the mackenzy project

Mobile Posting

2011-03-04T00:31:00.003-06:00

Well, this my first foray into mobile posting from an Android phone, and I must say that so far, I'm quite impressed! If this works,it will be just another post under the manifold writings that where Blackberry doesn't, Droid DOES!

Facebook 101: Editing Your Friend Lists in the NEW Facebook

2010-02-19T14:59:00.003-06:00

Hey, if you're like me, then you like organization and sorting everything into its proper pile.....at least online, anyway! So here's the skinny - its quite basic: in order to literally EDIT and SORT your friends into lists on Facebook, as you did under the old FB,

1. Click on the ACCOUNT link in the top right corner of the page (right next to "Home" and "Profile")

2. Under that menu, click on EDIT FRIENDS.

3. Voila!

Happy Friday.

2010-01-22T10:48:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday to all and sundry.

Today, I have a complaint. I want to complain that I am tired of hearing (or rather, reading) other people complain that they are tired of reading/receiving unwanted Facebook Applications.

Today, I would like to empower you with a simple thought: YOU actually do have the power to end your misery, rather than to simply complain about it. Facebook has provided you with the tools to solve this problem, but to know that, you would have to have read the fine print. And I understand - clearly fine print reading is not something that everyone can be bothered to do - specifically not when they are supposed to be "having a good time." No. We'd rather complain. But, as the adage clearly states: "the Devil is in the Details." So, I'll give you a quick crash course - do pay attention!

1. REMOVE APPS FROM YOUR NEWS FEED

a. At the top of your home page, make sure you have clicked NEWS FEED. (See Example 1)

b. After you've changed your home page feed to NEWS FEED, scroll to the very bottom, and click EDIT OPTIONS. (See Example 2)

c. When your EDIT OPTIONS screen opens, it should resemble EXAMPLE 3. (See Example 3) If it does not, it means you are still in the "LIVE FEED" and you need to scroll back to the top and change over to your NEWS FEED and try again. If you have not blocked any person or application before from your news feed, this box will appear blank. As you can see, I have blocked numerous applications and some people (we wont even delve into the "persons" I've blocked). You will not see this unless you have already blocked someone or an application (and you have no need of this note!) At the top of the box simply switch between Friends or Applications to re-add the applications or friends back to your news feed.

d. The business of actually hiding applications (or friends) from your NEWS/LIVE FEED is thus: when you see the hated application (or person's status), simply mouse over it, and click the "HIDE" icon that pops up to the right of it. You will be prompted to confirm that you want said status or application hidden from your future news feed. (See Examples 4 & 5)

e. Voila! Pat yourself on the back you maestro of Facebook minutia! The next time you check your EDIT OPTIONS at the bottom of your NEWS FEED, you'll see that you, too, have blocked applications. Breathe deeply, my friend - that's the smell of an App Free News Feed. (The apps you want to stay, stay, of course!)

2. BLOCK UNWANTED APPLICATION INVITES

a. This one is easy peasy. In small print, directly below the application invitation, there is a link that says: BLOCK THIS APPLICATION or IGNORE ALL INVITES FROM THIS FRIEND. Click the appropriate link. (See Example 6)

b. At this point, you see the confirmation screens as shown in Examples 7 & 8. Simply click whichever works for you. (See Example 7 & 8)

Done, and done! Now, instead of being inundated with apps, you can literally DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. And because this is a one-sided fix on your end, you needn't even let your friends know you are annoyed with their pesky applications - you simply fix it, and no one is the wiser. Always a win-win solution! ;)

Enjoy your day!

The Hat Confessional No.2: The Souvenir Hat

2010-01-05T19:01:00.002-06:00

The Hat Confessional No.1: Cubs v. Bears

2010-01-05T19:00:00.001-06:00

And the #1 viewed JolietChurch Youtube video so far is....

2009-12-31T12:01:00.004-06:00

clocking in at 1,976 views since posting - for a home brewed christian video - NOT TOO SHABBY!

with Number 2 clocking in at 1,111 views, its

Another Free Scoreboard!

2009-12-31T11:29:00.001-06:00

By the by, was browsing around on the topic again before our church's annual New Year's game, and found yet ANOTHER free scoreboard program.

The link is at

http://www.zenbasketball.com/news/stories/2009_02_17_scoreboard.html

This scoreboard is great as well, because it is Flash based, and allows you to operate it with the MOUSE, and not with keystrokes. This is huge positive, because I have found that for me the gameplay goes so fast that I occasionally have to remind myself what keys go with what function for the program, and god forbid, sometimes I hit the wrong key and give the wrong team a foul or point, and end up having to correct it!Im hoping that with the mouse interface, this sort of delay and error will cease to be a problem.

A (Bad) Sonnet to 30

2009-10-01T19:12:00.002-05:00

Oh, 30. How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.
I loathe thee to the dark and deep and dank
Place in my life: the utter reaches of life's other bank
That marks the end of Youth and Innocence.
I loathe thee without recompense.
Yet on thou cometh, and hope rising, sank.
I loathe thee with resignation, as I walk the Aged Plank.
I loathe thee with regret, as men wish for more time.
I loathe thee with the impulsiveness untamedIn my youth, and with a laundry list of things To Do Before 30.
I loathe thee with a fear so common, yet unnamed
That I'll be this forever - I loathe thee for catching me unready
To pass this watermark! - and if God be blamedFor time?
I shall try to not fear thee so.

based on EBB's Sonnet from the Portuguese #XLII

http://www3.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/elizabethbarrettbrowning/poems/sonnetsfromtheportuguese/howdoilovetheeletmecounttheways.html

Free Scoreboard Software

2009-09-19T17:28:00.007-05:00

Ran across this thread in my search for scoreboard software last weekend. I do the web page for my church, and recently, began announcing the basketball games. Our scoreboard died, so I decided to project a scoreboard from my laptop onto a larger monitor. I could find nothing free last weekend, so I paid for the Golasso Basetball Scoreboard 2009. (about $50)

Then, I continued searching, because I wanted to modify the program, and ran across these 2 free Scoreboard programs that made me wish I had waited before spending my money! Hope someone is able to benefit from them.

1. http://www.acahoops.com/ (They have a program called Laptop Scoreboard v. 1.4)

2. BaileyVision Scoreboard for Windows -(http://download.cnet.com/BaileyVision-Scoreboard-For-Windows/3000-7427_4-10738114.html)this program is AWESOME! and free. I just found it today and will be using it next weekend. The nice thing I like about it as opposed to Golasso and the Laptop Scoreboard is that it has the Shot Clock and Time Out buzzers and game ending horn integrated into the program so i dont have to press a separate button. This one is just the most versatile of the free programs. Thank the Lord!!

There's also a free JAVA one I found, but I didnt have time to fully familiarize myself with it. I may later. Its here:

3. JAVA Scoreboard: (http://java-scoreboard.sourceforge.net/)

And finally, there's a several others that are not really up to par or for basketball per se, but an experienced programmer may be able to modify them.

4. Yahoo Scoreboard Widget: (http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/scoreboard)

5. ScoreMaster 2: (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/mkellytecy/488186)

I hope this helps shorten someone else's search. I looked for days.

Congressman John Lewis & Elwin Wilson: Real Salvation Should Remove Every Vestige of Racism

2009-02-08T00:32:00.000-06:00

Just saw the story of Congressman John Lewis and Elwin Wilson on Yahoo. Amazing! Apparently, Wilson got saved.

Fellowship is a Signal Fire: Light the Darkness!

2008-12-05T04:54:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving was outstanding! I totally do not jest. I have to say of all of the Thanksgivings I've had over the last few years (and they have all been great), this Thanksgiving has literally taken the cake. My family is always with me, so I always "feel" that safety, comfort and the love of home. However, this Thanksgiving, the feeling was almost tangible. I lay awake one night trying to conceive of a way to explain it, and it came to me: I felt a level of safety, security and restfulness that I had when I was a child.

You know those days when all is right in the world? Like that. In addtion to that we enjoyed a wonderful weekend with the saints in both a Singspiration and Dedication of our new Church Building. The houses were packed to the brim (and it was probably a fire hazard!), but it felt like it did when I was young. It felt right. It felt right that people - souls - should pack into the House of God. This. This is how God's House should be.

It really touched me, as a person who has watched people who are close to me backslide from (and some return to) Christ. It is very true that salvation is a personal walk with Christ, and each one of us has to be very convinced that the going back of others does not cause us to lose our stedfastness. However, it is also true that there is a communal knowledge through the Holy Spirit - a fellowship that is beyond words. It is an unspoken brother/sisterhood, a silent and shared understanding and bond that exists between saved people. And when someone leaves God, they break that bond. The closer the person is to you, the greater the loss.

We mourn the loss of each one, and though we continue, there is a sadness there - a desire that that person who left God will return to share with you again the joy of living saved and worshipping God. It is not a sadness of being shaken yourself, but more the sadness that comes with saying goodbye.

When people leave God, they are by association leaving you, because God lives in you. And though from an outward perspective things may seem to remain the same, the truth is, inwardly they have chosen a path that you will not take: and so your pathways diverge. You travel on without them. They travel on without you. You may even meet at later destinations and find that you hardly know or recognize them anymore.

The heart mourns for that realization long before it actually happens, because you know deep down inside that the island you're drifting on, and the island they're drifting on will in years to come take you worlds apart.

And so, in birth from these necessary melancholy thoughts, is the joy of coming together again with those you love in God's House. The joy of fellowship is a satisfaction in a way that I cannot explain.

To me, a paramount joy in my life has been to worship God with my mostly saved family - to know that someone, somewhere is saved, and understands me. Each of us has to endure that hardship of being alone in the world, and facing the great darkness of a sin-sick world with just ourselves and God. We all have to go through that. We all have to experience being a lone candle, flickering against the enveloping darkness.

And we stand. And we stand. And we stand. But you know what is awe-inspiring? When you're standing there, all alone out on that limb, bravely flickering against the Darkness with Jesus, and suddenly you begin to see respondent pinpricks of light flashing out into the night. And suddenly you see that the night is bright with fires, and the soft glow of candlesticks are stretching out into Darkness. THAT is a wonderful feeling.

And so, I meant to say many things in this post but what I want to say now to any saint who needs it is that whereever you are, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

And what was so awesome about this Thanksgiving is that it reminded me of this scripture:

Psalm 133:1 :
[[A Song of degrees of David.]] Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It's good to fight the battles and stand alone with Jesus in your dark day (see 1 Corinthians 3:13), but its also good to worship God together in unity of the Spirit - and its good to know that you are not alone.

I've always been a fan of John McCrae's poem In Flanders Field, but I've been wanting to revise it to fit my thinking for some time. This time, I've made an attempt:

in gods house the holy few
fill the building pew on pew
to mark their passage; and outside
the solemn battle rages wide
scarce heard, scarce seen to naked eyes.

we are the saved. short days ago
we were lost and did not know
that we were loved and now we stand
in gods house.

take up our quarrel with the Foe:
to you from pilgrim hands we throw
the torch: be it yours to hold on high.
if ye break faith with Him who died
we shall go on, though you go
from god's house.

U.S. Space Program Defunct?

2008-11-17T19:31:00.000-06:00

A pal mentioned to me that the Space Program was defunct - and as usual, I hadn't been paying attention. Recently however, I saw an article regarding the Endeavor, and looked it up - sure enough, all the scary details are there. This episode touches on the subject.

Addition: Obama was first elected Senator in 2004.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/science/space/06gap.html?_r=1&fta=y

CRS Report for Congress: Overview of Bush's 2004 "Vision For Space Exploration"

CRS Report for Congress: The ISS and the Iran Non-Proliferation Act

Hobby vs. Area of Expertise

2008-11-16T19:19:00.000-06:00

Ok - here is the second episode of the AudioJournal or ALog! Its only 5:28 minutes this time, and the discussion is about the difference between a Hobby and an Area of Expertise. Thoughts?

What About Eternity?

2008-11-12T08:10:00.000-06:00

Ok, so this morning I had the idea of doing an AudioJournal - kind of podcasty sort of a thing. So here it is. Its somewhat long, but its the first attempt since the old days, so bear with me while I edit myself!! :D

Republican Comments I Liked - All Things Considered with Sen. Sam Brownback

2008-11-06T18:33:00.000-06:00

I was driving home yesterday listening to NPR blather on about the election, and this story on All Things Considered really caused my to sit up and pay attention. Very well done.

or you can listen to it directly from NPR.org here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=4&islist=true&id=2&d=11-05-2008

just click on the story: For the GOP: A Time For Reflection.

My Sickness, My Hair, and the Great Physician

2008-11-06T01:57:00.000-06:00

I'm writing this because I feel I should - both to glorify God, and to quell any worry about my new look! :D

As many of you know, in late September, I went to San Diego on vacation with my mom and sis (you can see the pics in my Photo Albums). I was normal then - how I miss me! However, little did I know that God had chosen a physical test for me that was beyond any I have yet faced.

Now. Don't get me wrong - I have been seriously, hospitalization-time ill several times in my life, but never in this fashion. Never like this. As you may have imagined, I am happily saved, have been since I was 4 years old, and have not taken medicine, regardless of the severity of the illness, save for the times when my unsaved father made me, which was like twice, once when I was 10, and the other time when I was 16, had an allergic reaction, and my entire face stopped working. My dad took me straight to the hospital then and stood in the room with the doctor as she gave me some shots.

