Die Schreiben von Schreiber

Liberty and Justice for All

2012-02-20T14:40:00.000-06:00

These are the last words of the Pledge of Allegiance spoken by government officials, school children, and many other people every day in schools and other events throughout our country. We say these words frequently but, speaking for myself, I was never taught what they mean, and I never really thought about it much.

So let’s do that, shall we? Let’s consider only this closing phrase;
“liberty and justice for all.”

Liberty is defined by Dictionary.com in these ways:
1.freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.
2.freedom from external or foreign rule; independence.
3.freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction,hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking,speaking, etc., according to choice.

So how much liberty do we have? How free are we from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions etc? Are we free from arbitrary or despotic control? Are we free to do, think and speak according to our choice?

I believe we say things like the pledge and cliches like “it’s a free country” or “fighting for our freedoms” tritely, without even really considering those freedoms. It would be unpatriotic, after all, to suggest that our military in Iraq, fighting against a country’s weak and ineffective military forces unprovoked, on a mission to find something that doesn’t even exist, in an unconstitutional, unjust war, as anything other than “keeping America free!” would it not?

So let’s start with a look at our liberty.
If it’s a “free country” we should be able to accomplish the following tasks without interference or hampering conditions:

Buy milk from a farmer
Sample the electromagnetic waves that other people send through my house and body, and listen to them
Use electromagnetic waves to communicate with others
Grow food on my own land without fear of punishment
Move about freely
Purchase and use firearms and other tools to protect and defend my family and community
Raise my children without interference

This is a very short list, but in every case we are not free. We suffer under the weight of those things from which liberty is defined as being free.

In most states you can not buy raw milk, and in many cases federal agents have shut down operations and stolen or destroyed property related to the farmer’s business.
The FCC prohibits reception and listening to certain radio signals and requires licensing and payments to permit citizens to use the radio spectrum.
If Monsanto’s patented crops planted miles away from you on another person’s property cross-pollinate with yours, the government will help them sue you for stealing and infringing on their patents.
You must pay to be licensed and pay to have your vehicle licensed in order to travel. These payments are also taxed, which amounts to a tax on a tax. REAL ID, a project of the federal government is making its way across the states.
Firearms are highly regulated and ridiculously taxed. If I operate a motor vehicle without a muffler, I would be cited and forced to repair it. If I want to operate a firearm *with* a muffler, I have to pay a $200 federal tax on top of the cost of the suppressor. Automatic and other military class weapons and technology are either similarly prohibitively taxed, or outlawed.
Lastly, we’ve all heard ridiculous stories of government meddling in the lives of our families. Most recently, more than one family in North Carolina have reported officials confiscating lunches packed at home, forcing the children to eat cafeteria food instead.

That’s a short list pertaining to liberty. We could go on and on, but let’s change gears and move on to justice.

Have you been to an airport lately? Have you seen little kids and old ladies being patted down by federal agents?
Going back to the Monsanto thing, their pollen trespasses on your land, ruining your future crops, and they sue you for patent infringement.
Heard of the NDAA? American citizens can be locked away in secret military detention facilities for unspecified lengths of time, without formal charges of crime.
The Federal Reserve prints money at will and closely connected cronies get to spend it before its detrimental effects hit the market, increasing their wealth while depleting that of the middle class.

Again, only a short list, but you get the idea. What the heck is going on in the US? Does this sound like "liberty and justice?"

The USA is a great country and a great place to live, but we are on the path to ruin and *must* open our eyes to the problem and demand our government return to the Constitution.

Fixing the Wrong Problem

2012-02-11T08:57:00.000-06:00

Much has been written and said about the contraceptive requirements that came out a little while ago. Most people can see that this is indeed a heinous violation of religious liberty, as well as liberty in general. No religious organization should be told by the State to act in a way contrary to its core beliefs, and no individual should be made by threat of force to pay for things they don't want to buy.

Many books could be made of the discussion on this topic, but so far, all of it that I have seen has been addressing a symptom and not the actual root problem.

John H. Cochrane is nearly all the way there when he writes in the Wall Street Journal (reprinted at the CATO Institute website) when he says critics have fallen into a trap. "By focusing on an exemption for church-related institutions, critics effectively admit that it is right for the rest of us to be subjected to this sort of mandate." He reaches the right conclusion; of course, churches should be exempt, as should all citizens.But he's not explicit as to the real root of this problem.

Instead of (or maybe in addition to) being outraged that churches are required to violate conscience as well as individual citizens, we should be incensed that a despotic bureaucracy is forcing us to live under unconstitutional legislation.

The Congress is the only branch of the government that has the authority and power to make laws. The HHS is not. The HHS is not even mentioned as a power given to the State.

So by seeking compromise, and settling for it when it comes, we have sent two messages:

We agree that it's proper use of government power to force all citizens who pay taxes to be the ones to cover the cost of this insurance, even if it violates their individual religious liberty.
We agree that the Department of Health and Human Services is a legitimate agency endowed with the power to make laws, enforce them, and adjudicate issues related to them.

The magicians have distracted you with the left hand while the right hand performs the illusion. Of course this isn't the first time something like this has happened, and until We the People realize that this is the root problem, our freedom will continue to slowly die a miserable and withered shadow of what it once was.

The Four Branches of US Government

2012-02-06T18:08:00.001-06:00

Executive, Legislative, Judicial, and....
Regulatory Agencies.

The regulatory agencies (ex: FCC, FDA, etc) enact laws published in the "Code of Federal Regulations." The CFR is a huge collection of these "administrative laws." Congress doesn't make them, can't repeal them.

What about the separation of powers?

Consider Boston University law professor Gary Lawson’s description of the Federal Trade Commission, which typifies the workings of the system as a whole:

"The Commission promulgates substantive rules of conduct. The Commission then considers whether to authorize investigations into whether the Commission’s rules have been violated. If the Commission authorizes an investigation, the investigation is conducted by the Commission, which reports its findings to the Commission. If the Commission thinks that the Commission’s findings warrant an enforcement action, the Commission issues a complaint. The Commission’s complaint that a Commission rule has been violated is then prosecuted by the Commission and adjudicated by the Commission. This Commission adjudication can either take place before the full Commission or before a semi-autonomous Commission administrative law judge. If the Commission chooses to adjudicate before an administrative law judge rather than before the Commission and the decision is adverse to the Commission, the Commission can appeal to the Commission. If the Commission ultimately finds a violation, then, and only then, the affected private party can appeal to an Article III court. But the agency decision, even before the bona fide Article III tribunal, possesses a very strong presumption of correctness on matters both of fact and of law."

In that example you can see that this one agency of the State performs all three of the powers that are supposed to be separated. It legislates, it enforces, and it adjudicates.

And to whom are these agencies accountable? Can you vote them out? Can you impeach them? Can you recall them?

No. The society has no recourse against the regulatory agency. The agency personnel serve fixed terms and can not be fired.
An Example: Congress voted down the automaker bailout. TARP designated the treasury as the authority on the subject of businesses too big to fail, and so the treasury bypassed the will of the people.

Another example: The first Congress under Obama voted down Cap-n-Trade. After the 2010 elections, congress wasn't going to pass it, so the EPA is enacting its provisions. They are law just as if Congress had passed it and the President signed it. What can the US citizen do about it? Nothing. When the elections take place, even if you elect new congressmen and presidents, just like the voters, they won't have the guts for real change, real sanity and real lliberty. Nothing will change, the agency personnel will remain the same.

The CFR grows by the tens of thousands of pages each year, far outpacing Congressional legislation activities. The founders of the US *intended* the legislative process to be tedious and held back by gridlock but regulatory agencies bypass the Constitution and wield all three powers supposedly separated.

You may ask "But what about the public comment period where the agencies accept input from the public regarding proposed rule-making?" Ok, what about it? Public comment periods are smoke and mirrors to make you feel like you've done something. Agencies are not required to act on your input in any way.

What can we do? We must elect representatives to congress who are serious about the Constitution. We must contact our current representatives in congress and urge them to pass the REINS act.

That would be a good start. Otherwise, does your vote really matter? The way things stand now, not that much.

All this crazy talk came from the Hillsdale College Webinar on January 28.

Do you think we are on the verge of a serious financial crisis?

2012-01-14T08:51:00.000-06:00

‎Our Debt is higher than the total output of the entire nation.
Our deficit (Spending over and above income) continues to grow.
The President just requested that the debt ceiling be raised to over 1 trillion dollars MORE than the total output of the entire nation. (up to 16.something trillion $)
Politicians talk about "reducing the deficit" but not making actual cuts in spending, just reducing the amount of spending that is over the amount of income (never coming within the amount of income, always spending more than they make).
Our money is paper backed by "faith" and nothing else.
The Federal Reserve prints more money whenever they want, which devalues the money in your wallet and bank account (inflation, which causes prices and interest rates to soar).
China holds the most US debt than any other country, enabling the US to build a house of cards that can then be blown down causing catastrophe for us.
China is buying gold in record amounts. They will have something of value if/when their investment in US Debt turns to muck. They could even be the ones to collapse our monetary system. Don't think so? Read this.

To borrow from Private Pyle, We are in a world of shit. Sorry to be vulgar. We all need to be learning and reading as much as possible from sources not connected to cronyism or benefiting from the current conditions. We need to turn off American Idol and The Biggest Loser and read Rothbard and Mises and the founding fathers and the Constitution. We all need to take that education with us to the polls and govern OURSELVES by voting for people who understand the gravity of our situation and who are not influenced or funded by the people that got bailouts.

We are in an unprecedented moment in US History. We have over-extended ourselves, and we must make real change. We must not allow the status quo to continue. We must NOT let the media or winds of popularity make our decisions for us. We must not allow spending to go on unhindered. We must not isolate ourselves with military action based on questionable or outright wrong information. We must not meddle in the affairs of other countries. We must defend ourselves and restore fiscal sanity to our nation.

And Now for Something Completely Different

2011-02-05T12:17:00.004-06:00

On my birthday I decided I wanted to go to Aladdin's Eatery for dinner. We usually stick to a rut when it comes to eating out. Pizza, Subway, and the occasional steakhouse trip are our staples, but since I've been eating healthier and closer to a vegetarian diet, I wanted to try something new.

It was a nice little sit-down restaurant in a strip-mall setting. I had studied the menu online, so I had a great idea of what I wanted before we got there. Unfortunately I hadn't thought to share the link with the rest of my family, so 9 other people were staring at the 23 page, picture-less menu with glazed-over eyes.

Our server was helpful and everyone eventually came to a decision. I loved my meal. I got a sampler appetizer and another sampler dinner. The appetizer was all vegetarian; Hummus(white creamy stuff at top), Falafel(brown balls), Tabouli(green and red stuff), Baba(white creamy stuff at the bottom), and Dawali(rolled grape leaves in center).

My dinner was a combo of some of their popular items: Chicken Tawook (left), Beef Kafta(right), and shish-kabob(center).

Since it was my birthday, we had desert waiting at home, so we didn't try Baklava or any of the amazing cakes! I can't wait to go back. It was great stuff, and fun to go somewhere totally new!

Struggles

2010-07-20T18:40:00.002-05:00

Right now I am of the opinion that life is one continuous series of struggle, disappointment and pain, punctuated by only brief moments of happiness.

I want to be more positive. I want to have a better outlook, but I can't seem to get it together. Why is that? Why is it that some folks are positive, upbeat, motivated and successful and I can't seem to manage that?

My circumstances right now are pretty bad. The worst ever. I'm 40 years old! Shouldn't things be improving? Instead they seem to just get worse. I'm filled with regret and I'm miserable about my failings as a husband and father and I can't shake them. I've been to confession, I've apologized, and yet every turn rubs a little salt in my wounds.

