

  

Friday Photos

flickr: Friday Photo Group

A Non-Biblical Defense

If you can't make your case from Scripture, just use crude language. It may not make your point, but it will certainly catch people's attention. WARNING: Very crude language for a supposedly "Christian blog."

Apparently, some of these guys (another Christian blog) think the "favorite song" is appropriate. I look forward to hearing how they work it in to a Sunday morning sermon.

PS: Todd (you know who you are), I tagged this one "blasphemy" just for you.

Self-Serving Missional Post

This post appeared on the Christian Research Network (CRN) this past weekend. Seems a church in Kentucky is encouraging its members to "send letters of love and support to troubled pop star Britney Spears, described by the pastor as having made 'devastating life choices.'" You can read the entire news article here.

I don't doubt for a minute that Ms. Spears needs, not only love and support, but more importantly, salvation. Her bizarre lifestyle of late also indicates she probably could have used a little more parental oversight during her growing up years...and maybe the "rod of discipline" applied to her "seat of knowledge" a little more often.

That said, I think the church in question is using Britney's latest media grabbing antics as nothing more than a publicity stunt themselves. As others have already asked, and I tend to agree: Would the church be so quick to offer their "love and support" to someone less famous? Are there not any young adults in their area making some of the same bad choices as Britney?

Whatever the church's reason, CRN's decision to question their motives has raised the ire of the contributors to this website, whose sole purpose appears to be critcizing most anything and everything CRN posts. They refer to CRN as a "watchdoggie" site. That's kinda funny. They are the "watchdog" for the "watchdog."

The bottom line, I'm looking for a few more hits on my blog myself, so I've purposely included "britney" in the tags for this post. I wonder if there is a "watchdog" watching me?

Jobs Americans Won't Do

From SanDiego.com, is this another example of "immigrants doing jobs Americans won't do?"

Six illegal immigrants who were suspected of stealing relief supplies from Qualcomm Stadium were arrested by Border Patrol agents after San Diego police stopped them Wednesday morning.

A woman who had been evacuated to the stadium told officers she saw the group load up two pickup trucks and a car with cots and other supplies, leave and then return, said police Sgt. Jesse Cesena.

When officers stopped them, a member of the group said they were being paid to take things of value from the stadium.

"They were stealing a lot of stuff," Cesen~a said. "We took the stuff back and we escorted them out. They were stealing from the people in need."

Because some members of the group spoke Spanish, officers called Border Patrol agents at the stadium for relief efforts. They determined the people were in the country illegally and arrested them.

The Border Patrol agents are among 100 that the federal agency has been providing for relief efforts, said agency spokesman Matthew Johnson. He said the agents are not looking for illegal immigrants among people seeking refuge at the stadium.

"We're not out there doing immigration stuff in the middle of a disaster," he said. "However, we still enforce the laws."

Pornographic Bible

In this previous post, I decried the use of what I considered a crude/crass euphemism attributed to Mark Driscoll to describe (in part) the circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth. In recent days, I have interacted via the internet with several individuals that basically take the stance:

• "There's a lot worse in the Bible!"
• "I think Mark is closer to things the way he is stating it."
• "I love it when people apply a particular contemporary sub-culture’s stringent understanding of language to their readings of pre-modern (read: ancient) texts of Holy Scripture."
• "What I do have a problem with is denying the circumstances of the Biblical narrative out some misplaced sense of propriety. I don’t care if you think the bare facts laid out by Driscoll are somehow shameful and unworthy of Jesus to the point where we have to clean up or deny what was actually going on."
• "The quote, “At least we know who our father is…” comes to mind. Now, what could they have meant by that?"

When I think about it, to some degree these people are right. Seriously, why should we shy away from things in the Bible that we find offensive--only because we are applying some modern-day criteria of what is and what isn't appropriate?

We're not living in the days of the Puritans! For whatever reason, God deemed it necessary to include EVERYTHING we have in our Bible, including passages such as Ezekiel 23:18-23 which was noted by several people in our conversation. (WARNING: This could be considered very graphic language by some.)

When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled. (NIV)

A little rough? Yes. Biblical? Yes. Should we be offended? Not according to the emergents! God is simply describing how wretched and defiled the people had become. I have to admit, it certainly drives the point home.