I endured a strange illness of my feet during law school, and refused the medicine. I was scared and alone away from my family, but since, as we all know, feet are in shoes - it was easier to trust God, look away from how it looked - not talk about it with anyone, and keep going on. God healed my feet. I then endured a severe illness with a portion of my face (my lips) that same year. This was horrific to me, because at the time, I felt disfigured and seriously ill. I could not hide this illness from anyone, because it was on my face. I talked with the doctor about it, and she handed me topical medicine, but suggested that oral medicine was the only way. In fear and in some resignation, I took the medicine from her, and once I got home, I realized that I would never feel good about myself for trusting in man after years of trusting in God, and threw it away.

That illness took me months - perhaps an entire semester - to recover from. My close, religious-yet-unsaved school friends made fun of how I looked to my face. They did it, not in spite, but because they did not know I was ill, and that I was trusting God. They thought I had made myself look the way I did on purpose, and teased me about it incessantly. I went to school every day looking disfigured, and far from being concerned about how it looked - I was more concerned about how it felt, and whether it would ever end. At some moments, I thought I would live like that forever. My family and friends knew that I had dark days, and when they came to visit from Joliet, they made me feel better by teasing me about it and helping me to be able to laugh about it. We all knew that I was doing the right thing. The up side is that I came to a place where I told God that if I did have to live with it forever - I would, and I didnt care. No medicine for me. Then one day, I looked up, and he had healed me.

I endured another, even more severe illness with with my feet a few years back, when I was in Florida. I contracted the same illness in my feet that my mother had in previous years. When she had it, her doctors had wanted to amputate her feet. I refused to even talk to her about it, because I was working, and I knew that if I listened to her, I would not go back to work, and I couldnt afford not to be working. She and my sister Liz constantly told me: "Marilyn, you are SERIOUSLY ill!" and begged me not to go to work, or to put on shoes. I constantly ignored her. I knew in my heart she was right, but I felt like I had to go to work. I told God that he would have to handle it, and I refused to think about it. Months went by - I endured horrible pain at work, and every day that I was able to hide it from my co-workers and bosses was a victory for me. It got so bad I would spend my entire lunch breaks in the car park, almost crying, mending my feet - using various different pairs of socks and shoes, etc.

They finally stopped talking to me about it. I would come home from work only to discover that my family in Florida was fasting for me, and spending hours in prayer while I was at work. They would go on fasts for entire weeks, because they were so worried. And despite the pain, I knew deep down inside that God was going to make a way somehow. And one day, I looked up and my feet were healed.

Now, upon occassion, my family went back to Joliet for months on end, while I stayed in Florida and worked. Often, I would be in Florida in the house alone. One day, I was alone, and I felt a tingle in my feet. I was really scared, because I had this sinking feeling that the condition was coming back on me by God's design, and this time, there would be no family waiting to encourage me when I got home. I looked at those four walls and told God that I would endure it. I've been alone before. I've endured alone before. And that sickness came on me suddenly and full blown. And I kept on going, and trusting God. And he healed me. Again. Only this time, it was quicker.

Many months later, I moved back to Joliet, and was staying with my family, and again, I felt a tingle in my feet. I said, "Oh God, Please Not Again!" And God, said - "Yes. Again." And I said, "ok." And he healed me. This time, even quicker.

Now here we are. Years have passed in relative quiet for me - quiet from serious illness, I mean. And even though I've been unemployed, since April this year - I remember thinking - "this whole unemployment thing seems too easy right now - something's GOTTA be coming down the pipe!"

How right I was.

The moment I hit San Diego, the very first night, I felt a tingling in my lips, and deep down, I knew it was bad. From that moment, I sank into a severe allergic reaction to something I ate (it tasted really good!). And, as I predicted, I went from allergic reaction to severe, potentially life-treatening infection. It was on my face! Pastor prayed for me - my family prayed for me, but inside, I was panicking - outside, I was trying to keep my cool for my mom and sister, so it wouldnt completely ruin their vacation. I flip-flopped from serious panic to complete calm acceptance. I could not sleep. The nights were the worst - deep, dark and scary. I would sit in the dark room while everyone slept, and pray, or try not to think morbid thoughts. Then day would come, and I would manage after some time to bounce back emotionally and go out in the afternoons.

It helped that I knew God was in this, and that he would bring me through this. It helped that I knew all things work together for good to them that love God - to them who are the called according to his purpose. It helped that my mom and sister prayed for me nightly, and at random intervals during the day. And much in the same fashion as the feet illness, I snuck many a spare moment in the car, administering to my face, almost crying in pain, while my family was doing something else.

I was afraid to go outside. I was afraid to go to the airport to go home, but I desperately wanted to go home, because in my mind, I felt that if I could just get home, I would be ok. I sat up the entire night before our flight staring at the clock, willing the day to come. It was worse that I flew home alone. However, in the airport, something miraculous happened: I was in the bathroom "administering" to my lips, and they came completely off!

I kid you not. This is what needed to happen, because my mouth was abnormal - but in the airport bathroom, 5 mins before I boarded, I scraped them completely off. I felt almost human, and it was like a light had shined in that dark place, just to encourage me. I knew then that God had ordained this for me, and at any time, any place, any moment - he could save me from this. Or leave me in it to continue suffer.

One of the hardest parts was yet to come. Driving home from the airport, I had this joy - this great joy, because I thought it was OVER. I thought I was done - that I had come through something horrible, and it was done. But I was wrong.

God had only just begun. He allowed me one day of comfort. I should have slept that night I returned, because it was the only night I would have slept for weeks. I stayed up the entire night on sheer adrenaline and happiness. The very next day, to my horror, I tingled all over my lower face. It worsened all day until my entire neck, mouth and face were covered in boils. I could not sleep, because I knew what had happened to me, and I was terrified that I would spread it over my entire body. It worsened, and the boils burst and oozed infectious pus all over. This happened all day, every day - with no subsiding. NONE. It never stopped.

Somewhere in all this, I must have stopped talking. It was because I had nothing to say. I knew that I was in the hand of God, and I knew he could heal me, and I knew that I was going to have to see just how far he was going to take me. I felt that surely he would step in before this went too far. I was very confident.

But I kept getting worse. And I thought: "any day now God!" And I got worse. It didnt help that I looked it up on the internet, and it was proven that even the doctors really couldnt help, and that at its worse, the condition is life threatening. This is how I spent my nights because I couldnt sleep. I hated the night. I would try to distract myself until the morning, because the old art of making yourself tired wasnt working for me - I could not sleep, and hadnt for over a week. Sometimes I would marvel that and tell God - "are you keeping me awake? how am I surviving? this is unnatural!" My sister Liz would stay up all night with me to keep my company, and it made the night easier to bear.

And just when I thought "I can get thru this," I got worse. My head began to swell. My entire head, to the degree that I did not even regonize myself in the mirror. I knew it was bad when my own family got quiet and refused to even comment on it - they would just look at me, and pray. I only knew how they felt when something they said at church would get back to me. Their comments to others, and not to me, scared me. My head swole beyond what I thought it capable, and I would stand for hours looking at myself in the mirror and asking God: "when God? when are you going to come?" And God reminded me that the scripture says that "He that shall come, will come and will not tarry."

That thing encouraged my heart. Sometimes I wondered if I was going to die, but I was comforted with the thought that I'd rather die now, than live and go to hell. I found later that my sisters thought I might die as well.

One morning I felt at the end of my rope. I had constantly refused my mother's administrations and suggestions of what to do - more out of habit, than out of any real disagreement, because I felt her ideas were too radical - and I was too lazy to implement them. And I had been getting consistently worse. A few times, I had discovered that she was right, and I told myself that I would listen to her next time. For the past several days, my entire (swollen) face had frozen, and I was unable to open my mouth. Liz had been feeding me smoothies thru a straw. However, in addition to it being frozen, it was weeping pus from my mouth non-stop. Literally. Non-stop. It would not dry, and nothing I could do would make it end. I felt like I was dying somehow, but I did not know what to do.

Nothing satisfied me, and as ususal I was pacing my house holding my face in the wee hours of the morning. My mother met me in the hall, and told me to submerge my entire body in Hydrogen Peroxide, to kill the bacteria, and stop the weeping. I was initally resistant, but on second thought remembered that I had decided to listen - and I did it.

The first time we did it - things got even worse. Then my mother called Pastor Hodges and Sis Linda, and they came over in the middle of the night to pray for me. That moment was a ray of hope and encouragement. I NEVER knew how much sick people need encouragement. I continued taking Hydrogen Peroxide baths, and from that moment on, every bath I took attacked the illness like it was waging war. The next day, my face had decreased in size. The next day more, the next day more, etc., etc. The Illness - as if it had a spirit, began to fight back, and spread into my scalp, and over the rest of my face, but it was fighting a losing battle. I felt in the depths of my soul that no matter how much it spread or fought back, I should believe that it was dying. I took confidence in that, and took strong hold of it. The Illness got madder and began itching so bad I spent the next weeks wanting to tear my face and scalp off - nothing helped, not calamine or cortizone.

My hair began to be noticeably lighter (I hadnt even known that submerging myself in Hydorgen Peroxide to kill the bacteria and alleviate the itching was lightening my hair). After I noticed, we cleared it with our Pastor. However, I began to try to "end" my illness, and call it done for myself, because I like my hair. I kept telling God - "Please god - I LIKE my hair color," and everytime I did, the illness would seem to spread further into my scalp, forcing the necessity of submerging all of my hair in the Peroxide.

As a side note, I absolutely HATE my hair color now. However, in the depths of my sadness and thinking that it is the absolute worst thing that could have happened to me, my family reminded me that they were almost to a place where they thought they would have to have it all cut off in order to address the scalp. This gave me perspective, and I began to thank God that I still HAVE hair - though I have lot a lot of it in this process.

Everytime I would think it had calmed down, I would stop taking the baths. Everytime I stopped of my own volition, and attempted to "get better" or go outside, I would have a relapse, and further spread of the illness. Finally, I just gave up fighting back, and submitted that I would be housebound and faux blonde until God stepped in and delivered me.

And a few days ago, he encouraged me to take courage and go outside, despite the fact that the illness is still there, and I am still sick. That very day, I was contacted for a job interview, which, whether or not I get it, I felt was confirmation that God had released me to go outside, and stop taking HydroPeroxide baths.

So now, here I am. I'm still sick from an outward perspective, but I am fully persuaded that God is healing me, and that from his perspective I need to take courage that it will be done. I am very uncomfortable, and if these last few days were any indication to me, it was probably God reminding me to slow down and not overdo it, because yes, I am still in recovery. I cant keep up like Im physically fine, but I can go slow and one day I'll look up and I'll be healed.

The fear is gone. Because I know without a doubt that he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry.

And if the worst I have to deal with after is that I look a HOT MESS (to myself, at least), and I hate it, - if nothing else, it will always be a reminder to me - a Memorial Stone of what God did for me, and how he carried me through a very dark night, and brought me safely out the other side.

This. This is why I love my Saviour. He's my Father. And he brought me through.

A Minor Point About the Bush Administration

2008-10-28T10:43:00.000-05:00

Now the gentlewoman from Illinois, made a comment about gay marriage and abortion under the Bush administration. I have seen these stats other places as well, and am convinced that these are hailed as talking points by the Democratic Party. But let me point out. STATES are legalizing gay marriage. One of the founding principals of the republican party is the concept of STATES RIGHTS. Therefore by not pushing for a constitutional admendment banning gay marriage Bush is adhering to his Republican roots.

I AM interested to note that Republicans are allowed a moral lapse, so long as it adheres to "State's Rights" - which is correctly characterized as a long held bastion of Republican governance policy.

The flaw in that logic (the logic being that a "state's rights" policy allows gay marriage, thus a republican president is not to blame for it happening), is that it suggests that Party Policy is exempted from moral responsibility.

I dont have a problem with the argument, but since it's the argument being made: doesnt it also apply to Democratic Policy?

First Jolie, then Pitt. Posturing or Sincere on Afganistan and California Proposition 8?

2008-10-25T05:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, so in my trolling of random celebrity gossip rags (you know - the ones that jump out at you on yahoo's first page?), after clicking through random links, I was very intrigued by a video of Angelina Jolie in her official "Ambassador" role in Afganistan. The punchline was that she cried over their plight.

The video was very well done, but then, she is an actress by day. And not to appear irreverent, but the comments following the video were less than convinced of Ms. Jolie's sincerity - in fact, some accused her of making the visit as a concerted action to secure an Oscar.

I reserve judgment about that. Oh wait. No I dont. Anyone who marshalls millions of dollars to save and enrich the lives of others (I dont care how many nannies they pay, or if the nannies end up being her rainbow tribe's actual "mothers" for lack of a better word) is doing a large part in making the world a better place, if only for those few lives they intervene in. So adopt away Angelina, legally, anyway. AND, visit 3rd World and embattled countries to raise awareness to your hearts content - even if your actions are contrived in some way. You're still making a difference, if for the wrong reasons.

Now lets move on to Brad Pitt.

FAR more interesting is the fact that it appears that the LA Times announced in September that Bradd Pitt recently donated $100,000 to combat California Proposition 8, which states simply:

PROPOSITION 8
This initiative measure is submitted to the people in accordance with the
provisions of Article II, Section 8, of the California Constitution.
This initiative measure expressly amends the California Constitution by
adding a section thereto; therefore, new provisions proposed to be added are
printed in italic type to indicate that they are new.
SECTION 1. Title
This measure shall be known and may be cited as the “California Marriage
Protection Act.”
SECTION 2. Section 7.5 is added to Article I of the California Constitution,
to read:
SEC. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized
in California.

you can read it yourself here.

Here's the kicker - Rueters says that Pitt's donation is the largest single donation by any celebrity to defeat the proposition, and it is reported that Pitt said something along the lines that he would not marry until gays could marry.