Things are dark. Bankrupt, losing the house, all on a salary that might generate envy in some, but it's not half of a two-income family. It's everything for a large, traditional single income family, and its not enough.

Nobody taught me about finances, I had to find out myself, and now I'm in a pickle such that I can't apply what I have learned. Everything costs, and costs more and more. Surprise, you need dental work. Suffer immeasurable pain, of cough up the cash. Surprise, your vehicle broke a vital part and is not safe to drive. Cough up the cash or risk serious injury or death. What cash? The budget is 100% spent with no room for savings.

Then there's the hand I've been dealt. If you feel this is "victim mentality," oh well, I guess it is. I'm a victim of timing, of dysfunctional families, governments run amok.

And my own sinfulness. That adds tremendously to my burden. I have been and continue to be a fool, a wretch, a worm, an evil gossip, a lusting covetous, idol worshipping dog.

Why did I waste my school years? Why do I mistreat my family? Why did I not get to grow up on the family farm? why am I sick? Why didn't we communicate better before we made a deal to move here? Why why why...

To quote Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket, "I am in a world of SHIT!"

I know that Jesus loves me. I know that my emotions play no part in my salvation, but life is so HARD, and it's HARDer when you don't feel like there's hope. Hope for now, hope for tomorrow. I know of the hope of eternity, but I am getting tired of slogging it out through this mire.

(I'm not contemplating hurting myself.)

So I'm in pain and sad, feeling like a cheated failure. I thought I'd write about it. Hopefully it makes you feel good about your current circumstances.

Are you there?

2010-07-09T19:15:00.004-05:00

Does anyone read blogs anymore?

That's a real question. Are there any readers left here? I'm sure the more successful blogs with more "important" writers still have readers, but for mere mortals like me, is anyone left?

I'm wondering.

I remember in the early days of the internet we used to use Newsgroups to discuss things of interest to a group. Then email distribution lists took off like gangbusters and lasted quite a while. They were efficient and convenient. No need to check your email AND a news reader. It was all in your mailbox. Good group conversations took place. It was, IMO, the heyday of Internet communication. There was enough context and continuity that it still seemed personal.

Then the rise of the blog came about and participation in email discussion lists died down (at least in my experience). It was a shame. We went from a virtual collection of people having a discussion to a bunch of people pontificating. I likened it to shouting into a pillow. How would you know anyone was reading? Yeah, readers could leave comments, but we were no longer in a public, communal space. We were now in your house, and to argue with you in your house is kind of rude. What did we do? We all got our own blogs. That made it feel like a bunch of people who used to face inward as a group and "talk" together were suddenly a group of people facing outward and all talking out into the ether, the sound dying as it left their lips. How did you know if one of your friends had a blog? You didn't, unless someone told you about it or you stumbled upon it in someone else's compilation of links. Also, we were back to checking multiple locations for conversation or news. No longer could I go to my email and catch up with everyone or a topic. But instead of progress, we regressed. Now you had to do email, and go to each of your blogs individually! Wow. What a headache.

Along comes "social media" to save us from the hassle of checking multiple blogs. Now all your "friends" can be found in one place. The downside is that now, instead of plenty of room to thoroughly express your ideas, you only have 140 characters or so. I guess this is the logical result of Sesame Street style "sound-byte" media consuming generations. At first blush it was a terrific thing. Here was a place you could go and search for people by name. It was great to find old friends and schoolmates. Great stuff. Then, once the first exchange is complete, the one where you catch up via message with these old friends, you are back to essentially being estranged again. Sure, you will know that Joe is at the lake. Joe is eating pie. but the geniuine exchange of communication ends. OH! Don't forget the Mafiaville and Farm Wars requests and updates. Yeah, there's heartfelt communication for ya.

And that doesn't even begin to consider the privacy concerns associated with social media.

So lately I have seriously considered deleting my social media accounts and returning to my blog. My social media friends and I don't use it to plan get-togethers (with the occaisional poker game invite being the exception). We don't send anything that's too deep or thought provoking to each other.

Is that rude? I wish it were different. I wish I could personally visit all my friends, that we really and truly were good friends instead of "people who know each other...or at least know who the other is." Some of us are, but the majority of my list is just people who know who I am, or worse, they know someone I am "friends" with, and so they are my "friend" solely based on that (how nuts is that?).

So...I was just wondering. Anybody still here reading? Getting notified that I wrote something new? Something rotten and whiny and self centered and...

lol.

Wacky Survivalist: Cheap Bastard Laundry Detergent

2009-10-09T17:41:00.006-05:00

What you need:
2 gallons of warm water, 10 cups in a pot, the rest in a bucket.
Fels Naptha Laundry Bar Soap
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
20 Mule Team Borax

Take a large stockpot and bring 10 cups of water to a gentle boil.
While that's working up a boil, finely grate half a bar of Fels-Naptha.

Into your gently boiling water mix in the Fels-naptha and melt it into the water while stirring.

After the fels-naptha has melted into the water stir in 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of arm and hammer washing soda stirring until all has dissolved.

Let water cool down for a few minutes and then pour into 2 gallon bucket and dilute with warm water.

It should gel up a bit. If it doesn't, you can still use it. It may also end up looking more like egg drop soup. If this happens you can still use it or if it gels up too much in clumps place bucket in to hot water (make sure not to let the water get into the bucket) and let warm back up and stir thoroughly.

To use: put 1/4 cup into washer and wash clothes as normal. You can add essential oils to perfume laundry soap.

The Fels-Naptha is $1.30/bar. 20 Mule Team Borax is two bucks and change at the local discount drug store. The washing soda I had to order on the internet. It was a little less than $5 for the box. I don't know how many cups of the powdered material are in each box, but it seems to me you get a LOT of soap for your money doing it yourself.

Important Cash for Clunkers news

2009-08-10T06:34:00.000-05:00

Worthy of Support

2009-08-05T09:43:00.001-05:00

Watch this great video

Then send a couple bucks

It's a good thing.

Justice and Mercy

2009-07-09T06:16:00.002-05:00

This one has been done before, hasn't it?

Consider this modern proverb: Patience is an attribute I loathe in the driver ahead of me, but cherish in the driver behind me.

I demand Justice! Well, to be clear, I demand justice for YOU! Cold, calculated justice because YOU need to learn a lesson!

Me? I desire mercy for myself. I assure you that I have learned my lesson. Never mind that a very short span of time from now, like a dog returning to his vomit, I will return to my sin.

I want to judge you. I want to measure you. I want to keep score. I want to point out your flaws and shortcomings. I want to list all the wrongs you have done. Oh yeah, I want to keep that list, too.

But me? Hey, I said I'm sorry. Let's move on.

You said you were sorry too, but I need to see that you mean it. I need you to prove it. But you can take me at my word. I deserve mercy.

You say "Be merciful, just as your Father in Heaven is merciful." I'm not God! I'm not a perfect man! I can't.

You say "forgive them 70 times 7 times when they say they are sorry." Well I assure you, this is the 71st times 7 and I've tried but there are limits.

You say "remove the log from my own eye before I worry about the spec in others' eyes." Come on. There's nothing wrong with my sight.

My heart is covered with the black mold-spores of sin. Everything is upside down and inside out. What I should apply to myself, I apply to you, and what I should give you, I want for myself. I should curb my own tongue, but instead, I want to cut yours out. I am not a perfect man, but I demand perfection from you. I should mortify myself with discipline and self control, but I really want to flog you for every misstep. I should speak firmly and honestly about my own wrongs and gently with humility about others, but I'm all meek about myself and shout with disgust about you.

And I LOVE it.

This is me. This is all of us.

Oh Lord, if You kept records of wrongs, as we do, who could stand? What is man that you are mindful of him?

Why, when Your commands are clear, when we smash them to bits every moment, when we try to push You off Your rightful throne and declare ourselves gods, why since we deserve swift and terrible punishment, do you not destroy us all?

Why, dear Jesus, did you come here? Why did You touch our shit-stained, stinking, filthy humanity and dirty yourself? WHY DID YOU TAKE MY PLACE? WHY DID YOU SUFFER WHAT I CAN'T EVEN COMPREHEND?

Why, Holy Spirit, do you come to me? Why do you continue to work so hard when at every turn I try to undo it?

Thank You, Dear God, that You do. Thank you for Your mercy to me. Please, make me merciful.

Platitudes and Reality

2009-07-05T17:08:00.002-05:00

Recently sin, judging others, and dishonesty about our condition have gotten me down. Writing is theraputic, so I wrote. Now I post it. So sorry for you. If you decide to continue, you're not going to read something happy. Just so you know.

We talk about “missions” or outreach to the less fortunate, or preaching the Gospel to all nations. When was the last time a smelly, mentally unstable stranger wandered in to your church and sat down? Did you sit with them? Anybody help them find their way through the hymnal (if they could read)? When was the last time you made one of these a member of your congregation? It’s comfortable to sit in a suburban church somewhere and get high on this or that “mission” activity. Have you ever gotten the stink on you?

No, not everyone is called to go face to face with the dregs of society, and I don’t think everyone should. It just seems to me that you ought to leave alone the folks who do, as long as they are preaching the Law and the Gospel divided, and administering the Sacraments rightly.

We talk about “sin” from a distance. We all say “of course I am simultaneously saint and sinner.” it works as convenient lip service. It lets us admit a technicality. When was the last time you went face to face with the evil blackness of the heart of man? When did you realize “That is me. That is all of us.” I’m not talking about speeding or taking a pen from the office. I’m talking about bloody murder of people through anger, whoring our bodies through adultery, worshipping the god of our flesh and it’s filthy desires. Do you yell at your family? Do you call your brother a fool? In the sight of God you have murdered them. Blood is on your hands. Do you look with longing at attractive people. Do you maybe even look at porn in what you think is the private moments of your days? God sees your filthy harem and the disgusting acts you do with them. In these moments you have turned your back on God. You have said to Him and to yourself “I am the master of my destiny! I AM god!! I will do what I desire, regardless of what I know, what God has told me, what His commandments say.”

That is me. That is all of us. Sin, evil, rot, filth, murder, adultery. Every inclination of man’s heart is evil, true evil. We are not sin, but we are rotted through with the decay of it. Cancer takes the body and feeds on it. It causes pain and rot as it grows and it steals our loved ones away with suffering and death. This is sin. This is mine. This is all of ours.

Have you seen sin? This real sin? It is in me. It is in all of us. Have you ever needed to steel yourself to the idea that you may have to kill a person because of sin? That there may be a time when you find a madman in your midst, bent on death and destruction? Do you ever imagine that you may be the only thing between this madness and destruction of life? Many people could never imagine it. Columbine happened. Elsewhere thugs shout praises to their devil-god as they cut the heads off Nick Berg and Daniel Perl, their helpless kidnapped victims in a bloody sacrament. These things happen. This madness is present. Have you realized that you are not beyond the grasp of that same madness? It is in me. It is in all of us.

We are sick, all of us. We need to repent. We need to face the stench of our lives and our lusts and confess that they are evil. We need to stop hiding in a crowd, and face facts. We need to go individually to our pastor, our father-confessor and admit that we are dirty, rotten, drunken, murdering, sexually deviant, thieving madmen.

Think about that. Don’t think about it too long. It will drive you crazy. But don’t ignore it either. Regard your condition honestly. Maybe the realization of who we really are, and what God has done for us would spark renewed fear of God, and reverence and honor in our worship services. Maybe it would stop us from judging those who cross themselves, bow, genuflect, kneel or prostrate themselves as some kind of romanizing pietistic wierdos. Maybe it would help us get the log out of our eye and not worry so much about the spec in our brothers' eye. Maybe it would deepen our appreciation for the holy innocent bitter suffering and death of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and the forgiveness that is ours through that suffering and death. Jesus didn’t die because we merely make mistakes. He died because we are corrupt and evil. Thank God that He did.