I'm working on a flannel-graph of these verses for our 8-year-old Sunday School class. I hope I can get it finished before Sunday...

This post has been rated "S" for heavy sarcasm.

Jesus Air Freshner

I am speechless. I am without speech.

Voter Test

Maybe we should use this for a "voter test."

Suppposedly, pre-schoolers all over the United States were shown the picture below and asked the same question. Ninety percent of them reportedly answered the question correctly. The question?

Which direction is the bus traveling?
Left or right?

Click here for the answer.

Voter ID Required? Bring it ON!

The New York Times (as well as other news outlets) recently reported that the Supreme Court has agreed...

to consider whether voter-identification laws unfairly keep poor people and members of minority groups from going to the polls (emphasis mine)... The justices will hear arguments from an Indiana case, in which a federal district judge and a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in January upheld a state law requiring, with certain exceptions, that someone wanting to vote in person in a primary or general election present a government-issued photo identification.

I am not wealthy, nor would I be considered poor; and generally speaking, I do not belong to a minority race--although that is changing quickly in the area of the United States in which my family live. Maybe that is why I don't understand the statement above. What in the world does one's race or income level have to do with their ability to VOTE?! Nothing. Here's what I think it's all about: stuffing the ballot box.

Somebody, somewhere has figured out that there is a very large number of individuals living in the United States that do NOT carry identification, not because they are poor and/or part of a minority group, but because they DON'T HAVE ANY! Some of those people have been able to vote without showing any proof of citizenship and to require them to do so NOW, might effect the outcome of the vote.

I don't care what the case is trying to prove. I think it's pretty simple. Regardless of whether you are rich, middle income, or poor, black, white, brown, or even green--if you can't prove you are who you say you are--and even more importantly, that you are a UNITED STATES CITIZEN...you ain't votin'! Just because you happen to be in the neighborhood doesn't give you a "say-so."

There are some pretty dumb rich people out there, just as much as there are dumb poor people. There are some pretty dumb people in EVERY ethnic group in this country. There are some smart ones, too. I've proposed this before, and I still believe it's a good plan. Effective immediately, absolutely NO ONE is a registered voter. End of discussion. If you want to vote in an upcoming election, you must do ALL of the following:

1. Go to your nearest voter registration office in person to register.
2. Present three (3) forms of ID, one of which is a government issued picture ID-e.g. state issued driver's license, a birth certificate from an AMERICAN hospital and an official social security card. These three items could vary to some degree, but you will need three forms of ID, proving you are an American citizen of eligible voting age.
3. You must be able to read the entire Gettysburg Address, IN ENGLISH, in two minutes or less. (Note: I realize that for one reason or another, some individuals may not be able to read. I'm still thinking about this one. At the very least, I think an applicant should be able to recite/paraphrase the first sentence of the Address--again, in English)
4. And finally, applicants should be able to sing or recite the Star Spangled Banner. (Extra points if you can hit the high notes.)

If a person can't comply with the simple criteria I've outlined above, do we really WANT them voting?! The down-side to my plan: it might eliminate a significant number of members of Congress.

Leave General Petraeus Alone

"He's got medals on his chest!...he's done stuff!!!"

Riots and Friday Photos

Inmates Riot Over Sausage
MSNBC reported the following from HOBBS, NM: Some Lea County inmates set fires and broke toilets and windows after being told they would be allowed only one sausage at dinner. Jail officials said the inmates began yelling and banging on their doors in what they described in a news release as a "temper tantrum."

Officers from the Lea County Sheriff's and Hobbs Police departments were called in to restore control, and the jail was locked down after Tuesday night's incident.

Some 33 prisoners were involved, Warden Jann Gartman said. The remaining 300-plus prisoners at the jail accepted the meal without incident, authorities said.

The damage to the jail was light, with some smoke damage and broken toilets and windows, the warden said.

(NOTE: The sausage already had "smoke damage.")

Friday Photos
Today's photos are a bit unusual. I spotted this house on my way to work yesterday. I have no idea what the story is, but it appears the homeowner has a "walker/wheelchair/bedside toilet salvage yard" business going on. I'm not sure what the golf bag has to do with it, but I thought it was a nice touch.

flickr: Friday Photo Group