Hmm. It has already been pointed out that this will be a hard bar for him to measure to, seeing as he already married and divorced Aniston. But one could argue that is nitpicking.

Still, what was most humorous and heartening to read here was that the Knights of Columbus, National Organization of Marriage, and other Christian interest groups donated in excess of $1 Million, tipping the balance in the fight back in favor or proponents of the Proposition:

The financial fight over Prop. 8 has been fierce, with gay marriage supporters taking an early fundraising lead. But last month, a $1-million contribution by the Knights of Columbus, followed by infusions of cash from other gay marriage opponents, tipped the balance in favor of those who believe only a man and a woman should be able to marry.

Again - it is suggested that Brad Pitt made the donation as a PR move the same week his movie Burn After Reading debuted at the Box Office - and wowzers!! - guess what? His movie debuted as No. 1, so it may have been a good PR call by his agent.

So. I guess if I'm honest, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, and if I give Angelina a pass for being shallow and using 3rd World babies and Afgans to ply her trade - how can I judge Pitt for being shallow and using the gay agenda to ply his trade as well?

I cant. But I can disagree on the issues, and be very glad that the Connecticut Knights of Columbus came through with CASH DOLLARS in crunch time.

Voter Fraud Allegations....Already!

2008-10-24T21:47:00.000-05:00

As I susggested, there are already allegations from McCain's campaign over voter fraud. Check out this article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081024/pl_nm/us_usa_politics_fraud

TEST Post on Expandable Posts

2008-10-24T02:45:00.000-05:00

Here is the beginning of my post. You have no idea how long I worked on this - prolly because I'm a dunce. . . And here is the rest of it! Anyway, it super nice to finally get it right!!! Thank you JESUS!!

there a lot of tutorials out there, but here is the page that was the greatest help to me:

http://betabloggerfordummies.blogspot.com/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html

San Diego 2008

2008-10-23T18:03:00.000-05:00

here's some pics of me on vaca in san diego - these are the "before" pics, as I got sick on that trip! :eek: (I miss me...:()

the lil sis, me, & our mom

me and the mama - the sickness had begun (thus the mouth cover - the "no mccain" on it was to add to my "Obama 08" shirt and to make a joke out it and allow me to fake like the mouth covering was intentional in public)

yes. we went on an air ballon ride, and 2 couple had the guy pop the question. the view was spectacular - costly, but I highly recommend it. and think - our mother is deathly afraid of heights, but it was HER idea!

because then you can get pics like this!

I'm Another Year Older..

2008-10-23T17:09:00.000-05:00

So I'm 29 now, and one guy suggested that I might "stay" 29 for the next couple of years....as some women do! :D I aint scared of 30....(give me about 9 months, and THEN I might start crying).

it was actually a pretty charming day - I'm still stuck in the house sick (after 3+ weeks), so I've totally had cabin fever for the last few weeks, AND I look atrocious because due to this whole sickness and the fact that twice a day, I have to take hydrogen peroxide baths, my hair is now lightened to a color I hate. People keep trying to get me to look on the bright side, since we as saints dont dye our hair of our own volition (like "Hey! Its like God is dying your hair!"), but they dont understand that I liked my old hair and its color. I was certain that this day was going to be a bust, and since I slept most of it, it seemed as though it was headed for the toilet...

...and then suddenly, people just started appearing out of nowhere with gifts - and suddenly my house turned into a beautiful little party, complete with the people I most love, ambience and warmth. It was slightly surreal. The doorbell rings, and my dad walks in like he didnt totally trick me into thinking he wasnt coming. :D This was probably the greatest and best surprise.

All in all it was nice. I had been kind of down because I couldnt go out to have a birthday party, and these people decided to bring the party to me.

I love you guys. :)

Voting Early: Good or Bad?

2008-10-23T16:34:00.000-05:00

Here's the thing - I think voting early is a great thing to do. I did it in college, because I had to mail my vote home. It seemed to matter less, though, because Bill Clinton won by a landslide (or so it appeared).

Anyway - what are you thoughts on early voting? I know the Democratic campaign is pushing for it, and the Republican campaign is against it (though apparently, early voting is normally in the province of Republican voting).

I have this concern in the back of my head, though, and it may be misguided: I worry that the officials may, after seeing the overwhelming Democratic numbers, now have time to deceptively bury the numbers before the actual Election Day.

The feeding frenzy and litigation has already begun. Watch out, world - it may be another Bush v. Gore nasty vote count year..

Perhaps the clearest sign of early voting's new prominence is the amount of litigation and legal posturing it has attracted.

In Indiana, Republicans challenged the opening of three satellite voting centers in Democrat-rich Lake County — a linchpin in Obama’s strategy to carry the state — citing fears of voting fraud. On Wednesday, the Indiana judge ruled to keep the centers open.

In Ohio, local Republicans — with the explicit approval of the McCain campaign — sued to allow observers at early voting locations after Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said they weren't mandated.

And late last week, also in Ohio, a judge in Hamilton County appointed a special prosecutor to investigate charges of voter fraud after Democrats accused county prosecutor Joe Deters of a conflict of interest and voter intimidation, forcing him to recuse himself from a grand jury investigation. Deters had launched the grand jury probe and subpoenaed the registration records of about one-third of the Cincinnati-area voters who took advantage of a one-week window in early October that allowed them to vote and register at the same time.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081023/pl_politico/14873

Is Racism the Real Reason Some People Are Against Obama?

2008-10-22T21:12:00.000-05:00

So. Check out this article.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081022/pl_nm/us_usa_politics_hate

Wow, right? Wrong! This article encapsules the fundamental concern I (and I think many) have about the empassioned Anti-Obama-ism of some: at base, it isnt anti-Democratic. It's anti-Black.

The SAD part? There is actually a real Republican agenda that makes sense, even if I dont agree with it. There is are actually real Republican arguments in defense of Republican policy. Give me an intelligent, well-informed Republican argument any day!

But that's not what we're getting. Instead, we're getting racist commentary about Muslims; racist and commonly known stereotypical commentary about blacks; and the worst - openly public HATE SPEECH and HATE DEMONSTRATIONS.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/06/mccain-does-nothing-as-cr_n_132366.html

For example - here's a guy essentially saying Obama is a monkey, while also suggesting that because his middle name is "hussein" he is a terrorist:

and the aftermath:

and worst - THIS ONE!!

in the BLOODLINES? REALLY?

I am actually truly scared that fundamentally, these people - this mob of people who hold up "defense of moral republicanism" as their banner - as their hidey hole - as their cloak: at the base, at the foundation of the argument, are simply racist.

Nothing more. No other impetus. No other fuel to the fire. No other reason, save racism.

Why is that ok? WHY is racism ok? Why are people defending racism?

These. These are the people you align yourself with?

A Response to Huntley Brown

2008-10-19T18:33:00.000-05:00

Why I Can't Vote For Obama

by Huntley Brown
……
Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness.

I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads, I follow. I can't dictate the terms He does because He is the leader .

I can't vote black because I am black, I have to vote Christian because that's who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

General Definitive:
There’s a saying we have among some of the young people, and we often saying it laughingly: it goes: “Not that that’s not good….” As you can imagine, there is a “BUT” after that statement, as in, “not that that’s not good, but it’s not the paramount point or most important thing.” It means, basically, that yes, we agree there is value in the speaker’s statement, but we either feel there is a better statement, or a statement closer to the mark – of greater import, and so, we don’t devalue what has been said – we only add greater clarity: we expound upon it; we build upon it to the greater point.

Point #1:
Let’s first establish that we are unclear that Huntley Brown’s life is sin-free. Very few today who are not under the sound of a sin-free gospel message are living a sin-free life, though they may profess Christ – therefore, unless we are sure they are sin-free, we can be pretty sure there is a high possibility they are Babylonian, and (in Revelation 18:2 - And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.) we remain very skeptical of the proponents of false religion as we already KNOW they are prisoners in the cage of every foul and hateful bird. We are not deceived because they call themselves “Christian.”

I am very dubious of the proponents of False Religion, because I know that their leader is, in fact, the Devil, as opposed to our leader, who is Jesus Christ – and we are truly led by the Holy Spirit – whilst who they are led by? I cannot be sure. I am very sure, though, that no False Religion person is my leader. Not TD Jakes. Not “Rev. Weeks” or “Meeks” (who we know beat his wife openly in public and lied about it). Not Billy Graham. Not James Dobson. None of them. They are those people who I’d have to say about many of the things they say: “not that that’s not good…..but.”

Point #2:
From a basic perspective we can agree with Huntley Brown’s statement that our ecclesiastical membership is the most important membership we have as human beings, and the most defining aspect of our lives. I highly doubt that any saved, sanctified saint of God truly has any disagreement there, so this is not a real point of contention. The inflammatory part – the “dig” here – the sticking in of the knife then, is Huntley Brown’s couched accusation of racism. As though any Black person who votes for Obama must be voting for him on simple color alone. As though none of us are bright enough, read enough, educated enough, or think enough to have a real, justifiable reason – other than race – to vote for the man.

The insult to that injurious assumption by our fellow black man, is the (for lack of a better phrase) seeming “Uncle Tom”-ness of it. Huntley Brown is now the black guy being heralded by our white counterparts as the “token” black guy who “sees it from their vantage point.” I don’t say these things to hurt Huntley’s feelings, nor would I, but because they are true and it’s only fair because Huntley has been “true” about his feelings. And what are we if we cannot be true with each other? We shall judge the world. (1 Corinthians 6:1-3 – Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?)

Truly? The first and probably the only thoughts I had for the initial 2 minutes after reading his article was that he (1) didn’t love himself, (2) was an Uncle Tom, (3) a house _____, (4) brainwashed, (5) a “Christian” Alan Keyes, (6) starting to shuck and jive, and (7) a man who will do anything not to identify with anything black.

Because if we are quoting the media, someone told me that a guy named Chris Rock was asked on Larry King Live (a talk show) if he was voting for Obama because he was black. (Because, you never know - he might be that simple.) Rock apparently replied something to effect that – every other Democrat he voted for was white; why would he NOT vote Democrat simply because this one was black? Why would race be an issue at all? If race mattered, why didn’t they ask last term if he was voting for Kerry because he was white? (This last sentence was me adding to it.)

So I posit: the people making this about “race” are not the black people who have been voting Democratic for years – it is the opponents of Obama, it is Republicans that are “racializing” this presidential ‘race.’ I was going to say “white” republicans, but apparently it is not necessary for white republicans to get their hands dirty: they have blacks to do that for them.

The great shame of it is that our Republican opponents need not even speak their own words: they have only to point to the Huntley Brown’s and Alan Keyes of the world and smile.

Now THAT is a black on black crime. I wont even go into a long diatribe on the whole very real self-hatred that plagues the American black community and mindset, because I’d bore you. However, this mindset is not only real, it is recognized by whites, every other American minority and even Africans, Jamaicans, Haitians, etc., that immigrate here. Why, they say to me, why do American black people hurt each other? Not support each other? Tear down each other? I could not name to you the droves of Cuban, African, Jewish, Polish, Russian and various Asian etc., immigrants and 2nd/3rd generation people that have actually explained to me with great detail the unified cohesiveness their ethnic groups within the United States. They don’t call Miami “Little Cuba” nor does it owe its Latino friendly environment to the fact that Cubans, Dominicans, Argentinians, Chileans, Brazilians, etc., got here and were afraid to elect a Spanish-speaking mayor.

Point #3:
I am intrigued by Huntley’s statement “Christian First, Black Second.” I once wrote an article in school “Race First, Gender Second.” I believed that (and still do), because while I share my womanhood with women of many races, they do not share the burdens of race with me. And our great country has already proven to me in my lifetime (even now), that to it, my skin tone is of greater importance and significance to it than my gender.

Unfortunately, this country is Godless. Since most of the religious world is Babylonian, they too, are Godless. What that means very practically to me, is that this country will never put God first. The Bible speaks of a decline of God in the world – not of an 8th seal, or another reformation. Since that’s so – I trust we are all “Christian First, Anything Else Second,” but America doesn’t really care about that. And since the Devil rules the unsaved, and the Devil rules the Babylonian false religion fake “saved,” we know that TRUE Christianity and worship of God is “off the table.”

And with real honest, true, unhypocritical worship of God “off the table,” we are full circle back around to …. basic social issues again.

Point #4
Christian First, Black Second. Hmm. As I’ve stated, I have no real problem with this statement, and fundamentally, I agree with it. However – consider this: whose Christianity?

Hitler apparently considered himself Christian. Read some of his statements here:
http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/quotes_hitler.html

So you see my point as a person of minority race: how can a person like me throw caution to the wind and BLINDLY follow the ravings of someone simply because they claim “Christianity?” That apparently got very dangerous and even deadly for the Jews. So what’s my point?

The day will NEVER come, nor should people suggest to minorities that the day will come in this life, where we as minorities can cease to investigate every motive with regard to our safety, wellbeing, and welfare. I guarantee you that Jewish people are not at all playing when they concern themselves with people they feel may be anti-semitic. Why? Because history has already proven to them the horror of man – self proclaimed “righteous” man - on a “mission from God,” left unchecked, uninvestigated.

I only say - we CANT throw caution to wind when it comes to our race, nor should anyone suggest we should.

So where does that leave us?

1. Huntley Brown is not our Pastor. Nor is he Jesus. Nor are we even sure he’s truly saved. We agree that our paramount membership is our heavenly membership.

2. We are not voting for Barack Obama based on color alone – we actually agree with many democratic values.

3. America is Godless. False Religion is Godless. Jumping on the bandwagon behind people who aren’t living saved isn’t going to “save” our country, because the Devil is still at the head.