I'm a Pro

2009-06-18T06:58:00.002-05:00

A certified Pro that is. Specifically, a "Microsoft Certified Professional." It's sort of an interim title to use while pursuing higher levels of certification, and it means I've taken and passed a test in one of the server tracks, but not yet enough tests to be called a Systems Administrator or Engineer, etc.

These are kind of legacy certs for the server 2003 environment. MS is in the process of moving things to "Certified IT Professional:" with various specializations.

I passed 70-290, Managing and Maintaining a Server 2003 Environment on Tuesday with a score of 868. 700 is required to pass, 1000 is perfect.

American Capitalism Gone with a Whimper

2009-05-30T07:46:00.002-05:00

I found this interesting.

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

Back....Back...Back...

2009-05-04T09:58:00.000-05:00

It's outta the park!

My score, that is. I got a score of 914 on my exam this morning, making me a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist.

Tee Hee!

Neglect

2009-04-25T18:45:00.004-05:00

I have been neglecting my blog. Sorry about that. Here's a run-down of what I have been doing to keep myself busy and away from here.

If you didn't know, I'm enrolled in a Microsoft Academy. Two night a week , for four hours each night, I'm attending classes that will lead me to Microsoft Certification. When It's all said and done, I should have a few certs, including Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist; Vista Client, Microsoft Certified Professional, and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator. This will finally validate my skillz with an objective industry standard. I had been hoping for my employer to send me for certification, but none of them have ever seen the need, so I'm doing it myself. It's kind of expensive to do it this way, but I thrive in the classroom environment. My first test (MCTS:Vista) is May 4th.

I'm supposed to spend 12 hours a week outside of class time studying and doing lab exercises and practice tests. There's a lot of info, obviously, and it's keeping me quite busy. I also have to write technical articles for a class blog, homeowrk assignments on line, and read and read and read. One book is 737 pages, the other is 420 pages. Lots of dry technical stuff. Good stuff, but dry.

On class days I'm out of the house for 15 hours, from 7AM to 10PM or so. I come home for lunch and dinner, but the rest of the time, I'm gone, so those are long, lonly days. The other days of the week are usually days that my lovely bride is working at her job, so we don't get to see each other very much these days. One day a week is about it. That's stinky, but it's not forever.

I'll graduate the program on August 20th, after six months of this routine. Once that is done, I'll be pouring more energy into my IT services business, Schreibnet Technology LLC.

I've also recently signed up on Facebook. I admit I kind of like it because it allows me to post brief updates and have small "conversations" with friends.

So that's what I'm up to. Thanks for reading.

Back to the books!

Post-Easter Let-Down

2009-04-14T06:46:00.005-05:00

In the days after Easter, we find ourselves kind of depressed. After all, we've just come off three to five closely spaced services in God's house, hearing of His love for us in the Blessed Sacrament, death for our sins, and resurrection for our justification of Jesus Christ, His only Son. We have had a "foretaste of the Feast to come!" The services were all deeply moving. After all that, how can I return to a boring life and work?

I am particularly guilty of this, and so I write to myself here and hope that it might be of some help others.

In Church
First off, those subsequent church services are going to seem a little thin compared to all the splendor of Easter morning. That is why the Octave of Easter is often called "Low Sunday" (tho I prefer Quasi Modo Geniti, the name from the Introit). It is important to remember that our Holy Mother, the Church, is the Queen of Heaven. To borrow from other sources, it matters not how we men dress her, or how many of us are there with her, she is still the Queen, and it is good for us to remember that fact. Also, as we say in the liturgy, we are gathered with "angels and archangels, and all the company of Heaven." So while the folks you can see may have dwindled in number, the majority of the participants remain. The ceremony and substance, reverence, dignity, and good order of the Mass has not changed.

Now, when I speak of our Holy Mother Church, I don't mean a building. I mean the pure and spotless Bride of Christ. The "one holy catholic and apostolic Church" we confess in the Creed.

At Home
Secondly, it was nice to have all those services and all that singing, the Word of God spoken to us every day for nearly a week. Why should it stop? We have hymnals and prayer books brimming over with orders for the daily Office, from Matins to Compline, you could stop five or more times a day to pray the hours, if you had the time. Also included in the hymnals and prayer books is a lectionary with daily readings from the Scriptures, and at least a partial psalter for praying the psalms. These can both be inserted into your praying the Hours. And, as if that weren't enough, there are many very fine devotional books available expounding upon portions of Scripture. Lastly, there are resources on the Internet for devotional use. Concordia Catechetical Academy is a source of a couple of excellent resources. There is no shortage of material available to enrich the daily devotional life of our families.

Of course, we probably can't set aside five times each day when we can pray the Hours of the daily Prayer Office. That's OK. We didn't go to church 5 times a day during Holy Week either. One time, the same time, every day, in the evening is great. Find a time when the whole family can assemble together to pray and hear God's Word together. I like for my family to pray Compline together just before bed. Vespers right after dinner is also a good option. This way you have daily opportunity to sing hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs together, and to pray together, and hear God's Word. Jesus said "Wherever two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am, in the midst of them." Take Him at His word!

The head of the Household should lead these devotions, as that person has been given the authority and responsibility in the home for such things. That same head of household should be in contact with the family's pastor to get answers to questions that arise.

At Work
Lastly, no, we can't do it five times a day because we have jobs, chores, and other responsibilities. We have vocations to fulfill. God has given us these vocations and they are a holy calling. In our vocations, God serves our neighbor with His love. He uses us as a mask. For example, it is God who has created science and medicine, and it is God who gives us doctors to understand and implement that science and medicine as it pertains to the human body. The doctors then use the science and medicine to make our lives better, as they heal our illness, ease our pain, mend our broken bones, etc. The doctors, knowingly or not, are serving us with the love of God in administering the gifts God has given us.

So we should not be depressed about returning to the "boring" jobs we have, because through our jobs we are serving others in the place that God has put us for just such service. That goes for changing dirty diapers just as much as it goes for the world's premier brain surgeon. It goes for preparing supper as well as the proverbial rocket scientist.

Keeping these things in mind will keep our Lord in our mind, and it might even help us have a new appreciation for our families, jobs, and parish families, and all the gifts that God our Father showers upon us, most especially the forgiveness of all our sins for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Holy Week Services

2009-04-07T09:08:00.003-05:00

Just a little commercial. If you are within driving distance this Holy Week and don't have plans, we invite you to visit our church. Here is our schedule for this week:

4/9 - Holy Thursday commemoration of the Last Supper. First Communion for several youths. Service concludes with the stripping of the altar while Psalm 22 is chanted.
Service begins at 7:00PM.

4/10 - Good Friday Tenebre commemoration of the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Concludes with readings, prayers, and solemn hymns as the sanctuary descends into darkness.
Service begins at 7:30PM.

4/11 - Holy Saturday Vigil of Easter. This ancient service is a time between darkness and light, a time to remember our baptism, partake of the Lord's Body and Blood, and remember God's salvific mercy to his people. The darkness can not overcome the Light of Christ! Candle-light procession with the Paschal candle leading the way into the sanctuary, reminiscent of the ancient church's vigil in the catacombs of the tombs.
Service will begin approximately 8:00PM in the school hallway near the gym.

4/12 - Easter Sunday celebration of the Resurrection of Christ! Holy Communion service with exuberant hymns. The Children's choir will also sing.
Service begins at 10:30.

Park behind the school. Enter through the school doors in the parking lot (east end of the building). If arriving late, we close and lock those doors, but you can still enter the sanctuary doors on the west end of the building.

Concealed Handgun License holders welcomed and encouraged to practice their rights.

We are here:

Christ Lutheran Church
3271 W 43rd St
Cleveland, OH

Constitution Party Issues MO Travel Advisory

2009-03-26T05:41:00.001-05:00

P.O. Box 1782
Lancaster, PA 17608
contactus@constitutionparty.org

Constitution Party Issues Missouri Travel Advisory

Lancaster, PA (March 25, 2009) The Constitution Party has issued a warning to Americans traveling within the state of Missouri that they might be considered a threat by law enforcement if they display certain bumper stickers on their cars. A recent report issued through the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) titled "The Modern Militia Movement" was released with the approval of Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and the Missouri State Police. It labels Americans with a variety of political beliefs as potential "militia members", "domestic terrorists" and "radicals".

The Constitution Party decries this report as political profiling and strongly suggests those considering a trip to the Show Me state be aware of the possibility they could be pulled over by a Missouri State Police officer simply for displaying a politically oriented sticker on their vehicles.

In the MIAC report, those who support 3rd party candidates like Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin and Libertarian Bob Barr as well as Congressman Ron Paul were labeled "dangerous" and a "threat" to law enforcement.

The Constitution Party’s Chuck Baldwin voiced outrage saying: "This is a classic case of broad-brushed police profiling. Can you imagine the fallout of this preposterous report had the names Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Maxine Waters been used instead of the names Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr?"

According to the MIAC report labeled "law enforcement sensitive" those considered a threat include citizens against:

* Gun control
* Illegal immigration
* Abortion
* The United Nations
* The North American Union
* The Federal Reserve
* The IRS
* Unconstitutional Mandatory Universal Service Programs

Baldwin went on to say: "...At least 75% of the American people would oppose at least one or more of these... According to the MIAC report that is sufficient to make them potential dangerous "militia members."

In response to the MIAC report, the three candidates wrote a letter to Missouri governor Jay Nixon demanding retraction of defamatory and inaccurate characterizations.

The state issued an "apology" to the three men but made no mention of clearing up the myriad other inaccuracies found in the report. The soft "apology" actually blamed those who were profiled saying they "misinterpreted" the report!

In addition to issuing the Travel Advisory, the Constitution Party is encouraging all liberty-minded Americans to contact Missouri governor Jay Nixon to tell him to remove all MIAC report references which cast political opinion in a negative light.

Governor J. Nixon may be contacted at:

P.O. Box 749
Jefferson, MO 65102
Tel: 573-751-4905
Fax: 573-751-5399

###

Important Technical Info

2009-03-25T14:57:00.000-05:00

Please see this blog post.

You are a Terrorist!

2009-03-18T06:53:00.004-05:00

P.O. Box 1782
Lancaster, PA 17608
contactus@constitutionparty.com

Secret Report Targets Americans

Police Told Which Political Beliefs to Consider “Dangerous”

Lancaster, PA: A secret police report targets millions of Americans as potential “domestic terrorists” if they support the Constitution, oppose unlawful taxation, supported 2008 presidential candidates Republican Ron Paul, Libertarian Bob Barr or Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin (Seen here on Lou Dobbs program ), or if they are opposed to abortion, are against unconstitutional gun control, if they display pro-Constitution bumper stickers or own copies of certain books and documentaries.

The report is part of an ongoing attempt by a number of organizations (http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/intrep.jsp) and movements to characterize law-abiding citizens as “white supremacists”, members of “hate groups” or, more recently as “terrorists”.

The report was generated by the Missouri Information Analysis Center

The Center is described as “the mechanism to collect incident reports of suspicious activities to be evaluated and analyzed in an effort to identify potential trends or patterns of terrorist or criminal operations within the state of Missouri. MIAC will also function as a vehicle for two-way communication between federal, state and local law enforcement community within our region.”

The secret report, distributed to Missouri law enforcement, lists as dangerous legitimate organizations including those who follow a Constitutionally-based ideology in regard to states’ rights, firearm ownership, free speech and sanctity of life.

The Constitution Party , the fastest- growing third party, subscribes to the Constitutionally- based, limited role of the federal government and calls on members of all political ideologies to voice strong opposition to smear campaigns that demonize Americans because of their political beliefs.

The Constitution Party made numerous calls to MIAC and was told an “officer” would respond to questions regarding this report.