4. Minorities – blacks in this case, have every right to be skeptical of, and to question the motives of men shouting “Christian” with a bible in their hands. Suggesting we don’t is incredible, because few short years ago men shouting “Christian” enslaved us, and told us God ok’d it. The Devil was also their head. So the Devil at the head is not a good thing regardless of the name.

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, and human cloning wrong, economic concerns will soon not matter.

Really? Lets look at it.

Abortion:
Check out this article on Abortion Trends under George Bush. It’s the second article on the page, so you’ll have to scroll down. Apparently, all rhetoric aside, abortions rose under Bush, after having declined steadily for years. Somebody said something about the ….economy….and not being able to afford children.

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=sojomail.display&issue=041013

Same-Sex Marriage:
Check out this Washington Post article on Bush’s waffling on the same-sex marriage issue.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,136712,00.html

And I have a question: if gay people have wanted to get married all this time, how come they managed to get the ability to do it on the Bush Administration’s watch?

Also – it appears John McCain supports pseudo gay-marriage:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/14/mccain.marriage/

There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court.
There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito.

Really? People think that Justices Roberts and Alito will throw off the 5/4 balance of the Court into a 7/2 conservative majority. http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Supreme_Court

Wait. Speaking of machinations in appointments, why aren’t we concerned with the reason George Bush put in Alberto Gonzalez, and then basically told him to fire all the US attorneys, and THEN left Gonzalez holding the bag and needing to resign?

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S._attorneys_controversy
2. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/09/29/2008-09-29_attorney_general_michael_mukasey_names_p.html

Yes, same reason Sandra Day O’Connor waited until he was elected to retire: so she could be assured that a conservative judge was put in in her stead. Perhaps he wants them to overturn the Patriot Act. Perhaps they will undo the destruction of the constitutional rights that we had before Bush, and restore our civil liberties.

What’s next? Overturning desegregation? Just check out this article.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Apr06/Jayne11.htm

Let's take a look at the practice he wanted to continue.

The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedure
A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps. (Remember, this is a live baby.)
B. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
C. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.
D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, 20 causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

Inflammatory and somewhat myopic. I could simply say that John McCain supports adultery, and went out with a much younger woman while his terminally ill (or handicapped?) wife stayed at home with the children.

Abortion is wrong. So is adultery. Both are probably going to Hell.

Think about this: you can't give a kid an aspirin without parental notification, but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.

Inflammatory. And while I don’t agree with abortion, nor with a parent not being notified, if I remember from classes, I think the large push with The World (the “world” being the “world” in the biblical sense) behind not requiring young girls to notify their parents was in large part because of the intra-family rapes/incest that happen (and still happen in numbers in our country). A 14 year old incest victim may have a problem telling her indifferent mom that she’s pregnant by dad, junior, or uncle Johnny. It would be like asking an abused wife to get her husband’s permission to go to the police station.

And since there is no way to tell abuse victims from fast little girls until after the fact, the law is broad and encompassing of all girls, rather than narrow and encompassing only incest victims.

Personally? I think abortion is wrong. God is displeased with it, and its horrible. It fills me with great sadness to even discuss it. But I also feel that to legislate what a woman may do with her body is not only paternalistic, it can and will end up being fatal to women. Why? Because women – unsaved women are going to have abortions – legal or not. We all know illegal abortions HAPPENED. The entire point of legalizing abortions was that they (1) recognized that women were getting them anyway, and (2) women were DYING in droves, from backroom operations.

By legitimizing abortion and legalizing it, all these sinners did was acknowledge that they (1) were sinners, (2) were STILL going to sin, and (3) that they wanted to live even though they were going to sin.

So. I’m not for abortion. But I’m not for fornication either – why don’t they “illegalize” that? Making abortion illegal is NOT going to make these women get saved. And isn’t salvation the only REAL thing we care about?

In this I say leave the world to the world, and I try to stay out of it. I am glad that they are not forcing incest victims to have to go to their parents, but I hope and pray that those scared little girls will still make the right choice and have the baby.

Was that inflammatory? If it was – well then, inflammatory response for an inflammatory statement.

There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years. Obama tells us he has good judgment, but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright's sermons. I wonder why now?

The reason is clear.

Obama is distancing himself from Jeremiah Wright, because Wright has become a very politicized figure. There is a reason atheists in this country always want to focus on the American first amendment right of “Separation of Church and State.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

The reason political men did that, is because they were able to see the ill-effects of religion on political affairs (think….Saudi Arabia now. Think…the Crusades. Think….Jihads. think the Israel-Palestinian conflict right now!). Now, the great dichotomy is that within the confines of religious enclaves, we all KNOW that religion is VERY proactive, and not at all a-political. In fact, religion is INCREDIBLY political, and wants to be.

Having said that, even KNOWING that, America – in order that it can be and continue to be the global melting pot that it is, has openly repudiated religion governing politics. So. Religion can influence politics, but the accepted line is that religion and governance are separate.

Since that’s so, when Wright became a political figure, Obama had to send a clear message to the populace that while Wright is his Pastor and friend, he (Obama) is not fanatical zealot, who is going to be and lead this country as a Wright-Puppet.

But consider: Obama has a great weight of precedence before him.

1. John F. Kennedy, as a Catholic, faced this same pressure, and had to distance himself from the Pope.
2. George W. Bush, faced this pressure with the whole gay-marriage thing above, and admist pressure apparently recanted and allowed same-sex “unions.”

What the American people always want to know is: ARE YOU A FIGUREHEAD? Obama is saying no, he is not a figurehead.

Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 - 20 'Go and make disciples of all nations.' This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you, talk like you believe what you believe, etc. The question I have is, what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Hmm. I fundamentally disagree with this characterization – but it may be what false religion teaches.

Our Pastors “disciple” us, for lack of a better word, and we aren’t being made in “their” image. In fact, if I remember correctly, they often tell us, “follow me as I follow Christ.” Even so far as to say something along the lines as “if I get off base (read: off the scripture), do not follow me.” So. The image produced in our lives should be not in THEIR image, but in CHRIST’S image. Because at base, we are all the “disciples” of Christ.

Furthermore. I don’t know what false religion teaches, but I believe that in the Church of God each mature saint has some measure of Holy Ghost discernment. A saint should be able to tell when the Ark is falling, even though we should not touch it. We are to let it fall. (2 Samuel 6:2-7) Beyond that, God is faithful even to let each mature saint know and to bear witness if a minister or pastor makes an “uncertain” sound. (1 Corinthians 14:8 - For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?)

Are we really going to stop Obama from doing something the Bible allows us to do?

Would you support a white President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a:

1. Commitment to the white community.
2. Commitment to the white family.
3. Adherence to the white work ethic.
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the white community .
5. Pledge to allocate regularly, a portion of personal resources for strengthening and supporting white institutions.
6. Pledge allegiance to all white leadership who espouse and embrace the white value system.
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the white value system.
Would you support a President who went to a church like that?

Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama's former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside.

This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discover he went to a racist church.

Again. Huntley either hates himself, or forgot he was Black. In his race to assimilate, Huntley forgot that (unless he is a recent immigrant) his African forebears built this country on their backs (literally) and have no financial acknowledgement or wealth to show from it. Indians have the reservations. Japanese have reparations. Blacks have mental shackles, systemic derogation of the black family, ghettos and a slap in the face with a “get over it.”

This rhetoric and mindframe exists out of necessity - the same reason they have Jewish hospitals, Black Colleges, Chinatown, Greektown, Little Italy, Little Odessa, etc. No one is mad at the Irish when they give each other money to open a bar. If we’re honest, we’ll acknowledge that for some (Black Colleges, for example), segregation was a reality – a requirement. Why, my own mother remembers drinking from a “Black” water fountain. Accuse her of that. Call her a racist because of that. How DARE she drink out of a Black fountain! But wait – we cant accuse her of that though, because a white governmental authority forced it upon her and every other black person. Who knows - maybe the Chinese indentured servants in old America were forced to live in one area of town – thus beginning the whole “Chinatowns?” Etc. Ad nauseum.

I believe you see where I’m going with this. First, we are enslaved and treated like animals – to effectively do this they had to break the family mindset and mental consciousness of self-love/self-worth of the Africans they brought over; later segregated into our own societies – by the government, not by our own choosing; and now we are being accused for embracing that very society we were forced to embrace in past years. How our ancestors would cry if they saw us – truly William Lynch did his job.

We are first refused assimilation into white American society, or allowed in as second-class citizens only, and when we finally decide we have enough pride and self-love to embrace our own enclaves of humanity as first-class citizens, we are accused for embracing the very societies forced upon us.

What are we saying Huntley? That even though we KNOW this country has a history of outright and institutionalized racism, I have to pretend they don’t, because it makes them feel bad to remind them of it.

Wow. I’m not even allowed to love myself.

The church can't be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world.

A church can't have a value system based on race. The church's value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if its a white church or a black church--it's still wrong. Anyone from either rac e who attends a church like this would never get my vote.

Truer words have not been spoken, but I fear there may be a note of hypocrisy here. We already know Huntley’s church is Babylonian and probably not the “True” Church of God as we know it. However – we have to ask ourselves – do we REALLY want to get racial? REALLY? Are we REALLY ready for that? Huntley’s racial issues are surface and trite – forget that stuff. If we’re going “racial” let’s go all the way!

If the God and the Church of God really is color blind, how come very few of our churches are interracial?”

If the God and the Church of God really is color blind, how come the churches that are interracial have mostly white pastors? What that says to me is that more black people are willing to assimilate into white society, but far fewer whites are willing to assimilate into black society (and what that means practically is that blacks are willing to have a white man as their leader, but whites are unwilling to have a black man as their leader). Sounds kind of familiar doesn’t it? Perhaps because it’s also the trend we see being played out in our current political climate. It appears to me that not only will Christian whites probably NOT sit under a black pastor, Christian blacks are seriously being told we are NOT allowed to choose a black man as our nation’s political leader.

Finally, if God and the Church of God really is color blind, how can any saved, sanctified saint of God really stand against interracial marriage? How in God’s name (and I DO mean God’s name) can the WORLD outpace us on this front, when we are the head and not the tail?

I ask these as rhetorical questions, and I understand they are weighty – I do make any judgments, nor do I expect answers. I don’t have the answers, but I feel that since we are digging deep on the race issue, maybe we can dig into and contemplate issues that really affect us and our walk with Christ as children of God.

Obama's former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book, 'A Black Theology of Liberation.' Cone wrote: 'Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him.'

Cone is the man Obama's mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?

Speculative, assumptive and inflammatory.

See my very first point about Jeremiah Wright. It really IS possible to know someone, and to eat their meat and toss their bones. My Dad’s not saved, and I truly think he’s a great man with a lot of good ideas/thoughts, but wholly wrong on the religion/salvation front.

Eat the meat – toss the bones. Easy. Is it seriously hard to believe that others cannot do the same?

So what does all this mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing -- judgment.

Read 1 Samuel 8:6 when Israel asked for a king.
First God says in 1 Samuel 8:9 'Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king20who will reign over them will do.'

Then God says, 1 Samuel 8:18 ' When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.'

19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us.
20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.'
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD.
22 The LORD answered, 'Listen to them and give them a king.'

This analogy is way off base, and very inexact.

(1) if the President is king, we already have a king.

(2) if electing a President in 2008 is like asking God for a king, we are way beyond the point of no return because they put the election system in place many many years ago, and we’ve been electing a “king” for years.

(3) Based on point #2 above, the culpability for asking for a “king” lies with the people who first put our American political system together. We would be the Israelites many years later.

(4) If we accept Huntley’s erroneous application of scripture, doesn’t that also mean that electing John McCain is like electing a king – and wont that ALSO displease God?

(5) Since Huntley is so off-point here, should we trust his ability to dissect and apply scripture?

(6) Since we know Huntley is Pro-John McCain, isn’t he failing to discuss that his scripture also applies to his own candidate?

(7) Isn’t that hypocritical of him?

(8) Doesn’t that mean he just wrested the scripture for his own benefit?

Here is what we know for sure. God is not schizophrenic.

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God.

I can understand Huntley’s point from a bird’s eye view, but in a microcosm, it is very arrogant (scarily so), for a man to suggest he is right in his choice in such a gray area, and leave himself no margin for human error. I do not even make such a claim about Obama.

The point here is about interpretation of God’s will. The scripture shows that (Proverb 4:18 - But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.) we obtain instruction from God – and as we grow, we grow into more knowledge, more understanding. Other scriptures caution us as well: Jeremiah said (Jeremiah 10:23 - O LORD, I know that the way of man [is] not in himself: [it is] not in man that walketh to direct his steps.).

So. Since we know that we may not know, we can only do what we feel is right, according to what we feel God has shown us. But you know the most awesome part for ALL of us? God’s Will will triumph – always. At all times, and in every place, we can have utmost comfort in knowing that God will win the day – regardless of how any of us vote. Scripture proves it. Consider:

(Psalm 75:6-7 - For promotion [cometh] neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God [is] the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.)

This scripture is of great comfort to me, because in 2004, I voted Democrat, and before you ask – yes, I felt very strongly that I should. However, even when voting, I very strongly remember the politically charged climate, and I remember driving down the road and asking God to have his perfect way – even if his “way” meant George Bush was re-elected. At some point I stopped caring about what I wanted, and I told God that if he promoted George Bush again, I would accept it as his will – in fact, I prayed that if perchance I was wrong, and the nation needed Bush again, that he would have his way.

It hurt. But I accepted George Bush as our President. Again. So the bottom line is that, however we vote, we should pray that God have HIS way, and we should have a good spirit whatever happens and rest in knowing that, indeed, God DID have his way.

I actually don’t mind McCain that much, and would have voted for him rather than Hillary Clinton. What is scaring me now is that I KNOW I wont keel over raving mad if McCain is elected, despite my voting Democrat. I harbor strong doubts that Republicans will be able to accept Obama being elected with as much decorum.

Maybe I am the one not hearing, but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it.

As far as I’m concerned, so does McCain and much of the Republican agenda.

For all my friends who are voting for Obama, can you really look20God in the face and say; 'Father, based on Your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four supreme court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against You. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though You destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy.'

Yes, easily.

I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama's positions.

I can.

Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends. Since we know someone's value system has to be placed on the nation,

1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation?

A socially responsible value system that is concerned about the poor, about minorities, immigrants, women and the little man. A value system that doesn’t want to destroy our civil freedoms and liberties. A value system that is not war-mongering and/or imperialist. A value system that isn’t destroying our national economy, weakening our dollar, mortgaging our country to the third world, fast becoming a dictatorship, and turning our country into a 3rd world country.

2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

God. And he will. Very soon. In that, we have accord.

My love and prayers in Christ
We are all sinners saved by grace but we need to have some absolute laws to govern society or else we willself-destruct.

This is proof that Huntley is not saved – he is mired in False Religion. Sin is in his life – thus he has no “spiritual discernment” of the Holy Ghost, and the Devil is his head. (1 Corinthians 2:11 - For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.) And again here: (1 Corinthians 2:14,15 - But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.)

What has really bothered me is the fact that our beautiful black women constitute only 6% of the population, yet they comprise 36% of the abortion industry's clientele. Obama has done nothing to stop this. Most people don't know that the leading abortion providers have chosen to exploit us blacks by locating 94% of their abortuaries in urban neighborhoods with high black populations. Obama has done nothing to stop this?

Stop. Are we seriously concerned about this statistic? 36% is great. According to this data (http://www.abortionfacts.com/statistics/race.asp), 57% are white women, and the large majority of black abortions come from the states of Georgia, Maryland, NJ, and NY – essentially, the Northeast, and those are the only states where black abortions marginally eclipse white abortions. Those states, I might add, are NOT Senator Obama’s (IL) constituency. 76% of abortions in Arizona (McCain’s Constituency) were white; 4.7% were black. There are other statistics that I’d argue are FAR more pressing on the black community.

Like this one: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988183,00.html

Or this one (from China, which is admittedly, hypocritical of them): http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200503/03/eng20050303_175421.html

Mary, Mom & Liz Kayak the Seven Caves of La Jolla

2008-10-04T22:30:00.000-05:00

Ok - I was hurting (cue the Bro. Willie Bryant song right now), but I wasnt alone, and I had been down sick for just about EVERY DAY of the vacation, and I decided I wasnt going out like that. God had allowed this sickness to happen to me, and if he wasnt going to take it away as immediately as I wanted, the very least I could do was to have a good spirit about it, and make sure that Mom and Liz's vacation wasnt covered by the palor of my pain/anger/pain/disappointment - did I say pain?

Anyway, despite the best laid plans of mice and men (mine) to jam pack the most fun into this trip as possible, and despite the tight schedule I had lined up - I was really, REALLY sick. Like bed-ridden, fever-having, awake nights with no sleeping sick. Still. I had bravely mounted up to go out on afternoon "adventures" the previous days (after sleeping all morning, and getting my courage up while Mom and Liz were out all morning....having fun without me......)...because somewhere in the throes of my pain one night, I confessed to God that He was Right: I had NO EXCUSE to complain of have a bad attitude; I had no excuse to devolve into self-pity; I had no excuse to be irritable, or to make Mom/Liz miserable or uncomfortable, just because I was uncomfortable. And so in that moment of lucidity through the pain (I confess I am sure that I cried), I asked God to give me the strength of will and the courage to go on....and with a good spirit (because I wanted to leave immediately after I got sick).

And he did just that. I mean - I even surprised myself. I know he said that he wouldnt put on us more than we could bear (I even told him that, because I was so sick I felt it was unbearable), and in that moment, he made me able to bear it - to go a little further (I asked him for that, too - because remember - Jesus went a little further). It was all about mental toughness, and I was fresh out - I needed something extraordinary, and he came through and gave me exactly that.

So. Come Monday - just like I planned, we went Kayaking! :D

Who Says All Californians Support Gay Marriage?

2008-10-01T20:33:00.000-05:00

So, I'm recently back from a vacation in San Diego (more on that later), and while we were there, lo and behold look what we ran across!

It was incredibly cool to see that not all Californians are on the Pro-Gay Marriage bandwagon, and I was suitably impressed. We honked, and the great tragedy is that for awhile, we were the only ones honking - so we drove back by several times (actually, we had to go into that Walgreens), and after we started honking, others started honking too. But I have to say - for as crowded as that intersection was, it was far too few honks. We surmised from the later scattered honks that it must mean that a lot of people in California dont agree with Gay Marriage (or homosexuality period), but are on lock-down - completely terrified to disagree with it openly.

When People Correct Typos

2008-10-01T19:19:00.000-05:00

hm.

Here's the thing: typographical spelling errors generally take the form of another "real" word. Coming up with a word that doesnt exist is not a typo in my book - it means you truly dont know how to spell the word, although you may know (1) what it means, and (2) how to use it in a sentence. In my book, a person who "creates" words is not unlearned - just not well read enough to recognize the correct spelling of the word. They are the other version of the person who uses the wrong word (exact same pronunciation/different word/different meaning) for the right sentence.

Example I've seen often: That really peaked my interest.
Correct version: That really piqued my interest.

Example I've seen often made by non-lawyers where english is not their first language: We'll have to have those documents reviewed by in-house council.
Correct version: We'll have to have those documents reviewed by in-house counsel.

I've seen it often, and in strange places. Like books, for instance. And I truly think the level of competence in large scale publishing/editing has declined tremendously. NOTHING should be allowed to be sold OTC with typographical errors. This is why they PAY people --- to EDIT.

I also see a whole lot of typos (and I, too, make them). But I've seen enough to be able to tell when
1. the writer is a person who typed hurriedly / just doesnt care
2. the writer is a person who isnt well-read enough to know how to spell the word they want to use
3. the writer is a person with a reading/writing disorder (e.g. dyslexia)
4. the writer is a person where english is not their first language
5. the writer did not make a typographical error, but instead was using their own version of shorthand

But. You know. Calm down, everybody. Typographical errors are not an benchmark of intelligence. There was a standing joke in law school that the more expertise one obtains, the worse their spelling and penmanship/longhand got. After I worked with a few doctors, I found that they, too, have a joke about suffering horrid spelling. Its one of those things where unless you're at work, or submitting official papers, you know you know, so you cant be bothered to care enough about regular writing to try very hard. Its a well known laziness that exists among people who feel they've already proven themselves.

Speaking of shorthand: I worked with a guy who decided never to capitalize his sentences. The uber-nerd in me found it kind of cool. I sometimes adopt this sytle when I email/post.

Personally, I never use apostrophes (can't=cant) unless its official. Ever. Not even on work email.

Speaking of disorders: One of my brothers is incredibly dyslexic. For years he would frustrate our parents and his teachers because he was clearly highly intelligent and always at the top of his class in deeds and presentation, but was not a reader or a writer (the only one in a family of people that could read several 3-400 page novels in one setting). As an adult, he literally had the penmanship of a small child - cursive was not even on the table - in fact, he would phonetically spell words. Big words. Complicated and complex words. Words he used in conversation every day....but just couldnt spell. Reading his notes was like deciphering a strange language.

He was finally tested right before college, and the disorder was discovered. After that, it was all rosy - he took oral exams, got hooked on audiobooks, and became the reader (albeit audio-lly) that all his friends were. He was like a kid in a candy store - he was suprised to find that he actually enjoyed reading (audio-lly). Somewhere in there we convinced him to try actual reading and to work on his penmanship. One of my proudest days was when I came home to find after he left from a visit that he had "borrowed" one of my thick Robin Hobbs books. I highly valued that complete set of books, and I never let anyone, not even family, take my books out of my house. I let him borrow them all - and I didnt even get them all back.

Right now, he's still dealing with a liability, because audiobooks do not give you the grasp of english writing. You get the language, you know what it means, you have the intelligence - but now, you have a communication problem. Because unless you communicate verbally, you're automatically at a handicap with your peers. It is a huge liability in the workplace (unless you're working construction, or other non-desk jobs).

So. He uses spellcheck like its nobody's business. AND it sets him back at work, because it takes him longer than it takes everyone else to get some things done. The problem is, spellcheck doesnt correct words that ARE NOT WRONG. Also, if you dont know how to spell the word you're looking for, you're liable to choose or accept the wrong spelling of the word when spellcheck offers you the choice.

So for instance, you could be a person who has trouble with spelling and send me an email like this:

original example:
Hey Mar
Ar yu cuming ovr tonit? mom sez ther cuming

spellcheck translates to this:

spellchecked example:
Hey Mar
Are you coming over tonight? Mom size their coming.

what was meant was this:

correct example:
Hey Mar
Are you coming over tonight? Mom says they're coming.

So. Spellcheck is no substitute for knowledge. You gotta read more. And you cant be lazy (unless you just dont care, which is ok too).

Me? When I get excited, I forget to add whole chunks of sentences, so you'll be reading a paragraph, and be totally confused. Or, I'll forget to add the negatives to words (e.g. cant = cannot, but I'll write "can" and forget to add the "n't"), and change the entire meaning of my sentence to its opposite. (this is really bad!) I also have a bad habit of leaving out the little words (the, of, this, that).

So yeah. Typos happen to us all. To some more than others. But with proofreading, they should never happen to people who actually write for a living, or submit articles to be published (that is really bad). Finally, yes - it is a little snobbish to call people on their typos, and normally I dont - but I've found that writers are elitists, plus its hard not highlight the error when its someone who is known to be smug and know-it-all.

When people correct my typos, typically they are ecstatic. I had one girl tell me - Wow. You're NOT Superwoman! It wasnt hard to bear, because she wasnt really mad, in fact she was a friend - one of the girls I mentored at work. The other time, as a manager of all the law clerks in a courthouse, I had written a detailed and well-crafted complaint about one of the front-desk girls that was giving us problems. I didnt want to, and the political firestorm it was going to create was against my better judgment, but the clerks were stark-raving mad, and I was worried about a mutiny against me as a manager or some other kind of ambition among the group - and since I was "the cheese" I had to, if only to prove to them that I was indeed a capable manager who would go to bat for them. So I wrote this complaint, and shared it with my judge (the presiding judge), and all the other judges/clerks. My judge gave it to the manager of of the court staff - a really scary old lady. She interviewed the front-desk girl, and she called me into her office and interviewed me. She was ANGRY. I could tell she hated me, and wanted to rip into me. But she couldnt, because I was right, and the letter of complaint I wrote was rock-solid.

You know what one observation she made to me? Out of 2 pages, she found one typographical error. I rebutted that the grammar wasnt the point, and did she understand the fundamental problem? (Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth??) I checked later, and indeed, there was no error - she just did not understand certain grammatics. Needless to say, every lawyer who got that memo congratulated me separately, and every one of them said it was rock-solid, with nary a loop-hole. Even though I didnt win that battle from an external perspective (she told me I was wrong and let the lady off with a slap on the wrist), it was a personal triumph of magnificent proportions.

So now, if someone who is not working with me on the project (in other words, they also have a stake in the writing being the best) corrects my typo, I understand it is typically because they feel the need to take me down a peg. Take it as a sign that they think you think to highly of yourself, or they are insecure in your presence because they may think of you as flawless.

Insecure people who are afraid that you are flawless are scary, because they spend the rest of their time looking for a flaw to point out. The best tack is to choose your own time/place to admit flaws/weakness in order to assuage them by proving them right. This way, they feel vindicated, and dont feel the need to "gun" for you.

Of course, the flaws you admit to your enemy are different (strategic) than the flaws you admit to your friend (real)! If your friends think you are Superwoman/Man, and dont know the real you - you will have very few real friends. Managing friends in the workplace is much harder because you do have to be perceived as capable and "above it" in some way, yet still real, tangible, approachable, down-to-earth and emotive - and I'm still iffy on that subject. I typically get the first part right - not so sure about the second.

2008-09-23T06:38:00.000-05:00

the damage is too great for [Obama] to fix in one term.

anyone can admit the damage is too great for him to fix. the man isnt God. he's got a lot of work, and a lot more disappointment ahead, and if one isnt honest about that, I'd worry.

still. i'm not going to choose another republican regime simply because "the damage is too great," - that would be absurd. that would be akin to rewarding someone for bad behavior ("Oh look Johnny, you put your hand in the whole cake and messed it up! Now, no one else can eat it! You have to eat the whole cake yourself now.")

isnt that exactly what johnny wanted? and wouldnt we be proving to johnny that we are simple-minded, manipulatable individuals if we gave him that?

There's an attitude to take: mess up long enough, and everyone will be so filled with despondency and despair that they wont even try to turn it around - no, they'll actually be afraid to try to turn it around. in fact, they'll be so beat down by what's happening that they'll just learn to expect the worst and give in out of hopelessness.

Good Will Hunting ....Sarah Palin

2008-09-17T00:12:00.000-05:00

Selective Republican Forgiveness?

2008-09-16T23:09:00.000-05:00

Let me say that I while I am not a fan of Palin, I dont think she's the Devil. In fact, I think once the (media) feeding frenzy is over, no one else (read: Democrats, I mean) really does either. My level of respect for someone who can admit the same about Obama while disagreeing with him is ratcheted up quite a few notches.