No one at MIAC returned our calls.

The MIAC report states “rightwing” militia movements “continuously exploit world events in order to increase participation in their movements. Due to the current economical and political situation, a lush environment for militia activity has been created.”

The terms “constitutionalist” and “white supremacist” are often used interchangeably.

Page 7 of the report warns law enforcement that “militia members most commonly associate with 3^rd party political groups. It is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitutional [sic] Party, Campaign for Liberty or Libertarian material. These members are usually supporters of former presidential candidate:[sic] Ron Paul Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr.”

Issues of concern to those listed by MIAC as reason for law enforcement to label them “terrorists” include: Opposition to illegal immigration, implementation of RFID (radio frequency identification) and the planned merger of the US, Canada and Mexico (North American Union). The so-called “militia movement” contains people who own copies of the late Aaron Russo’s anti-tax documentary America: Freedom to Fascism.

Members of a so-called “patriot movement” are described as being “dangerous” to police in a section of the report titled “You Are the Enemy” which states:

“The militia subscribes to an anti-government and NWO mindset, which creates a threat to law enforcement officers. They view the military, National Guard, and law enforcement as a force that will confiscate their firearms and place them in FEMA concentration camps.”

The MIAC report distributed to Missouri law enforcement is a more virulent version of a similar report compiled by the FBI in Phoenix, AZ during the Clinton administration (see page one and page two of the document). The Phoenix FBI document calls “defenders” of the Constitution “right-wing extremists.”

Constitution Party 2008 presidential and vice presidential candidates Chuck Baldwin and Darrell Castle, along with CP National Chairman Jim Clymer, are available to discuss this disturbing report and the severe limitations it seeks to impose on free speech.

Inquiries regarding this secret report may be made to: MIAC at 866 362 6422.

To see where citizens are encouraged to submit a report that someone could be a “terrorist” click HERE.

###

Take Action Now!

1. Call the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and say you will not be visiting Missouri out of concern of being PROFILED.

(314) 231-5555

2. Call the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission and tell them you won't visit Missouri because of "political profiling". (800) 325-7962

3. Call the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) and tell them their smear campaign is not acceptable.(866) 362-6422 and (573)-526-6115

Congressman Urges Citizens to Kill Themselves

2009-03-18T06:36:00.002-05:00

How awesome is that.

He admitted it was over the top. Well....duh.

What is the honorable thing for HIM to do now?
Resign. Period. A person with such authority saying such a thing, even in a moment of rage, is unacceptable.

I think every American should be writing letters to Grassley urging him to resign, whether you live in Iowa or not. Then I think they should all write to their own reps urging them to urge Grassley to resign.

By the way, Grassley is a Republican.

While you're in the letter writing mode, write to all your reps again telling them that a law specifically for the purpose of imposing taxes on the AIG bonuses is moronic. Tell them that if they want to regain the money THEY squandered on bail-outs, to take it out of their own checks!

Misdirection

2009-03-17T06:19:00.003-05:00

It's all a sham. You've been duped.

Money was taken from you at gunpoint. You've paid your taxes like a good subject of your rulers. That money was then given away, no strings attached, no conditions. It was given to a business that has demonstrated obvious poor practices. Well, the bad practice was rewarded with a huge check from you, the taxpayer. Now the company is continuing what it always did; not making the best decisions.

But here is where things get sinister.

People's anger is being whipped up, but the anger is misdirected, and it is not an honest mistake. The loudest outcry against what the company is doing with the money comes from the group that took it from you by force and gave it away. And they are telling you to be angry with the company. They are telling you to be furious with the retarded child, when it is they who should be the object of your rage.

The plan is to get "the public" riled up enough to where they all cry out "There ought to be a law!" The ring masters of this circus want their subjects to cry to the government to right the wrong, to step in and take control so that things will be fair once again.

Don't buy it.

The anger rightly lies with those who forced you to give money to this company. If you wanted to invest in a failing, stupid business, you could have done it on your own. Instead of letting things run their course, with a stronger, better business emerging from whatever business meltdown occurred, the public is left with a bad business.

And perhaps the ultimate irony?

We have rewarded dismal performance, and now we're supposed to be angry about the continued poor performance and bad decisions? Noooo.... We should be angry at the people trying to fool us. They are treating US like we're stupid morons.

Wall Street Journal: Is Ayn Rand Relevant?

2009-03-16T13:20:00.001-05:00

This is a nice short read.

AIG

2009-03-16T12:13:00.002-05:00

It's too late. They have your money. They are not the bad guys. Not in this case, anyway. The bad guys are the absolute imbeciles that GAVE them YOUR money. It's too late to talk about bonuses, or how they use the money. It was given to them. They used it.

You should be really really angry at the people who gave the money away.

Sovereign Ohio IS COMING

2009-03-16T10:40:00.003-05:00

The bill has not been assigned to a committee yet, but it has been introduced to the State House of Representatives! According to this source, it was introduced by Rep. Jarrod Martin (R-Beavercreek) and Rep. Kris Jordan (R-Delaware County and Assistant Minority Whip), and the text is based on the Oklahoma Sovereignty Resolution that is currently doing well in OK.

Once it gets picked up and assigned a number, be prepared to get behind it full force, we'll have to write and call our State Reps to urge support. Excellent news for OHIOANS!

Pictures!

2009-03-16T07:04:00.002-05:00

You should go to Emily's photography blog.

Then you should schedule your session. :-)

BREAKING: Economy News

2009-03-16T06:20:00.002-05:00

A Fox News correspondent this morning said "The White House is counting on consumers to go out and spend, and resist the urge to save."

DON'T YOU DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is the positively worst advice I've ever heard.

Save your money. Don't make yourself one of the families in the country that is one paycheck away from bankruptcy. That is how they keep you enslaved.

Sovereign Ohio

2009-03-13T08:09:00.001-05:00

The Tenth Amendment provides that "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Go.
Sign.

Tea Party: New Website

2009-03-13T06:58:00.001-05:00

The folks behind the Cleveland Tea Party have a new, non-facebook web page, so if you don't have facebook go here.

Question of the Day

2009-03-11T09:46:00.001-05:00

Why don't we use Diesel engines powering electric motors in our cars?

Tea Party: What's Next?

2009-03-10T06:48:00.001-05:00

The next round of Tea Parties is being planned for Tax Day (4/15) and then Independence Day (7/4).

Round 2 of the Nationwide "Chicago Tea Party" is set to happen on April 15th, 2009... TAX DAY!

Our Theme: Repeal the Pork, Cut Taxes

We'll be working with different groups in a collaborative effort to make this one even larger than the last.

SUPPORT FORUMS:
http://taxdayteaparty.com/forum/

Watch for updates!
http://taxdayteaparty.com/

PRIMARY SPONSORS:
SGP -
http://smartgirlpolitics.ning.com

TCOT -
http://topconservativesontwitter.com

DontGo Movement -
http://dontgomovement.com

Michelle Malkin -
http://www.michellemalkin.com/

Dana Loesch -
http://www.danaradio.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Please Note***
This is only the beginning! We have already started working on the July 4th Tea Party events across the country!

Our theme will be "Repeal the Pork, Learn the Constitution!"

www.IndependenceDayTeaParty.com

And don't forget to snag a "Revolution 2010" "Tea-Shirt" to wear to the events. Speak your mind on your shirt.
http://www.cafepress.com/blurtshirts/6412413

Reading

2009-03-04T13:03:00.002-06:00

I'm currently reading Atlas Shrugged. I've finished the first part. It's pretty good, though I am having a little difficulty deciphering some of the characters and the points that the author might be trying to make.

For example one hero, Hank Rearden, sees physical desire for his wife as a terrible vice. Did Rand think that such desire was a bad thing? If so, then why does there seem to be some elevation of the physical relationship between Hank and Dagny ?

The social and political aspects of the story are very interesting. They seem alarmingly similar to today's conditions. The hard-working folks are expected to carry the lazy and incompetent. It's almost like reading prophecy.

Have you read it? What do you think? Don't spoil it for me though! :-)

Attention Party Faithful

2009-03-03T08:11:00.002-06:00

GOP faithful and Bush-backers, I ask you this:

Is this good?

What about RNC Chairman Michael Steele's support for taking your guns?

Is the GOP dead? Can you admit it?

Cleveland Tea Party

2009-02-27T13:03:00.003-06:00

So Emily and I went to the Cleveland Tea Party today to protest the actions of our deranged Congress. Honestly I expected to find only a couple people. Why? Because "conservatives" aren't jobless hippy wanderers. They work and raise their kids, and often can't get away for this kind of thing. That's a problem, but I can't really blame ya if you fall in that generalization.

I was pleasantly surprised to walk up to a group of about 60. Most had signs, some very clever.

The organizer spoke briefly as well as a woman from the Heritage Foundation. Then we walked around the square a bit saying "Repeal or retire." A very few people yelled "OBAMA" at us. That was funny. It was generally peaceful and uneventful. A lot of cars honked and gave us thumbs up. Here are some pics.

I love this lady's sign:

This woman did the math last night and brought her giant check of what this is going to cost the avg family of 4.

Some Icons

2009-02-27T10:05:00.001-06:00

What am I doing for lunch?

And ... lol.

Great Website

2009-02-25T08:28:00.000-06:00

Totlol. Kid friendly, fun, great.

Tyrants and Criminals

2009-02-25T06:33:00.003-06:00

That's who will be left with power over you. That is the goal of HR45.

IN GENERAL- It shall be unlawful for any person other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to possess a qualifying firearm on or after the applicable date, unless that person has been issued a firearm license--

(c) Purposes- The purposes of this Act and the amendments made by this Act are--

(1) to protect the public against the unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with the unrecorded sale or transfer of qualifying firearms to criminals and youth;

Gee. Criminals will abide by this new law? That's nice of them. Why are politicians so stupid? My 6 year old understands that criminals don't abide by laws. Why doesn't Congress?

This is another step on the road to tyranny. Folks, if something isn't done soon, the task will become ever more difficult. The longer we wait, the harder the job we and our children will have to do. Attend a Tea Party on Friday. Contact your elected representatives now. Get involved now. Join the NRA/GOA now. Now it is easy.

(thanks Polly for the head's up)

Haven't Seen Much About This

2009-02-24T17:06:00.001-06:00

Saw it breaking on CNN the other day when my girl and me went out to eat. Didn't see it on any of the blogs I read tho...unless I missed it.

Did you miss it?
Story

Cleveland Tea Party

2009-02-24T16:26:00.001-06:00

Location: 1 Public Square (Just opposite Tower City)
Date: Friday, February 27th
Time: 12pm-1pm
More info:phil (dot) ammar (at) gmail (dot) com

Blog

Want Change?

2009-02-24T08:48:00.003-06:00

Yeah, it's over used. Sorry

But hey! There is an event that will allow you to let your voice be heard.

This Friday, February 27th, there is going to be another Tea Party! (Well...maybe not exactly. I doubt there will be destruction of property...)

Michell Malkin has a few bits about it on her blog. It started as a "Chicago Tea Party" but the idea has taken flight and there are plans for tea parties all over the country.

I'm interested to see how it pans out. Will there be a roar or a whimper? What do you think? Are you going to attend?

New Duds

2009-02-22T19:15:00.002-06:00

Check me out in my sweet new Blurt-shirt.

A video from a good guy

2009-02-22T16:36:00.000-06:00

Some Days are Like That

2009-02-15T19:40:00.003-06:00

Missed church today. Had to go in to work for a GSAP update. Very important to our very large global customer. I had to write three programs to run against our SQL database to upgrade units of measure, loads, and receiving data for the couple-thousand SKU's we handle for them (we are a logistics company).

So it wasn't a surprise. All management of our small company were asked to show up at 10:00AM. The vendor of our warehouse management system, a company in Israel, was working on the system while we slept (they are seven hours ahead) to put in their part of the upgrade.

Not wanting everyone to be waiting for me, I went in at 8:30 to make sure my ducks were in a row. I made my backups of the tables I would be changing, then I parsed my code for errors, then I ran them, one by one. They all worked well. Found one error that affected 19 SKU's, but it was a simple fix. Everything was in place.

Weeeellll...Things weren't going so well for our Israeli vendor. Even though we have a test environment, and even though we have been planning and testing this for months, something just wasn't going right in the live environment. We tried a lot of different things, but our wonderful partner in Israel only assigned one programmer to work with us today (Sunday is their Monday).

No matter what we tried, we couldn't get the darn thing to work, so after 11 hours, we had to unwind it all and go back to the way things were when we closed Friday.

It's not the hours that are disappointing (nearly 12!). It's not the overtime pay that I am exempt from. What bothers me the most is all the time spent and the net value being absolutely zero. Actually, it's a net negative. I missed church, missed the time my nuclear family spent with my parents and brother, missed my ritual Sunday nap...

All that time, in the drain. Sigh. Some days are like that I guess. At least the company bought my lunch (but it was far from free!).

This I like

2009-02-11T12:05:00.001-06:00

You Don't Mess With Watching The Zohan

2009-02-07T08:31:00.003-06:00

We like Adam Sandler. Sure he's vulgar, but he's usually funny and sometimes there is a touching story line behind all the silliness.

Not in "You Don't Mess With The Zohan."

Zohan is the name of the main character played by Adam Sandler. He is a phenomenal anti-terrorist soldier for the Israeli Defense Force. He has super speed and strength, and no foe can stand in his way.

Except "The Phantom," a Palestinian Arab terrorist nearly equal to Zohan in strength, speed, and endurance.

Zohan is tired of the fighting, so he finds his way to the United States to start a new life as a hairdresser. He becomes wildly popular even though the styles are all from the 80's due to an outdated book he treats as sacred writ. The reason for his popularity that spawns block-long lines outside the store is this: after he cuts the old ladies' hair, he takes them in the back of the shop and has violent sex with them. All his customers appear to be in their 50's or older. Do you remember Mrs. Garret from "The Facts of Life?" She was a customer...

One supposes that the underlying message of the movie is that the hatred between Palestinians and Israelis and continued fighting is dumb. There is Zohan fleeing the violence, "falling in love" with his Arab boss, the scenes of amicable, yet slightly tense relationships between the Israeli and Palestinian "side of the street."

But what plot device can finally and completely unite these two warring factions? They join together to present a united front in the face of the ultimate evil: A wealthy white business man and his white redneck crew. You see, the evil white man wants to demolish the properties of the immigrants so that he can build a new mall. He buys the buildings, then raises the rent to outrageous prices. When his targets overcome this threat he hires the band of rednecks (who happen to be doubly evil because they own guns!) to come to town and perform arson and other violence against the shops so that their owners and employees will think their age-old enemies did it, thus causing a war between them that will drive them out of business.

The evil whites are found out and the legendary Zohan and Phantom unite in a battle against them, in which they are, of course, victorious.

It all ends with peace and love, and the new mall gets built, but not by the rich white guy. No, the insurance company...and all the neighbors are united and Zohan has his hair salon and the Phantom is persuing his lifelong dream too. He always wanted to sell shoes.

There were hardly any funny parts. I think I laughed twice. It seemed like an hour and 45 minutes of sex or sexual inuendo, and 15 minutes of funny/moralistic/romantic moments cut into very thin pieces and sprinkled amongst the perversion.

Do not watch.

Backing Up

2009-02-04T10:45:00.001-06:00

Beep Beep Beep!

ha!

No, not that kind, the computer kind. Check out the Schreibnet Technology LLC blog for a few words about backing up (your data).

Something (kinda) new

2009-01-30T22:11:00.000-06:00

Check this out.

Mystery Revealed

2009-01-29T12:40:00.001-06:00

The Yellow "First-Down" line:

Link

Peter on Vocation

2009-01-29T06:46:00.003-06:00

Each one of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others. If you are a speaker, speak in words which seem to come from God; if you are a helper, help as though every action was done at God’s orders; so that in everything God may receive the glory, through Jesus Christ, since to him alone belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Taken from the Jerusalem Bible.

If you use rabbit ears...

2009-01-28T16:57:00.002-06:00

I'm about sick of this stupid Digital TV conversion thing.

#1, remind me where in the Constitution the Fed Gov't is granted the authority to tell us and the industry what kind of signals to use?

#2, I hate the phrase "any TV's you have hooked up to an antenna or rabbit ears will go dark" and all its variants. This is like "wasting your vote." ha... It's a flat out lie designed to sell you something. I know we're less than a month away from the day the conversion was supposed to take place. I just got pushed over the edge today.

You see, Digital TV signals come through the air in the same segment of radio frequency spectrum that UHF channels currently occupy. If your rabbit ears or antenna help with UHF channels now, they will help with digital.

It's not your antenna that's a problem, it's the tuner inside the tv. If your tuner can handle the digital signal, then you're good to go. If you have a box that takes the UHF digital signal, converts it to analog and transverts it to the old frequencies, you're good to go.

Here endeth the rant.

Sense!

2009-01-26T12:21:00.000-06:00

And by the way,

2009-01-20T07:49:00.002-06:00

Do you watch CBS? Have you seen promos for their shows lately? They all end with a still picture relating to the show they are advertising, done in the Obama propaganda poster theme like you see below.

Shame on you CBS. Looks like bias to me.

Bush finally does the right thing

2009-01-20T07:35:00.003-06:00

Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean have had their sentences commuted.

Took long enough.

Historical Day

2009-01-20T07:22:00.002-06:00

Well, whether you like it or not, it *is* an historical day. It's a day that Americans of all stripes can take pride in: The peaceful transfer of power from one ruling party to the next. That's a good thing.

Personally, I can't wait. I can't wait for the big nothing. What started out as "Hope and Change" has itself changed to "Patience." He may close gitmo, but I strongly suspect that not much else is going to be different.

I really hope and pray that the new Executive has a healthy and productive term. I won't hold my breath for that productivity though. We'll see.

So Called Conservative Presidential Candidates

2009-01-15T12:25:00.002-06:00

One old saw of the lock-step party faithful is that even if you think the candidate is a scumbag, you should vote for him because he may/will appoint "conservative" Supreme Court justices.

Ooops. Someone ought to tell Roberts he's supposed to be conservative...or even just uphold the Constitution.

Story.

From the Whoa Files

2009-01-12T09:43:00.000-06:00

Today's Healthy Dinner

2009-01-08T18:11:00.004-06:00

I made Tarragon Chicken topped with Goat Cheese. It was so yummy!

Heat the oven to 350. Take yer boneless, skinless chicken breast, trim that goo off it, then spritz with olive oil, sprinkle some salt, pepper, and tarragon on all sides. Heat an oven proof skillet to high heat with a little olive oil in the bottom.

When the pan is good and hot, drop the breasts in the pan. Sauté for a couple minutes on each side until they start to turn golden. Turn them pretty side up and put the whole thing, pan and all in the oven.

After a few minutes, sprinkle goat cheese on top and put `em back in for another 4 minutes or so. The cheese should start to get gooey.

Take it out and love it.

Now here's the funny thing. The kid that liked the Tofu Parmesan enough to continue eating the leftovers for lunch the last two days said this was "weird!" I can't believe it!

The tarragon gives the chicken a sweet kind of "pine forest" taste. It's hard to describe, but it's good. The goat cheese is tangy, so it balances (or overpowers, if you use too much) the tarragon with a sort of sour-creamy flavor. Good stuff.

per four ounce serving, there are 146 calories, 28g protein, and only a trace of carbs for you Atkins adherents.

Something Different

2009-01-08T07:06:00.003-06:00

So...like everyone else, we're trying to lose a little weight around here. Again. This time we have employed several new tools that don't require traveling to a gym and all the ramifications entailed with that. It also means we can work on health as a family.

#1 new tool is the Wii Fit. I previously blogged about this gem. I continue to be surprised at how tired I am after working out with my "trainer." You get a real workout, and the fun of a little family competition to see who can get the best score on the activities. Additionally, you can track your weight and BMI and set goals for yourself.

#2 and #3 new tools are DVD's. We've been watching NBC's "The Biggest Loser" a little bit lately, and we've enjoyed it. This reality show follows overweight people as they live for about 12 weeks on a ranch in southern California and learn how to change their lifestyles in order to be more healthy. The transformations are amazing, and even though it's a "game show" with a prize for the winner, the contestants usually aren't too much into the game. They are usually pretty convincing that the most important thing is to change their lives.

The whole time these folks are "at the ranch," they are guided by trainers Bob and Jillian. The DVD's we got feature Bob guiding you through a "weight loss yoga" routine and a "Boot Camp" DVD. Both involve progressively more difficult routines and a suggested time line. I have previewed them, but haven't actually done the workouts yet. They do look tough!

#4 new tool is the "Biggest Loser Family Cookbook." This looks good. We've tried two of the recipes this week (Monday was soup day). Tuesday I made Tofu Parmesan. Believe it or not, it was pretty good. Most of the family ate it, but there were a couple complaints. The texture was close to chicken, but a little off, so there was a little mental factor there, but I thought it was great. The other recipe was for Chuck Steaks, I think that's what it was called. Basically lean ground beef is mixed with cooked rice and parsley flakes and shaped into patties, then sauted. Once done, you take a very thinly sliced onion and saute that in a spritz of olive oil. When it's tender, add some balsamic vinegar and 100% grape juice and boil 11 until reduced a bit. Boy oh Boy! The meat was good, but the onions just pushed it over the edge to greatness. Very enjoyable.

So that's what we're up to. Hopefully we'll stick with it and actually see results. I've been going down slowly and steadily. As long as we continue to eat healthy and do some of the exercises daily, I think we can make progress!

A picture a day?

2009-01-08T07:03:00.003-06:00

If you like photography and/or images that are more than just a snapshot, check out "Project Pentad." It's a photo-blog effort with 5 contributors, each assigned a day of the week (M-F) on which they will post a photo.

I know one of the shutterbugs... ;-)

18 Years - Addendum

2009-01-05T05:43:00.001-06:00

First, read the original post.

Then, go see what our sweet daughter did for us.

18 Years

2009-01-04T20:09:00.003-06:00

Wow. I've been married for 18 years. My wife has been as well! It's hard to believe, but looking around at the kids and "stuff" that has accumulated, I guess that's about right.

Looking back over the years, I marvel at the growth of our relationship. It has been work at times, and there have been ups and downs. We began as many relationships do, friends at work. Then the attraction grew. Dating led to marriage and the passionate young love that comes with it.

Now that 18 years have passed together, the relationship is different. There were times when you would have wondered if it would have survived. By the grace of God and the faith of my wife, it has, and not only survived, but flourished. We have grown so close, so much into "one flesh," it is a marvelous thing to ponder. We seldom have cross words for each other. What would cause anger in the past now seems an annoying trifle that can be dealt with in a conversation. We are nearly unified in everything and on every front.

Our love is like a seed. When planted there is the explosive action of germination, where the sprout bursts forth from the ground. Then it faces great peril as a tender, succulent young plant. Surviving those tender and fragile days, the trunk grows thicker and the roots grow deeper, more entwined with each other and the ground.

I look ahead and see a great tree with wide branches and deep roots. The roots are firmly in the fertile grasp of God's Word, through which the tree takes nourishment. The nourishment makes the tree grow stronger, to withstand the damaging winds that inevitably come to pass. As it grows stronger, the affect of the wind is of less and less consequence. The sapling that bent in the wind becomes the mighty tree that merely rustles it's leaves.