No. What is being played upon at this point is basic emotion - because it sells. And it works on even the most erudite. Because I have to admit, while I could care less about what happens in the Palin household, and while I have nothing but the utmost sympathy for parents whose teenage daughter comes home knocked up: there is something visceral about my reaction to Palin's knocked up daughter - and it has nothing to do with Palin herself.

It has everything to do with a ingrained sense of outrage over the idea of republican selective forgiveness: that when John Edwards (lets just insert "Democrat" here), sleeps with a woman who isnt his wife (read: adulterer), he's the Democratic Demon Child - but when Palin's daughter turns up knocked up (read: fornicator - potential abortion candidate (that part being speculative at this point seeing as how mommy/daddy probably nixed that option after the public became aware)), we should approach her family with love and understanding, and......gasp...forgiveness!

Shouldn't we approach all of the potential candidates that way, with that same tender understanding?

Yes. I feel betrayed. I feel betrayed that the self-portrayed "Moral Party" are the same people who would rip into Jamie Lynn Spears for daring to write a "How to Mother" book, and tear her to pieces over coffee, deem her an unfit mother - or if anything, definitely unfit to lead/teach other mothers - all because of having a knocked up teenager ---- and these same people are suddenly placing Palin on a pedastal of suffering parenthood, and asking for a tender approach to her home and her feelings?

Give me a break. She gave up privacy from media intrustion and judgment when she took the center stage. I am constantly baffled by the candidates' tiptoe approach to her - as if she might crack and break if we get "too personal." THIS is going to be our VP? Someone whose tender lady feelings we're even afraid to hurt?

I would have rathered Hillary Clinton, and I seriously disliked her, but at least I did not think she was a scared little puppy. The gloves are off, Palin. Welcome to the Big Leagues.

The Search For Clarity in the 2008 Presidential Election

2008-09-16T22:47:00.000-05:00

ok, somebody sent me this via email and I had to share.

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

* If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, ddifferent."
* Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a ! state wi th only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America 's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

To the Religious Right - There ARE Christian Democrats

2008-08-28T21:59:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking about the "If You're Christian You'll Vote Republican" viewpoint (as if you are NOT Christian if you don’t). We all love God. The Secular World is not Christian - they're entirely unChristian, or Babylonian, which means they are, for the most part, openly unChristian, or guilty of hypocrisy.

The more self-righteous and churchified known sinners get, the more worried I get. The crusades and many many great evils in the world were built on Man's Religion. The last thing we need is a self-proclaimed "righteous" guy with a literal gun in his hand on a "Mission From God."

We need pure religion. And James defines pure religion as this:

James 1:27 - Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.

These men - these candidates - are probably both spotted with filth from the world. I highly doubt that George W. Bush or John McCain or Barack Obama or any of the other candidates/politicians are saved at all.

So, suddenly, the "religion" question is a moot discussion, and the question becomes one of "moral values."

But, as has been stated: gay people didn’t get married under the Clinton regime. They got married under the Bush regime. Why is that? Why if Bush and the Republican agendas are so upright and anti-gay, have they managed to undo the sanctity of marriage on the Moral Republican watch? Why, if Democrats are so hedonistic and sinful, did they manage to forestall such an abomination as gay marriage?

Why, if Bush and the Republican agenda is so peaceful and God-loving, did our country come to war under the Bush/Republican regime, after having years of peace and global advancement under Clinton ? Is that what God wanted? (This is a rhetorical question I ask myself).

Why, if the Bush and Republican agenda is so upright and right, did every wallet tighten the moment Bush came into office? Why is our dollar flagging, our country in trillions of dollars of debt (and still hemorrhaging money) and our economy shuddering on the brink of collapse? All this in a mere 8 years from Bush's first inauguration - a day when our country stood flush in money - one of the first real times we were in the Black as opposed to the Red in decades. I suppose that money burnt a hole in our pocket.

I admit that there is wisdom in the whole "moral right," and it wouldn’t be fair to discount it. It is good to acknowledge God; it is good to strive to do right (some think it is good to pretend to strive to do right). It is good to openly acknowledge God, and to strive to keep God in our lives as Americans. It is good to vocally combat abortion and gay marriage, and to be seen to "stand against it." It is good to say - [I]"I am not going to become tolerant of sin or the moral decay of American society and/or ideals."[/I] These are good things - and I don’t discount them at all.

I don’t think any Christian discounts these things. We can’t, because we love God. And we love what is right, and God is right.

What we DO discount, though, is hypocrisy. And from what we have seen, often and repeated, the "Moral Right" is just as sinful and wrong as the Left. They just keep it in the closet. Or maybe their sins aren’t as repulsive - say, embezzling thousands of dollars from public companies, or simple adultery rather than horrible homosexuality. I just believe that even Republican women have aborted children.

So, if very generally, Republicans sin and/or are just as bad or as hell bound as Democrats, what difference between the two are we really lauding? The fact that Republicans can fake it better, or ... the fact that they WANT to fake it? (This desire to appear moral, even if you are not, is apparently believed by some to be a good thing.)

It bothers me, because we combat REAL religious hypocrisy every day. When passing tracts or witnessing, we shake our heads at it, we have real concerns. Because we KNOW that religious people are some of the most hardened sinners we will ever meet. Harder than even some of the most rank openly sinful sinners we've come across. The great danger for them is that they believe they are right, because they feel right, because they have the trappings of morality. Yet they sin.

I am reminded of Luke 18:10-13: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

To me, the "I'm moral, therefore I'm right," attitude is this exact same attitude of the Pharisee. And at least we know that the Pharisee was actually doing the commandments of the law. We have no such assuredness about all Republicans! In fact, we have the opposite: war abounds; gays marry in our country, etc., etc.

So, regarding the wisdom of the "moral right," this is a scripture that first came to my mind:

James 3:15-18: This wisdom descendeth not from above, but [is] earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife [is], there [is] confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, [and] easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

But as I began writing, I also thought of this scripture:

Philippians 1:16-18: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

And so, the Moral Right, even it if is led by men who are likely unsaved and hypocritical, is not, in and of itself a bad thing. Because either way, Christ is preached. And in that, we rejoice. THIS is why I am not anti-John McCain, nor am I anti-Republican. In fact, had Hillary Clinton become the Democratic Nominee, I would have voted for McCain on principle alone.

Because when I excise religion from the equation and step back and look at the whole picture of Democrat and Republican; Right and Left - I don’t see Right v. Wrong, or Black v. White - I see a choice of evils.

And as I consider the decline of economic parity among Americans - the widening of the class system (in that fewer people can afford college tuition, etc.) and the destruction of the middle class, the growing unemployed and impoverished, the loss of social security, the lack of social programs and the decline of funding for social programs - the party most concerned about the poor, the downtrodden, the immigrants and the minorities, etc., ad nauseum, I find that I am most inclined to gravitate toward a party that gravitates toward me. That supports me. That fights for me. That has stood for me and my rights, and for things that I care about.

This gravitation, however, has its limits. For me. And, though I do not speak for anyone other than myself, I would venture to say that it has its limits for everyone. Hillary Clinton as President in 2009 was my limit. Not because of race, not initially because she was a woman, but singularly because I found her to be too Pro-Gay.

So. We all have choices to make, and they are not so simply as black and white (pun intended) as the authors of these articles make them. I have the utmost confidence that a Republican has considered that the Republicans in office are not Holy Men or Women of God - that they probably are not even of God at all, and may likely be being used by the Devil. I've considered it for Democrats - I think we all have.

And so, whatever decisions we make, I trust that we will all of us, Democrat or Republican, make them for reasons most paramount to us, after we have weighed the factors that impact us the most, including and beyond religion, and acknowledged God.

Hey, I, too, want to be pure, peaceable, and easy to be intreated - I don’t want to fight about "which side" I'm on, or have my salvation taken away because I stand for/with a party that abolished Jim Crow laws, or that I feel fights for the little man. I've expressed this not to offend or to prolong or to debate, but because I, too, have endured the long, protracted anti-Democratic thoughts that find their way to me with relative silent disagreement.

And if silence is assent, then in some way, Imay have been giving the wrong impression these many days. I wanted to simply say, at least once, that I am saved, I love God - I am a Democrat, and here's why.

Excellence Version 2

2008-08-27T23:55:00.000-05:00

I was having this discussion with someone else, and decided that since I dont have children, maybe I'm not the best to judge this. Also, having skipped an entire bloc of basic education, it would be somewhat hypocritical of me to dogmatically suggest that all advanced children be forced/allowed to compete on the same level as the others.

Ok. Fair enough.

But I do think that one of three things is happening: we are seeing a trend of media overblown-ness in these stories; we are seeing scattered incidents where parents/coaches are behaving selfishly; or we are seeing a consistent lack of phenom-escalation in sports specifically.

Because I think there is a forum for educational/academic graduation of advanced children. Why wouldnt that same forum for systematic advancement based on skill level not also apply in the sports arena?

...oh wait. It does apply .... if you're a high school student being drafted for the NBA.

In this case, you're right, we dont have all the facts. But I think that one could make a basic assumption that should not be made: how can you be sure that there WAS a next level into which this boy could have advanced? I have played summer league baseball, and depending on where you are located and how rural the location is, some leagues only go to certain ages. Granted, often there are other leagues for older children, but in some cases, there are not.

What then? In that sort of a vacuum of sporting outlets, what mechanism allows children like this to also be allowed to play at that point, or do we just give them a bench spot where they, too, can clap with the cheerleaders? Back the team with the rest of the spectators?

I would have liked to see the following:
1. If the boy is advanced, the league and his parents should have advanced him to the next level based on his skill set. Assuming there IS a next level.
2. If there ISNT a next level in this league - granted, his parents could/should look into getting him on some other team/league in the surrounding area. But barring that, if none exists, I dont agree that its fair that he should be benched or worse, fired, so-to-speak.

Because that would be a horrible waste of talent, and essentially, without benefit of other outlets, you are basically burying a boy like that by taking away the only opportunity he has to play.

When Did Excellence Become a Bad Thing?

2008-08-25T20:27:00.000-05:00

Good god, what's next? I mean, granted, I know that in the rat race of corporate america, and no doubt corporate anywhere, there is a deeply competitive culture that advocates deep-sixing your adversary, or sabotaging your adversary (excuse me while I puke over this philosophy - but then, hey - I'm the one now unemployed, so go figure), even when you KNOW your adversary is your better. I mean, you KNOW it. Everyone KNOWS it. And instead of just accepting it, you go behind the scenes and mess something up. y'know. like ripping the pages out of the only book in the library that has the legal precedent that EVERY OTHER STUDENT NEEDS TO FIND to get an A. So yeah. You’re complete slime, and you've just ensured that you are the only student to get the A.

Why? Because you've unbalanced the playing field. You've thrown off the scale by adding a greater burden on all others than the burden placed on you. By doing so, you've not only sabotaged everyone else, you made sure that you will win.

And you know what else? You made sure that the person in the place of leadership and power is not the best person for the job. Not the kind of guy/girl that can actually win and hold the position on skill or ability alone. You've actually weakened your organization, your team, your group.

Because you've replaced Greatness with Mediocrity.

Is this what we've become? No. I get it. I know that we deal with this as adults in the Cold Cruel World.

What I didn’t know was that we bring this same ugliness, this same pettiness, this same self-serving abortion of anything good into the lives of small children. Children who haven’t even developed a real sense of self.

This is what we're teaching our children these days?

1. It is bad to be good.
2. It is really bad to be really good.
3. You a bad person if you are really good.
4. Don’t be excellent. Nothing good comes of it. You will be punished. Your friends will be punished. Your family will be punished.
5. If you're excellent, if you excel your peers, you will be punished.
6. Adults don’t really want you to excel. At least don’t be better or smarter than their child in something that THEY control. ;) You will be punished.
7. Average is best. ;) Great is bad. Excellence is anathema - you dirty little DEMON!
8. Just be average. Can’t you see that you're making all the other children feel bad by being so great??
9. Excellent children aren’t welcome here (unless they're the bosses/coaches/company execs child), or unless they play on the team we tell them to play on (read: unless we control them).

Are we really becoming a society where we deep-six CHILDREN too?

How about they all get an F for poor sportsmanship and being poor losers (I’m mad so I take my bat and ball and go home? What are we? Children??)? Sue me, I thought teaching them good morals and sportsmanship was one of the reasons for child sports too.

Fall, Pollen & Allergies, Oh My!

2008-08-25T09:11:00.000-05:00

ok, so before mark left this morning I turned off the air and opened the house to air it out. i kid you not guys 20 mins after mark was gone I could barely breathe for sneezing and itchy nose. I ran through a whole box of tissue in that time frame. i could see the pollen coming in through the windows. my eyes started to itch too. i was like WOW - is THIS what I have been missing by not having to go outside?? is what is in the air out there?? my GOD!!!!!

so anyway. even though it is really nice outside, I decided to close the windows back to perform a test to see if I would breathe easier and my eyes would stop itching. I turned the air back on, and put it on FAN so it would blow through the whole house.

do you know my sneezing problem cleared up IMMEDIATELY??? not later. not after the central fan cycled the outside air through. immediately.

so. i hate to break it, and im sorry but were stuck in the stank air conditioned house. one consolation is that i did manage to air it out in that time frame, and maybe if we keep the air-out periods short, we can do that from time to time.

so much for enjoying the fall breeze!

Death

2008-08-18T18:47:00.000-05:00

An acquaintence of mine's Dad died the other day, and I found this poem relating to death to be very appropriate.