As I said, it's amazing. We have become so grafted to each other, and what our love lacks in stormy passion, it more than makes up for in calm, quiet strength.

I can't imagine my life any other way. It would be like only having half of myself.

Debbie, my love for you is as deep as the roots of a hickory, stout as the trunk of a redwood, and it continues to grow all the time!

A Good Disaster

2009-01-02T07:16:00.002-06:00

New Year's eve, as I was in the basement doing my daily exercises on the Wii Fit we got for Christmas, I caught a whiff of that tell-tale smell; Ozone. Something electrical or electronic was burning.

Then things would start going out intermittently; the TV, file and web servers, then the lights, Then the furnace went out. The brand new furnace. Ouch!

I searched for a while, even calling the whole family into the effort. We found nothing, which was both a relief and cause for concern at once! My electronics were not melting themselves, but something was and I couldn't find it.

Later I discovered that inside my panel of circuit breakers there was some mischief playing about. One of the neutral wires was blackened and sparking a little. I had figured a way to get the furnace to keep working by redistributing some other loads to other circuits. I planned to call the company that installed the furnace today, after the holiday of New Year's day was all done. Having been on call all of my professional life, I hate to call folks on the off hours.

So last night I returned home after doing some stuff with my brother. My wife informed me that the lights were out, the washing machine was out, and the furnace was out. I went to the circuit panel and the charred wire was glowing orange and spitting small sparks. Double-Plus-Ungood! Interestingly, the breakers were not tripping. It was 19 degrees outside. I could have broke out the kerosene tower heater, but the sparking and glowing had me concerned, so I called the company that installed the furnace.

The answering service told me they would send a dispatch, but it might take up to an hour for the tech to call me back. No problem. I know how this works. I hung up the phone and within minutes it rang again. The tech had my dispatch and was calling to get the details! Wow!

I gave him a description of what was going on, and he gave me a quote for the price of the service call. Then I told him the furnace was just installed, by his company. He asked if he could call me right back. When he did, (again, within minutes) he said it would be free. Nice!

At 9:30PM his ETA at my house was 11:00PM. He had to stop at the shop and pick up some parts. I took a deep breath and began the process of resigning myself to an all-niter.

The tech arrived at 10:30, did his thing, and was done and backing out of the driveway by 11:00! After he completed the repair, we turned on all the lights, the laundry, and the furnace, then he checked the current in the circuit. 14 amps. No more arkin' an' sparkin'! Good to go, and in so little time I couldn't believe it!

Customer service is something I like to moan about, and honestly I pretty much never expect to find it anywhere, but I have to give credit where it is due. Not only was the installation of the furnace and AC professional, courteous, and efficient, but this service call wildly exceeded my every expectation! The speedy communication, the quick arrival, demeanor of the tech both on the phone and in my house, and his speedy resolution of my problem were all top notch. I can't think of superlatives high enough to praise the work of this company and their team.

Sincerely, if you are a resident of the greater Cleveland area, looking for a company for HVAC needs, Broadview Heating and Cooling should do it for you. They are a Rheem "Top Contractor," and I'll certainly vouch that they are tops!

I am not an employee or contracted by them to write nice things about them. I'm not getting discounts or kickbacks or any other reward for this. I'm just a very satisfied customer and I only wish that I could deal with more companies like them.

Thank you Tom, and your whole team! If there is such a thing as a "Good Disaster," it's only because people like you make the best of a bad situation.

Catch up on Pop Culture

2008-12-30T07:28:00.001-06:00

In less than 5 minutes. Here is a neat mash-up of billboard magazine's top 25 songs of 2008. (Yes, there are 25 different songs heard in the video. That should say something about pop culture all in itself!)

Dangerous People

2008-12-29T07:37:00.003-06:00

In the video below, you will see dangerous people. You may want to make sure that there are no children within sight or sound of the computer if you are so bold as to watch the video yourself. These people are dangerous. I need to emphasize that.

These people raised meat for their family and coordinated the ordering and distribution of bulk foods for themselves and others.

This is dangerous! These people are eating meat that grew up on their property! Who knows what kind of damage this could do to national security and the wellfare of the community.

They were also helping other people save money on their food bills by ordering in bulk for lower prices. Kind of like an HMO or collective bargaining agreement, but without the government involved, and that is why these people are so dangerous! (They're home schoolers too, which makes them even worse!)

And so, given the threat they pose to society and decent people everywhere, SWAT was called in to restore order. They stormed the home with guns drawn, sequestered the family (including children) inside the home for at least 6 hours, and confiscated all the contraband, including co-op food, personal food, and computers. Thankfully, the whole year's worth of meat that the family had hidden away was taken. Now maybe they will see the error of their ways and buy government approved meat chock full of chemical goodness.

Here is your last warning. You are about to come face to face with evil itself!
I warned you.

Obviously I'm being sarcastic. I can't fathom in my wildest thoughts why it would be necessary to come into a house with a SWAT team, guns drawn, for anything that these people had done. If they are guilty of some sort of bureaucratic miss-step, fine, address it (the merit of that bureaucratic red tape aside), but guns? Taking all their food?

Happy Holidays

2008-12-29T05:47:00.006-06:00

When I am in line at the store and the clerk wishes me "Happy Holidays," doesn't the eighth commandment require me to put the best construction on this greeting?

Shouldn't I be thankful that the person wants me to enjoy the holidays? After all, Christmas and New Year's Day fall within one week with Epiphany shortly following, so the plural is completely appropriate.

"Happy Holidays," if I abide by the commandment, is certainly a verbally efficient way to wish me "May your commemoration of the nativity of the Lord Jesus be filled with joy and blessings and also on the New Year may you reflect with satisfaction at what has passed and look with hope to the the bright future of a new beginning." People in positions of service (such as cashiers) do have to greet hundreds of people a day. I know that when I am in line, I hope for the most efficient and minimal communication so that I can get on with my business and so I don't hold up those behind me (not because I'm polite, but because I don't want to be embarrassed!).

Not only does the command require this of me, but I just can't see my peace being disturbed by a person wishing me "Happy Holidays." How silly is that? I've been in a line and heard the exchange where the clerk says "Happy Holidays" and the person being waited on is so offended that their face gets all wrinkled up and they shoot back an icy "Merry CHRISSSSTMASSSS!" with an equally cold look. Why should my blood pressure go up like that?

What about vocation? If I believe that people in their vocation are serving me with the love of God, whether they agree with that or not, does that have an influence on how I view and respond to their pleasant greetings?

So from now on I'm going to try not to get upset when strangers wish me happiness.

The Weather Outside is Frightful!

2008-12-27T13:05:00.003-06:00

63 degrees Fahrenheit right now. All the windows are open. Weird, but the kids like being able to go outside and jump rope. Maybe I'll go cut the grass. That would make the neighbors talk!

Namaste

2008-12-26T16:06:00.003-06:00

Heh...

Took my first steps into the world of yoga today. As a family gift we scored a Wii Fit for Christmas. If you haven't seen one, it's a "balance board" and it comes with a DVD that is supposed to help you shape up.

The balance board interfaces with the Wii console via wi-fi, so there are no cords and cables all over.

You stand on the balance board and it assesses your posture and center of balance, along with your weight and BMI.

Once your info is in the system, it gives you a basic test of balance and then tells you your "Wii Fit age." The goal is to have your Wii Fit age match or be lower than your actual age.

To give you an idea of the usefulness of the "Wii Fit age," it measured my BMI and told me I was obese. Then, after the balance test, it said my WFA was 28, ten years less than my actual, so take it with a grain of salt.

What appears to be very useful is that the system will allow you to set a goal for weight loss and then track it for you.

After all the initial setup of all that stuff, you can then do some training in one of four areas: Yoga, Strength, Aerobics, and Balance games. The aerobics and balance games are cartoony activities that use the Mii characters you create. In Aerobics there are things like hula-hoop, step, and jogging. In the Balance games you can slalom ski, ski jump, walk a tightrope and hit soccer balls with your head.

The Yoga and Strength training sections are more serious. You are given a personal trainer that actually looks like a real person. Your trainer demonstrates the exercises and gives you encouragement while you go for it. The introductory yoga moves are deep breathing, half-moon, warrior, and tree. The first strength exercises are pushups with side planks, torso twists, lunges and jack knives.

As you spend time exercising, you accumulate credits in a piggy bank. At certain intervals, more moves, exercises, or games are unlocked, offering you a wider variety of choices as you progress in skill.

So today, my first day, I did all four of the introductory activities. And I was hurt! I'm outta shape. The yoga stuff was cool. I can see a benefit to that, and it was nice that the Wii trainer just said "this is what it's called, this is what it stretches and strengthens, this is how you breathe as you do the move." No mystic religious mumbo-jumbo. I've never attended a real live yoga class, so I don't know how much of that goes on, and I'm sure it varies from place to place.

After yoga was strength training. That was hard! Concentrating on form while slowing doing push-ups in time with the trainer's whistle is work, not to mention the added strain of the planks added on.

It took me about 30 minutes to go through four of each activity, and by the time I was done, I could tell I had been doing things with muscles that aren't frequently encountered in my daily life at a desk.

The whole family has registered in Wii Fit. We'll see how long we can keep up training on it daily!

We also got Rayman's Raving Rabbids TV Party. It's a ridiculously silly and fun game that also uses the balance board. You can steer your ironing board through the universe, pilot your water buffalo down the alpine slopes, or avoid potholes on your chopper, among many other funny things.

Two thumbs up.

Hodie Christus Natus Est

2008-12-24T22:00:00.000-06:00

What About Our Food?

2008-12-22T13:57:00.002-06:00

Multinational megacorp Monsanto is a big player in the agriculture business.

They are mean people.

Their genetically modified crops can cross pollinate with your heirloom garden and ruin it. That could be considered an "accident."

Unfortunately, they do a lot of stuff that could not be considered accidental, like suing growers who are unfortunate enough to have their crops crossed with their franken-seeds. If they test your crops and find their patented modifications, even if the plant came up as a result of a crow pooping in your rose garden, they can and have sued over it.

Here is an interesting and kind of scary article about this and other info about them, with links to many other stories/sources.

I'm all for free markets and all that, but when their genetic experiments trespass on my real estate, invade my privacy, and vandalize my property, they should be stopped, right?

Imagine this: I invented a nanotechnology useful for stopping dampness in your basement. Hundreds of thousands of microscopic creatures sit in your sump, and during a storm, when the water seeps into the sump, the little guys multiply and swell to consume the water, convert it into a very easily evaporated substance, and do so until all the moisture is gone.

Well, some of this stuff gets tracked upstairs on the heel of your shoe. Your toddler, who plays on the floor, gets a few cells in his mouth. Whoa. Lots of water there...so the cells spring to action, multiplying and evaporating the moisture in their new container, your baby. In hours they have turned your kid to dust.

Sure, that's a pretty sci-fi scenario, and certainly we should and do value our children more than our vegetable gardens. But if your vegetable garden is destroyed because of reproduction-limited, genetically modified cross pollination and you are a poor person whose family relies upon that garden for your sustenance, the end result could be the same.

So I stand by my assertion that Monsanto is trespassing and destroying property. Now if only I were a multi-billion dollar lobbyist who could buy a few politicians...

The Mystery of our Reconciliation with God

2008-12-17T12:08:00.002-06:00

To speak of our Lord, the son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as true and perfect man is of no value to us if we do not believe that he is descended from the line of ancestors set out in the Gospel.

Matthew’s gospel begins by setting out the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, and then traces his human descent by bringing his ancestral line down to his mother’s husband, Joseph. On the other hand, Luke traces his parentage backward step by step to the actual father of mankind, to show that both the first and the last Adam share the same nature.