Reluctance
by Robert Frost

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

Mary, Mark & Ray Dive! - Six Flags 2008

2008-07-20T00:18:00.000-05:00

This was on Mark's Birthday trip to Great America. Wow. WORTH. EVERY. PENNY. I have to say of all of the times I have been to Great America, this was the ABSOLUTE best visit of all time! I hope that everyone that was there also had a blast, because I did. I hadnt been in years, and I dont think I'll be going back for years, because I doubt I can top that experience. :D

Anyway, we rode just about every adult ride in the park, save for the Whizzer, which just goes to show that if you are dedicated, and go on a weekday, you can do the entire park. Plus, we arrived after 10am, and took many, MANY breaks to do leisure things like play the games (Mark rang the bell and won a boat), play arcade games (the boys), and go out to the parking lot to tailgate for awhile.

Most Memorable Ride Ratings:
DareDevil Dive = 10/10
Vertical Velocity = 9/10
The Raging Bull = 9/10
The Drop = 6/10

And If yo want to get REALLY wet, without going to Hurricane Harbor, just ride the Raging Rapids.

All in all, a BLAST!

Evolution v. Creationism

2008-07-18T00:07:00.000-05:00

Hey! I agree with Creationism. And so do a lot of highly intelligent people I know - some of whom are in science professions.

I think it takes a lot of gall and global groupthink to "decide" that one theory is more plausible than the next (when neither are proven by fact), and require it to be the only education a child receives.

Yes. It is true that among the intellectual elite, or those that think they are intellectual, Creationism is publicly looked down on, and religion is considered the opium of the masses.

I am not at all an advocate of silencing voices in the public, and as a person in the legal profession, I do not agree that a separation of Church and State is a justification to wholesale ignore religion, or to stonewall it, or to silence it by legislation. The State was supposed to protect religion, and to protect people from abuses of religion. Somewhere, in all of this, we've gotten to a place where the State has adopted an actively atheist agenda, and abuses religion - and in doing so, it thereby "chooses" a side, which places us right back where the Pilgrims were - terrified that they were going to be abused by the state for believing in something the State doesnt. Whatever happened to the free flow of ideas? The State wasnt supposed to adopt an agenda, but was only supposed to play the part of a nuetral observer and referee, a protector of all, regardless of agenda or belief. Instead, we have a State that is so afraid of itself, so afraid of its ability to remain nuetral, or so beholden to an atheist lobby, that it is actively frustrating real discourse on the subject of religion.

And then we get those few "make-up" calls every now and again so the political process of the State will have legitimacy - this is when we get them forcing people to go to Muslim schools, or forcing NY taxpayers to PAY for a private Muslim school. Things like this are in EXACT opposition to the very anti-religious agenda they espouse!

And everyone that believes in God is not a backwoods, backwards, unlearned idiot.

And - Lets not get confused here with all the buzzwords we are tossing around.

for sake of this post:
science = fact
fact = tangible, known, factual discoveries (this category does not include suppositions, regardless of how generally accepted they are - let us remember, as has been pointed out, it was once generally accepted that the world was flat)
theories = suppositions based on facts, or interpretations of the unknown, based on the known; also random suppositions

As has been mentioned, the myriad 'scientific' discoveries found do not prove evolution with singularity. My point is that studies have consistently argued that the FACTS at the base of science can be interpreted or argued to apply to both evolution and creationism/ID, and more. No one is arguing that the discoveries are non-existent - merely that they give rise to a more expansive interpretation than simply "evolution."

However and unfortunately for the science field, modern scientific thinking has decided to apply the findings as though they exclusively prove evolution, and evolution only. This is the crux of the debate - not what religion, or which religion, or IF religion. The rub, then, with believers in creationism/ID, or believers in anything OTHER than evolution, or hey, even people who want investigate or know about theories other than evolution, whether they believe/accept them or not, is that the classroom adopts a singular interpretation from "science."

I have several friends who are teachers - be it Junior High, High School, even University. Most of them agree that the public scientific education, in that it is exclusively adopts evolution, is lopsided.

Lets recap: this is not about which religion's vantage point is taught. I could care less if a science class spent one week on Creationism/ID, and hit every major religion's thoughts on the idea, or just generally discussed within the framework of ID that most major religions, as a whole (though there are differing versions of "how it was done"), believe in the God-Creation account. All I argue is that when evolution is taught wholesale as the ONLY way, the ONLY theory, the ONLY correct version - that's problematic, dont you think?

What kind of education - true, enlightened education precludes discussion of, or at least mention of other, dissenting views? The entire point is not to shut down the opposing viewpoint, but to with reasoned logic and compelling evidence and/or persuasion, successfully argue for the viewpoint it thinks right.

See the diagram I attached.

God's "Mysterious" Ways

2008-07-09T22:46:00.000-05:00

Quote:
I believe in a God, I do. But I was just reading about a plane crash, and thought "you know, where was God here?"

Not just any plane crash either. Oooooh, no. This was a plane evacuating ORPHANS! Orphan Flight! Baby Plane!

That's right, "God" brought down a plane of orphans being evacuated from a warzone, killing 138 of the little toddlers. As an encore, maybe He'll set fire to a warehouse of puppies, kittens and baby seals.

Sooooo... I dunno. Maybe he just has a really weird sense of humour.

True questions get true answers. Questions disguised as questions, which are really nothing more than opportunities to say this is why I'm right, and you're wrong, are actually thus perceived, and no real answers are forthcoming, only....circular debate about a same old tired issue.

a If you didn’t believe in God, I would say that the premise of this comment is argumentative and disingenuous.
b If you believe in a Supreme Being (God), but are unsure of where s/he fits in the overall scheme of things and are skeptical of all things religion, I would say that the premise of this comment may be argumentative or may be genuine. Argumentative, because if you are the one that says you believe in the random existence of a Supreme Being and reject all typical explanations offered, then simply come to your own conclusion about it - why is anyone beholden to explain it to you? Genuine, because if you do believe in a Supreme Being and do not reject all typical explanations offered, or are at least open to hearing more, you may genuinely want to hear the explanations offered.
c If you completely believe in God, and accept your (any major) religion's explanation of her/him, I would say this comment is wholly sincere in an attempt to understand something you do not understand.

I continue to be taken aback at the assumption that anyone who believes in God is required to justify to an atheist what we call by law "Acts of God," which are to the naked eye "acts of nature" really. I have yet to meet a Christian (any of the sects or non-sects), or a Muslim, or a Catholic, or a Jew who is astonished, worried or surprised in any "why would God let this happen" way by these tragedies. The people who are (or pretend to be?) surprised/overwhelmed are either atheists, or people who believe in some random God and are so far from comprehension of their random God that they are unable to reconcile his/her perceived acts with their understanding. But they do believe in him/her though, and they expect us to explain their God to them. Or else they don’t believe in God at all and are faking surprise and asking the question to be argumentative.

Here’s the thing. It is really not worth arguing about unless you are truly willing to listen to the answer, and conversely, those being asked are truly able to hear the question. most people have some sort of answer from somewhere, even if from their own Sunday school from back in the day, whether they agree with the answer or not.

If you are truly looking for a new answer, that's one thing, but if what you really want to say is “Hey! Here is why I DONT believe in God! And I'd like to debate the issue with you!” you have the right to say that. Just say it.

Other than that, you already know you are not required to believe in God, and you will no doubt go right on living your life as it is if you don’t. I truly believe that everyone at some point in their life has a God-Experience (religious designation irrelevant), and until you have that experience, arguing about it or attempting to dissect the finer points of things you don’t understand is really a waste of time. Because without your own God-Experience the words and rhetoric, no matter how heartfelt and meaningful, mean nothing. The sad tragedy is that there are a vast majority of people walking around the entire world who claim Christianity or Muslim or Jew or any other major religion who lack a God-Experience, and are no different really than say....you, or any other atheist, save in rhetoric and words. Nothing about them has been changed or is different from you in any way other than a religious affiliation.

So, it is true. Religious people can be false, or have a dead or vain religion, and how can you know what to trust? What to believe in? Who can really blame you? I blame no one this distrust, because I honestly believe that people have more of a reason NOT to believe than to believe.

I could go on, but I'm not sure there is really any point in it. I only say that if you do not believe in God, then you should need no explanation for tragedy. If you do believe in God, and you lack the explanation, it is your responsibility to seek out the answer, if only for the peace of your mind.

Happy 4th of July, Liz!

2008-07-09T06:47:00.000-05:00

Dementia & Weddings. Who Knew?

2008-07-07T00:19:00.000-05:00

So. me and my sisters went to vist our demented grandmother the weekend of May 17th. with our dad, who is her son. she spent the balance of the trip thinking that our aunt (her daughter) was our dad's mother (thus thinking our aunt was our grandmother), which totally irritated my dad, but was kind of fun. it was more fun the more irritated he got, simply because the man has spent his life being a blunt instrument - unfortunately, you cant fix someone's mind by telling them to "suck it up!" finesse. gentility. understanding. these words are not a part of his vocabulary. apparently she thinks her daughter is dead, and refuses to believe otherwise, even though aunt comes by every. single. day. (and then I went and made the mistake of calling our aunt (who is my very own namesake!) "grandma" over dinner --- it was a very tense moment, in which I almost wondered if I was going to catch one of those grown people beat downs. However, my gaffe was intentionally and artfully deflected by the immediate and sudden cacophony of my sisters' loud and inane chatter. plus, they were between me and her. ;))

the old man, grams & me

The next weekend though, me and my mom kicked it with some family friends. our fam + their fam = friends since the old days. childhood buddy got married the way some people did in the old days.....at the end of a shotgun. except. there was no shotgun, no "family way," and no underage or even college age minors. instead, it tasted of the new new shotgun wedding of people who already have the house, honeymoon and car, tire of "living in sin" and decide to finally put the cart before the horse and get a judge to tie the old knot. so yeah. he called me friday night to share the news and to see if the fam could show on short notice - since mom and I were the only ones in town, I dragged her out to the celebratory dinner, where I spent the evening like all singles at marriage events - being shamelessly scrutinized like I was for sale - to which I compensated handsomely by teasing the guys and couple at my table (I've known all since childhood). something so wrong should not have felt so right, but they got me back by trying to give me the bouquet. Then I played with the children, which is always fun (actually, they ran me a little ragged, and me and all my "stuff" felt a little worse for the wear).

r to l: me (caught in the unfortunate "lean"), bride, groom, mom

And yeah. I totally rocked the same casual outfit both weekends. :D

Religion v. Science

2008-07-06T23:34:00.000-05:00

I don’t consider science and God mutually exclusive - never have, never will. Frankly, I think its absurd to even try to make them either : or propositions, because people who do try generally tend to find themselves entrenched in a position they can't backpedal out of when they hit a analytical snag. The truth is, even science can’t explain everything - scientists have admitted it, and I'm always confused by the failure of people who claim to "defend" science's inability to admit this.

One should not elevate science itself to infallible Godhood in an attempt to defend its rightness - that would be totally spinning the argument for science on its head. Despite consistent application of analytical theorization to a set of facts, some scientific conclusions are simply still just speculation.

Faith, of any kind, has already admitted on its face that it is speculation. People have already quoted the bedrock (and damning, if you’re putting forth an argument) scripture about faith in one various "religion" discussions (e.g. 2 Peter 1:20,21). No one is even arguing that it is not speculation - sight unseen, sight unproven.

Proven would be the antithesis of Faith.

this is entire crux of this passage:
Rom 8:24,25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for [it].

So. If your argument is that a belief in God is based on speculation - you have no dissent, because we agree. However, I would argue also that scientific theory is also speculation. I seriously feel like I’m repeating an old argument so I wont belabor that point, but I will show you this passage, and I find it humorous, because if you step back from the red haze of blind debate, you have to find it interesting how it also applies to how science goes about conceptualizing its understanding of the universe:
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made

Isn’t it true that scientists, great thinkers, etc., in many instances explain the unknown by the known? Everyone, scientists and believers alike, take what IS and speculate about what WAS or what WILL BE. In this, we are alike, whether admitted or not.

Now. When you get down to brass tacks about the veracity of the bible, or the Quran, or any other chosen scripture, yadda, yadda, my understanding is that the bible is the only one that has been consistently proven as a historically correct document. Science has proven many of the events explained as having happened. Some people take issues with some parts, some with all of it, and suddenly what you have is a line drawn down the middle, and people on either side either believing or not believing. All or nothing. Such a dogmatic approach has to be very limiting for those scientists who choose to take it, because they are forced to become extreme, and even reject its proven historical context and truth.

I find people like that unreasonable in their profession, and extreme to the degree of fanaticism.

But lets talk about normal people you meet.

People chat about belief in God all the time - what you have is:

1. An un-informed guess
......(a) a scientific guess
......(b) a religious guess
2. An educated guess
......(a) a scientific guess
......(b) a religious guess
3. Wholesale acceptance of anything told to them without investigating for one's self.

The truth is, you could run into any one of these people at any time, and may not know the difference. What's unfortunate for science is that it is a human impulse to believe in something greater than one's self (cant be bothered to cast back to Philosophy class to figure out which person espoused that point) - always will be. And the true argument of science with religion is generally the argument of the skeptic with that same human impulse to God.

I am very happy that we do not all have to be skeptics. Nor do I think the questions should go unasked. Because undoubtedly there is an answer to every question, whether it is accepted or not, and there are a great many skeptics who obtained the answer they were seeking.

Quote:
So, an 11 year old girl died in Wisconsin of diabetes because her parents did not believe in medicine, but instead in prayer healing. She first stopped eating, then drinking, then could barely walk, and finally went comatose on a mattress on their kitchen floor.