No doubt the Son of God in his omnipotence could have taught and sanctified men by appearing to them in a semblance of human form as he did to the patriarchs and prophets, when for instance he engaged in a wrestling contest or entered into conversation with them, or when he accepted their hospitality and even ate the food they set before him. But these appearances were only types, signs that mysteriously foretold the coming of one who would take a true human nature from the stock of the patriarchs who had gone before him. No mere figure, then, fulfilled the mystery of our reconciliation with God, ordained from all eternity. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon the Virgin nor had the power of the Most High overshadowed her, so that within her spotless womb Wisdom might build itself a house and the Word become flesh. The divine nature and the nature of a servant were to be united in one person so that the Creator of time might be born in time, and he through whom all things were made might be brought forth in their midst.

For unless the new man, by being made in the likeness of sinful flesh, had taken on himself the nature of our first parents, unless he had stooped to be one in substance with his mother while sharing the Father’s substance and, being alone free from sin, united our nature to his, the whole human race would still be held captive under the dominion of Satan. The Conqueror’s victory would have profited us nothing if the battle had been fought outside our human condition. But through this wonderful blending the mystery of new birth shone upon us, so that through the same Spirit by whom Christ was conceived and brought forth we too might be born again in a spiritual birth; and in consequence the evangelist declares the faithful to have been born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

--Pope Leo the Great

Ah Sweet Music

2008-12-17T06:31:00.003-06:00

If you don't already know about it, you need to have a look at Pandora.

The folks behind it call it the "Music Genome Project." Basically, you type in the name of an artist or song and they create a "radio station" for you that plays music that has very similar characteristics.

For relaxation and all around peacefulness, I recommend typing in Palestrina. See if that doesn't carry the soul to new heights!

For the operatic-rock folks who like complex and intricate rock music sort of fused with symphony orchestras, try Nightwish. Whoa.

I have a bunch of other stations like YYZ radio, Boston radio, Barenaked Ladies radio, Clannad radio, and George Winston radio. All these become buttons you can click to "tune in" when you visit the site.

To create different stations you click a button labeled "Create a new station." then type in the name of an artist or song you like and send it off. It will automatically play music that it thinks is a good fit. By that I mean it's not music by an unknown that styles themselves after your choice. It's the music of "real" artists including the one you typed in. In other words, my Barenaked Ladies station plays music from the Barenaked Ladies, Dave Matthews Band, and other similar artists.

You are also provided with rating buttons, so if you like something, click the thumbs up. If you don't like something, click the thumbs down button and that piece will never be played again.

There is a registration process. That's how they keep track of your stations. I've never had spam from them. Occasionally they will send an email, but they don't clog you email inbox.

Props and thanks to the wonderful people at Mossback Meadow for turning me on to this years ago.

Check it out.

It was an Accident!

2008-12-16T07:01:00.002-06:00

If you read this much, you know that I don't care much for pro sports. We watch games on TV, and my middle son enjoys it, but I have a problem with the money involved and my belief that pro sports play a huge part in distracting us from important things going on in the world. I often substitute pro sports for "circuses" in the saying from Satire X, an ancient Roman poem:

Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man,
the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time
handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now
restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things:
bread and circuses

So, no, I don't go looking for stories on sports figures or spend my time memorizing stats or deciding on picks for my fantasy teams.

But today, totally by chance, I stumbled upon an old interview with a sports player that really impressed me. You know how it is on the internet; you start out looking for something and after ten minutes of clicking tangential links you end up far afield from your initial intent. That's how I got to this interview.

I should take this moment to return to pro sports and explain something I don't really care for: The use of pious gestures. Have you ever seen a baseball player half heartedly cross himself as he goes to the plate? Or the football player that points to the sky after a big play? I never cared for those. It's my sinful nature to look at that and say "you're not sincere, you're superstitious" and make other uncharitable assumptions about the people doing these things.

One such player is Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The guy is probably the premier Strong Safety in the NFL. I only watch enough to know that he seems to be everywhere on the field, and close to, if not an actor in every defensive play for his team. This guy is always making the sign of the cross on himself. So I have made my standard judgment against him.

And now, at long last, we get to the point of this post. I stumbled upon an old interview with Troy Polamalu conducted by Yahoo sports. It turns out that he is a devout Greek Orthodox christian. He says things in the interview like "First of all, I'm a Christian so my prayer life really comes first. Second of all, I'm a husband so my wife comes before anything else." He also says "Football does not define me. How I am with my faith and how I treat my wife is what truly defines you as a man."

In these days of thuggery and all manner of debauchery in pro sports (yes, another blanket judgment), it was refreshing to read these things. Polamalu could certainly adopt a prima-donna attitude given his skill in the game, but he knows what's really important.

It was also another good lesson for me on the Eighth Commandment:

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.

I need that lesson quite frequently.

Here's a link to the whole interview.

Why are the auto makers having trouble?

2008-12-12T16:19:00.002-06:00

Certainly there is poor management and several other factors involved, but there is also this:

That is the UAW Collective Bargaining Agreement with Ford. It's 2,215 pages and weighs 22 pounds.

Think of the man hours used to negotiate that leviathan. The billable lawyer hours.

An Advertisement

2008-12-12T06:07:00.001-06:00

Hey, check out my friend's witty t-shirt shoppe. (It's classier with the extra "pe" on the end, right?)

Have you heard about this?

2008-12-11T09:48:00.003-06:00

We are two states away from convening a Constitutional Convention!

A Constitutional Convention is required when 2/3rds of the states request one. 32 have. Ohio was supposed to vote yesterday, I'm not sure if they did or not.

If Ohio voted yesterday and agreed, then one state is needed to call the convention. Once that happens, congress will determine how the delegates to the convention are selected. The convention will meet, and they can decide to erase the whole thing and start over. They can do whatever they want.

Where's Limbaugh? Beck? Malkin? etc etc etc?

Democrats control everything. If that party is allowed to dictate the means for seating a Constitutional Convention, you can bet the farm that it will be full of liberals. Then what? Free speech, free religion, freedom from unreasonable search, the right to keep and bear arms, all stand to be demolished, along with everything else. We could be subjected to UN rule, military forces deployed here to keep the citizens pacified, literally anything! Imagine your worst fear, the Constitutional Convention can make it real.

Home schooling could become outlawed by the Constitution. Christianity could become outlawed. Reproductive restrictions could become law. Environmental lunacy could carry the weight of the federal government.

This is a very very serious threat to our nation and our way of living.
Read more here.

Edit to add: Some good folks were in Columbus yesterday to speak against this. Ohio did not vote on it yesterday.

Auto Industry Bail Out to help Others

2008-12-11T08:24:00.003-06:00

You know about the bail out for the Detroit automakers?

Did you know that tucked away in that legislation is a pay raise for district judges??

It's true. Harry Reid put it in there. It's a $4740.40 per year pay hike. In the AUTO INDUSTRY BAIL-OUT!

In my current job there is a wage freeze. In the job I had before my current one, there was a wage and hiring freeze just after I got there. In the job I had before that one there was a wage freeze that lasted for years and the senior management and director all took 5% cuts at the beginning of it. That's just the way it is, times are tough all over.

So in business, when times are tough and the bottom line is weak, the people in business tighten their belts and have to forgo raises, bonuses etc. I'd bet a dollar that a lot of people out there are experiencing wage freezes.

Well, the government is our business, yours and mine, and all the other citizens' of this country. And guess what? The bottom line on our business absolutely stinks. Our enterprise is spending more than it makes. Fraud, waste, and abuse run rampant. Not only does our business need an overhaul, but it could certainly use a wage freeze, for judges, for senators and representatives, for cabinet members, the President, and everyone else except the armed forces.

And yet, the members of Congress get an automatic "cost of living" increase every year due to laws on the books. The raises for the judges have to be voted on by Congress. Congress has recently upped the pay for Sec. of State and who knows what other jobs.

The salary for 2008 for your representatives in DC is currently $169,300.00. From what I understand, the judges are supposed to get what Congress gets after they vote.

Now, I'm not jealous of the raise. It's just bad business. But what really gets my goat is that this is tucked in to legislation that has nothing to do with compensation for federal employees. I know, that's nothing new. It still gets me.

Let the auto bailout stand or fall on its own, and address the compensation issues on their own as well. Tucking in totally unrelated riders and amendments is just dishonest.

Environmentalists and the Environment

2008-12-10T11:20:00.002-06:00

Stunning.

Green campaigners called in police after discovering an illegal logging site in a nature reserve - and rounded up a gang of beavers.

Environmentalists found 20 neatly stacked tree trunks and others marked for felling with notches at the beauty-spot at Subkowy in northern Poland.

But police followed a trail left where one tree had been dragged away - and found a beaver dam right in the middle of the river. A police spokesman said: "The campaigners are feeling pretty stupid. There's nothing more natural than a beaver."

"There's nothing more natural than a beaver." Classic.

Oh, and...
FAIL.

Racism Survives

2008-12-10T06:28:00.004-06:00

Unfortunately, there are still those out in our society that think we need to segregate the black folks. Just like the "Colored Only" water fountains of the not-so-good-old-days, today there are folks that are setting up the walls of distinction and separation based on race, trying to keep people appart and suspicious of each other.

This kind of behavior is disgusting. People who want to set up "colored only" or "whites only" stuff should be ashamed of their suppression of their fellow man. It's unbelievable to me that in this day and age, as we look forward to the inauguration of the first (at least fractionally) black president of the US, there are those that want to cordon off blacks and keep them a separate group.

Introducing the "Coloreds Only" web browser.

Features include:
# Black Search
# Black News Ticker
# Black Bookmarks
# Blackbird TV

This is not a joke.
I'm not providing a link because I think this kind of segregation brings to mind gap-toothed stupid hillbilly klansmen, and I don't want to appear to be supporting this backwards thought pattern. If you don't believe, you can search google.

Deeper into Socialism

2008-12-09T08:24:00.008-06:00

America is dying. YOU can save her!

Congress is right now talking about the big-three bailout plan. The current legislation under consideration includes the expansion of government with the creation of a "Car Czar." Don't forget he'll need staff and office space and travel, etc, ad nauseum.

Why a "car czar?" Because if the legislation passes, the US Government will own at least 20% of the three Detroit car companies.

I'm not making this up.

So we're going to expand the US Federal Government and get it into the car business.

Between the greedy unions and inept management, they've gotten themselves into a real pickle. Bankruptcy or total failure are the only options. The Government can not get into the auto business, and I do not want my money, taken from me by force, to cushion the fall of these morons.

The only good news here is that it is not a done deal.
We must call our representatives in government and let them know in clear terms what we expect of them. The government has NO business in business. We've already seen them take stock in banks and insurance companies, now they are going after industry. WE have to stop them. We've seen the failure of Soviet Russia, yet we're heading down that very same path with the nationalization of our own industries.

I promise you this: If this legislation passes, I will never ever ever own another "big three" vehicle, new or used. I'll buy cars made in America, like Toyota and Honda and Kia.

The number for the Capital switchboard is (202)224-3121. You can also search online for direct contact info for your government representatives.

For the Twilight Pulp Readers/Wonderers

2008-12-08T09:55:00.006-06:00

You know...Twilight...the Vampire Romance hybrid books...

Here is a good review of the books/characters/etc, and why girls like them so much.

Thanks to Pastor Petersen.

More on the Political System

2008-12-08T08:18:00.002-06:00

You've read previously here that I really don't see a big difference between the "two" major parties in American politics.

I'm about to step over the edge of the precipice here. For one of my two readers out there, this will confirm your suspicion that I am just a kook. Hopefully the other reader won't feel that way... :-)

Not only do I suspect there is collusion between the official parties, but I also believe that the machine encompasses popular commentators on both sides. It's bigger than anyone would think. Kieth Olbermann, Hanity and Colmes, Van Sustern and Coulter all work for the same big globalist cartel.

Don't believe me do ya? You think I've fallen down and hit my head, doncha?

Really?

What have Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Bill O'Reily said about the birth certificate fiasco? Obama has spent nearly $1 Million to stonewall 13 active lawsuits across the country, when the easy thing would be to just show a judge a real birth certificate proving himself a natural born citizen. It doesn't have to be a big public show, just prove it to a judge. Silence the accusers. Prove them lunatics. Discredit your opponents. It's easy and cheap.

But he hasn't. And the high priests of the "Conservative" religion haven't made a peep.

I take that back. One has. David Horowitz wrote Saturday, 12/6 that Alan Keyes is "an unhinged demagogue on the political fringe".

Alan Keyes.

Wow.

So why do these people with such large audiences and such influence remain mum or even carry out ad hominem attacks against other conservatives? Michael Moore and Barbara Streisand must be so proud of their partners.

And they are all partners. They are the same dorks with a few really outrageous actors occasionally spouting off on either side, but the goal is to keep American citizens afraid of each other and pitted against "them" while the machine works to steal our country and hand it over to the globalists.

So there you have it. A huge conspiracy to destroy our country from the inside and hand the remains over to the UN or the EU.

That's all I got.

Is PC Dead?

2008-12-08T07:34:00.004-06:00

Did you know Barack Obama SMOKES?!?!?

It's one of the headlines on the radio news today. He apparently had an interview and the interviewer asked him "Since you occasionally smoke, what are you going to do in the White House? It's a smoke free environment."

Can you believe that??

If McCain would have run a simple ad exposing that fact prior to the election, he probably would have won in a land-slide!!

I mean....he SMOKES! Isn't that like clubbing baby seals and killing babies with fire?

What happened to our Political Correctness guardians?

The Last Day of Vacation

2008-12-07T20:35:00.004-06:00

It was my last day of vacation. If it was going to happen, it needed to happen now, especially since I had written that email to the Captain telling him that it WAS going to happen. He leaned a little on my Department Officer. Commanders don't like when the Captain leans on them, but hey, I was desperate. I followed the normal channels the first time, and they didn't work. The ship was going to sea and I would be on it, no matter what.

Well I couldn't do that. Our family was 12 hours away. I couldn't leave my wife alone with our daughter, not at this time in our lives. Who would be there to help? Who would take care of Emily? I would, so I sent that email to the Captain, over the head of my divisional chief, division officer, and department head. It was chutzpah, but I had to.

So the Captain made them let me stay back, but they made me take leave, rather than work with the stay-behind crew. That means I had to use vacation days while the ship went to sea. It was the only time in my career that I missed a ship's movement.

After all that drama, here it is, the last day of vacation. The ship will be back tomorrow, and the reason for all the upheaval had not occurred. Despite all my plans and the advice of the professionals, the baby was not born. They would induce labor today. I still have to go to work Thursday and Friday! Oy vey!

The doctor induced labor. If I had known what that was going to be like, I may have advocated for a wait until later. Regardless, we were on the way now. It was a looong day, but finally a healthy baby boy made his debut.

The ship returned to port, and I was there to greet her. My wife was in the hospital with our first son, Jacob, and some great friends had agreed to watch Emily while I worked my shift. Luckily my friends were on an opposite shift. Unluckily, they lived about 30 miles on the other side of the base, so my commute was pretty big the rest of the week, but it wasn't too bad.

Momma and baby came home that weekend, and thank goodness momma was in good enough shape to handle the household by the end of the weekend.

Now, 14 years later, we're celebrating the blessing of God that was given that day, in spite of feeble human efforts at planning and predicting. Our first baby boy has grown up into a young man. He's even got a little mustache going (which I blame on hormones in the milk, but that's another rant).

He's care free, a lover of nature, a sensitive, contemplative young man. Sometimes he's a day-dreamer, just like his old man. Sometimes he procrastinates, just like his old man. But he's smart, and skilled, a tinkerer and discoverer, and a great helper.

I'm very proud of him, and thank God for him. And I tease him about girls. :-)
Happy Birthday Jacob! I love you!

A Day that will Live in Infamy

2008-12-07T05:00:00.001-06:00

Please take a moment to remember.

Travesty/Tyranny

2008-12-06T09:04:00.002-06:00

I know that two people read my blog. I know that one person is the one I heard this from, so to the other one of my two readers, look at this:

SWAT Team takes down uber-dangerous, murdering, child-killing food co-op.

Thank heavens the government sent in the SWAT team. Who knows what kind of barbarism we've been spared by the brave men who stormed a family home. I mean... They might have been operating the food co-op without a vendor license!

Think of the children!!

Folks, the government works for us. If we all sit back and say "hmmmmm" and then go back to our TV and Facebook, this kind of thing gets a pass and could happen again. If we all write to our government and voice our displeasure, engaging and possibly informing them on these kinds of things, perhaps they will stop.

What's next? SWAT enforcement of dog licenses? (Why do you have to have a dog license in the FIRST place?!?!?)

There are many who say "The rank and file officer would not go door to door to carry out an unlawful or unconstitutional order." I would like to believe that, but I don't. Was this SWAT team a statistical anomaly? Or has the militarization of law enforcement brought to the fore a different paradigm?

A technicality

2008-12-05T09:43:00.001-06:00

The President-elect is the person elected by the electoral college. We don't have one because they meet on the 15th.

Just one of my buttons...

Statistics

2008-12-05T08:30:00.002-06:00

It's true:
One Black Friday at a Wal*Mart has killed more people than all my guns put together.

Ban Wal*Mart!
For the Children!

Look at Cleveland

2008-12-02T09:21:00.001-06:00

A view from the water crib, 3.5 miles out in the lake.

She Can't

2008-12-02T06:31:00.002-06:00

The Office of the President Elect, a made-up thing to stroke the ego of Barack Obama, announced the appointment of Hillary Clinton to Secretary of State.

According to the Constitution, she can't fill that role.

Article One, Section Six of the U.S. Constitution says:
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

The pay for SoS went up last year. She, therefore, can't have it.

They can get around it by lowering the pay to it's prior level. Let's see if they do so.

Kind of funny. He may be ineligible for the Office of President (he's spent $1 million to avoid proving his citizenship) and he appoints an ineligible person to SoS. What next?

Harrison Bergeron

2008-11-26T12:00:00.001-06:00

By Kurt Vonnegut. Good read and short too.
Go. Read. Think.

Yet more fascinating video

2008-11-19T13:00:00.000-06:00

Almost too good to be true...

Link to video.

Insects

2008-11-19T07:09:00.001-06:00

My brother and I have often said "Thank goodness insects don't have the intelligence to declare us their enemies and rally their troops to fight us."

Ruh-Roh! What is Alan Keyes up to?

2008-11-18T07:54:00.003-06:00

Alan Keyes, once a Republican candidate for President, was on some ballots in this year's elections. He didn't win.

But that's beside the point. What's he up to these days? A lawsuit. The meat of the suit begins on page 7 under the heading "Legal Basis." There are currently 17 such lawsuits in 12 states.

Why is this important? Are we a nation governed by the rule of law? The results of these suits will determine that.

Your thoughts?

President Elect on 60 Minutes

2008-11-17T06:51:00.006-06:00

Did you catch the interview? The whole hour was devoted to interviewing President Elect Obama and his wife. I made my older kids watch it as a current events assignment.

I have to admit to liking much of what he said. I didn't take notes, so I'm going from imperfect recollection and my impressions. I didn't like the talk about bailing out Detroit, but he generally talked up capitalism and the free market. The interviewer asked him about FDR and the "New Deal" and if he was planning anything similar, and I liked Obama's answer. He said that he thinks government has a role to play, but he's not going to rush into anything, that these times are different from those times, so any expectation of just carbon-copying those policies would be dumb.

I also like the headline in Christian Science Monitor today:"Latin jitters over Obama's free-trade policies." I think that's fantastic. Yes, he's more NAFTA friendly than I am. Shredding NAFTA would be a good step for our economy.

He wants to reduce troops in Iraq and beef up operations in Afghanistan. Capturing or killing Bin Laden is a top priority for him. Sounds good to me.

He wants to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. On one hand, I think it's a fine idea. Why should my tax dollars pay for their food, clothing, and shelter. On the other hand, what are we going to do with those prisoners? Just let them go? If we took them back to the desolate mountains of Afghanistan and let them go there in late January, with nothing but their snazzy orange suits, that would be ok with me. I don't think we've captured many brilliant field marshals, so chances of the routine prisoner at GITMO going home and rallying a great army are pretty slim. I guess I'm ok with closing it and deporting the residents.

It should be interesting to see what changes will come early next year.
Did you watch? What did you think?

If you didn't watch, and you want to, click this link.

Getting Warmer

2008-11-11T14:03:00.001-06:00

Or "local warming."

Go to Debbie's blog to see our new toy.

Happy Veterans' Day

2008-11-11T07:09:00.004-06:00

Thank you to those who serve or have served our great country.

Racism in America

2008-11-11T06:40:00.003-06:00

Racism in the United States is Dead!

Well...ok, not really. But one kind of racism is dead. The idea of dumb, fat, white, hillbilly, rednecks that dream only of lynching blacks and squashing every opportunity for blacks to get ahead, that racism is dead. There can be no more accusations that the U.S. is full of racists whiteys. As a generalization, the election shows it to be true.

Unfortunately, there are still individuals who will be racist, but they are now clearly in the minority.

Also unfortunately, other demographics haven't quite made the progress against racism that some folks have. They express racism against other groups, and strangely, also against their own race.

This election shows that many Americans have gotten over their racism (or never were racist). It also shows that many have not.

We have elected the next president. What does race have to do with it? Well just look around you. I understand joy over Obama's election, it's a big step, but isn't it time to say "we've moved past that"? Why do so many continue to emphasize the fraction of Obama's heritage that is African? What ever happened to being "Color blind?" I've seen people say "we have one of OURS in the White House now. We now have a President." What have you had for all these years prior? I've seen people say that for the first time in their lives they are proud to be Americans. Why haven't you moved to some country you could be proud of long ago?

I really hate racism. I'm proud of the fact that I am a member of a demographic that shows itself generally non-racist. Unfortunately, the Headline on last Wednesday that proclaimed "Racism is Dead" is still wrong.

The Onion had a story that racism can't be dead because we just gave the worst job in the country to a black man! That made me lol.

So, tho I didn't vote for Obama because of policy, this is something I'm happy to see from the last election. I'm sorry for Allan Keyes that this victory over racism didn't come earlier and spread to more demographic groups.

Can't we all just get along?

Keeping Company

2008-11-08T08:39:00.003-06:00

Before the election we were treated to all kinds of education about the evils of corporate America and Wall Street tycoons, out to destroy America, end baseball and apple pie forever. We were told by one candidate that things would "Change."

Friday, that candidate, President Elect Obama, had a meeting with the folks he picked for his economic advisory board; Warren Buffet, richest (and smartest) Wall Street investor ever, Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, a billion-dollar corporation, and Richard Parsons, Chairman of the Board of Time Warner, the Global Corporate Goliath that includes Time, Warner Bros, AOL, Turner Broadcasting, Roadrunner internet, etc etc.

I know little about the social ideas of these men, and what little I do know about Schmidt's social ideas, I don't particularly like. That said, I have no problem with the choice of these men as financial advisers to "The One." In fact, I'm rather impressed and think Mr. Obama has chosen wisely. I wish I could have them come over and advise me!

I just think it's a little ironic, and I chuckle at the thought of millions of Democrats contemplating the thought of the nations richest men and biggest corporations advising their man. The only thing that would make it better is if the list included Exxon's CEO.

Enjoy This

2008-11-06T08:43:00.001-06:00