Before we get all caught up in the emotionalism of the moment, let me first say that I have concerns about this story. I'm confused about why the mattress was on the kitchen floor? I've had the dubious pleasure of seeing inside the homes of people who live like that, and from my observation, its unclean and strange even if the child was 100% healthy. In the home I saw, even the dog slept on the bed - people also walked on it with their shoes, and it didn’t have sheets on it. It disturbed me, and I was a child. Suffice to say, I was very glad when our visit ended.

I have no problem with prayer healing. I also have no problem with corporeal punishment. I do have a problem with parental neglect, and I have a serious problem with child abuse. I do, however, understand that the former instances do not necessarily include the latter instances. I think it shameful that so many people guilty of the latter(s), attempt to shield themselves by claiming the former(s). Further, my understanding was that most states will charge a parent with a criminal charge (of neglect?) if they just let their child die - you cant do that because you will have broken the law.

The way I see it, its up to the parent. Believe in God and see your faith met with healing or see your child die and go to jail (in this instance, I think the inner turmoil a real, loving, caring parent would feel would be jail enough - that, or they would have a great inner peace). Or take the child to doctor and they might be instantly better or they might die of a terminal illness anyway. Or do both. It’s their child, its their choice. Me? I am totally ok with prayer/faith healing - I even believe it such that I do not take medicine (unless of course my dad made me, which was once when I was a child, and unless you count Novocain at the dentist). Not even an Advil or Tylenol for a headache. I'm ok with that. The way I see it, I'm just like any normal person - I'd like to live life as long and as full as I can, but I am not crazy - death is something that will visit us all, someday. Its in my signature! Who's to say my day wont come sooner than later? If its my time to go, its my time to go.

Let's talk about the dead.

I actually know people who have died - young people in their 20s or 30s, friends who have died of terminal illnesses who refused medicine or surgery, etc, and others who have died who accepted medicine surgery, etc. And you know what their doctors said to them in the face of their illnesses? Do you believe in God? Pray. So give the people who decide to pre-empt the thousands of dollars in medical bills and just stay home a break. Some people do believe in God, and some ailments are irreversible by modern science - maybe it would be more preferable to the healthy spectator, the intellectual debater to have the Ill first spend every dollar trying to solve the problem medically, and then, when their doctor tells them to "Pray" to pray. Give me a break. Die with dignity. I've seen it, and its far better than dying scratching, clawing, clearly dying and still unhappy, still turbulent even at the close of your life.

Everyone is not the same - some believe faith is exercised by medical intervention. Others believe faith is exercised when medical intervention is rejected. Everyone is different, with a different interpretation - it is personal down to the individual. What is true, though, of those people who reject medical intervention, is that they are consciously making a decision to rely only on God and (1) be healed, or (2) die.

What they are doing is taking the choice out of their own hands, and placing the result squarely on their God. For better. For worse. And they accept either outcome. If they get better, thank God. If they die, it was their time to go - they were not supposed to be bettered in any way. I feel there is dignity in that quiet acceptance of one's fate. Furthermore, I don’t think the feeling or impulse to give/live this ultimatum is a strange or odd impulse - else we wouldn’t have phrases like: do or die! or even Paul Revere's statement give me liberty or give me death. Sometimes, death is one of the alternatives on the table, inevitable or not.

They'd. Rather. Die.

Now. Let's talk about the living.

Belief that God heals presupposes a belief in God (so for sake of argument these people believe in God). It also presupposes a belief that the choice of healing is his - and that he may or may not choose to heal. Do you know that I also know people who he has healed? I've seen it with my own eyes, and not from a charlatan or "faith healer" shyster as depicted in the movies. No. Time would fail for me to tell you of the things that have happened to one of the people closest to me: my own mother, for one. I would characterize her as a devout woman of faith - for my whole life. Here are a few stories that I saw with my own eyes.

Example 1:
When I was young, my mother fell off of a ladder, harming both of her legs and completely and irreparably crushing her right ankle. She was told by her doctor that she would never walk again. We all believed it, specifically me and my sibs because we were the ones who were her nursemaids. We had to bring everything to her bed - even bedpan because she was unable to walk. My father carried her wherever she needed to go, and when he was at work, my brothers and sisters and I did everything else. Everything. She was given therapy, and at one point, her doctor informed her that her foot was dead, her leg was dying, and that they would need to amputate her leg. She refused to have it amputated, such that even though we were children she would discuss emergency situations with us, that if ever an ambulance came and took her before our dad got home, we were to insist that her leg not be amputated. She was told she would die if it wasn’t amputated. She and my father got opinion after opinion from other doctors and the answer was the same - if the leg wasn’t amputated, she would die. I was there. I even occasionally went to hospital with her. She chose to believe God, and we ended up having the family talk (sans Dad on this one! He's a non-Christian ) that we needed to understand that Mom might die. You have no idea how hard and how many nights I prayed. She prayed. My sibs prayed. Even my non-believing Father prayed. Our friends prayed. Or Pastor prayed. Our church prayed. And one day, instead of dying, she started walking with crutches. And then with the two-handed cane. And then with a 1-hand cane. And then with high-top tennis shoes. And then with flats. And then with heels. And as of today, she runs with both feet just like me, and suffers occasionally the mild ankle swelling that many middle-aged women do. It wasn’t overnight like some Benny Hinn entertainment venue. Like some side show, with "healing" to be sold for money. It was real. It was over time. And it was in direct contradiction to modern medicine. I'm willing to believe 1 doctor mis-diagnosed. but 3? 4? She climbed up on a ladder this year with both feet to hang the curtains in the first floor of my home.

Example 2:
Again, I was a teen, and good lord, again my mother was at the hospital and she and my dad kept going back for various visits. It was to the point where we were like What is going on?? Finally, they could keep it from us no longer: they sat us down and told us that the doctor had found a tumor in my Mom, and that he had said it was cancerous. They had been back again and again for various tests and were waiting for results. They tried to play it down, like, of course it wouldn’t be cancer for real, like REAL deathly cancer, and for us not to worry, but to pray, and they would let us know. Weeks went by. You cannot know how many nights we prayed for her life - I could not imagine life without her. I was a child. I was like God! I know I can, but I don’t want to live without my Mom! Please! I'm not ready yet! More weeks went by, and finally my Mom sat us all down (again, without my Dad), and explained to us that the tests had come back showing she had cancer, that she was refusing surgery and treatment, that she was believing in God. She also explained that the doctor had sent her and my Dad home and told her she would be dead inside 4 months, and that we needed to understand that she might die. That was an intense period of time in our lives. Lots of prayer happened, and none really in a church environment. A month passed. Another month. Another month. Another month. Another month. Months and months. Finally one day, I asked her Mom, do you still have cancer? She didn’t know. She made herself a doctor’s appointment and went in to see the same doctor. When she came back she said he was surprised she was still in the land of the living, had run tests, and had found no tumor. At all. He would not accept that he had mis-diagnosed, and told her she must have really prayed.

The doctors know her very well, and every time she has had a life-threatening illness (there are more), they don’t even fight with her - they know she's the lady who believes in God, and even though they may be dubious about God, they don’t argue that strange things happened in her case.
Of all the cases I know personally, I am constantly amazed by the dignity with which they lived or died.

Now. Somewhere in there I get the feeling that this became incredibly sappy, and that's unfortunate, but probably because I answered a scenario with a scenario. Ah well. Cant be helped. And now, because I'm such a sap , here you go:

Last Lines
by Emily Bronte

No coward soul is mine,
No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere:
I see Heaven’s glories shine,
And faith shines equal, arming me from fear.

O God within my breast,
Almighty, ever-present Deity!
Life—that in me has rest,
As I—undying Life—have power in Thee!

Vain are the thousand creeds
That move men’s hearts: unutterably vain;
Worthless as wither’d weeds,
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main,

To waken doubt in one
Holding so fast by Thine infinity;
So surely anchor’d on
The steadfast rock of immortality.

With wide-embracing love
Thy Spirit animates eternal years,
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears.

Though earth and man were gone,
And suns and universes cease to be,
And Thou were left alone,
Every existence would exist in Thee.

There is not room for Death,
Nor atom that his might could render void:
Thou—Thou art Being and Breath,
And what Thou art may never be destroyed.
http://classicpoetryaloud.podomatic.com/entry/2007-11-12T13_22_46-08_00

Sadly, Not an April Fool's Joke

2008-04-01T15:25:00.000-05:00

So.

I was laid off today.

In the nicest way. Actually, they closed all regional offices today, closed one sister company yesterday, and are cutting 70% of the rest of my company and the other sisters and parent company tomorrow thruout the week.

So, yeah. Wish I could say this was an April Fool's Day joke, but its not.

On the upside, awesome severance, vacation cashout, recommendations and referrals all around.

I think I might apply to go to Japan to teach English as a second language. They seem to pay enough to where I could probably keep my house & truck in the States with a minor subsidy from me provided my renters stay in the house.

lots to think about. So, I turned in my blackberry, my laptop, my keys, etc., but not before sending to all my peeps in the various offices (including the executive branch - Manging Director and all the VPs) who I have built long and rewarding and respected professional relationships with over the last 3.5 years:

Hi everyone -
We all know what today means for a lot of us in the regional offices - it means goodbye. As sad a fact as that is, it is also true that life changes: sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst, and the inevitable truth at the end is that most change is good. If change was not thrust upon us, some would never change (I'm sure some great writer has a poignant quote for this thought, but I cannot for the life of me remember it offhand).

What I can remember, though, is a quote I hung on my desk in the first month I began working for [My Company] in 2004, and have with me now:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. - Aristotle

In essence, you are who you are, whereever you are. It has been a great run, and a pleasure to know and work with each of you - I wish each of you all the best in every endeavor!

For those of you who do not have it, my contact information is this:
mack@email
555.555.5555 - cell

Keep in touch.
Thanks again,

I was like, what are they going to do? FIRE ME? (one girl said, SEND ME BACK TO NAM?). However, I was humbled by the heartfelt email responses I received from across America - people called me crying (they too, were losing their jobs this week). It makes me realize that we are so much more than "just" what we do everyday.

I'm seriously going to miss them big time, but I joined LinkedIn.com, and linked just about everybody, so hopefully I wont lose them over time.

I dont feel sad right now, just kind of tired, and happy that the deed is done.

AudioBooks - Im Doing it!

2008-03-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

Ok, so Im totally stoked about audiobooks here lately, and have become quite the advocate for such wonderful tools for the busy working adult who loves to read. Read in your car. Read yourself to sleep at night. Read on road trips. Read on the airplane. Read, read, read!!

So, having said that, Im going to start reading religious books onto audio and sharing them online. My thought is that there are quite a lot of people that want to read these books, but just may not have the down time, what with families, children, work, and other obligations. Hopefully it will be a blessing to some.

I havent yet decided with page to put them on - we'll see.

Back Problems

2008-03-10T20:55:00.000-05:00

Totally, totally threw my back out last weekend, and the pain is excrutiating. Besides the fact that Im a young woman, Im somewhat concerned that this keeps happening to me - is this a sign of old age?? Anyway - something told me not to pick up that 40lb bag of salt, but no - I had to be superwoman. Never again, so help me God!!

Spammers Die! Die Spammers! Die!

2008-02-29T00:19:00.000-06:00

I have a lot of angst about spam. I guess you can see that. Im so angry that Im taling in short sentences. They spammed my web pages. They spammed my guestbooks. Then they spammed the church web page. Then they spammed my forums. Trust me, all I wanted to do intially was to run and hide - really give up trying to fight the onslaught and just throw in the towel. I have to admit that it was so oppressive that I actually did for awhile....well...that, and the fact that real life was running me ragged. Hither. Thither. Yon.

But Im back now, and I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder about this spam. Not an unrighteous chip, mind you, because you are right, I am a saved girl, and the bible does say be angry and sin not. However, I do feel I am entitled to a small modicum of righteous indignation. Underscore indignation.

And so I've decided to do something about it. It's time I learned a new subject anyway.

Migrated the Plan of Salvation to another server

2008-02-29T00:14:00.000-06:00

Whew. What a job. I just finished the basic work of migrating my old Plan of Salvation web pages from Angelfire (ads galore!) to Freehostia (no ads! yippee!!), and let me tell you it was worth it. See. I havent even updated the POS pages in ....well.....years. Simply because all the ads depressed me, and I had no money to spend on ad-free webhosting. So. Years go by (and I get a day job, thank the Lord), and suddenly, when I HAVE money - I find free webhosting with no ads.

Woo hoo to ad free webbing!! :D

Help Lord

2008-02-08T18:02:00.000-06:00

I am finally starting to see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel of wretchedly, excrutiatingly painful and horrible sickness. I mean, often I hurt so bad that it hurt to lay down, it hurt to sit up, it hurt to eat, yet I was constantly starving - I was so miserable these past few days that every night in the deep of night, I would end up getting out of bed and just standing against the wall wondering whether it would give me any relief to just start crying. It was very tempting - the only reason I didnt give in because it would only have made my various headaches worse, and the ending result would have only been more pain.

Im not not sure why this happened to me, but I've often viewed my personal sicknesses as bringing me closer to God, or as Him breaking my will in some way. So my Mom used to call me a workaholic type because Id struggle into the office while I was sick, but these days, that is hardly my philosophy - my philosophy is more aligned with hers - health is of God - if God puts you on your back to take some down time, you need to respect that and take the down time. So, on Sick Day #1, the day I left the office early with a temperature over 100 degrees, sensitive skin, a pounding headache, and a telltale sense of foreboding, I told myself I was going to respect God's clear plan and pack it in until the sickness was done.

The bible says "Is there any sick among you? Let him pray." So I prayed. Another passage speaks clearly about "Let him call for the elders of the church." At the late hour, I had my Mom and sister pray for me also (the elder also prayed the next day). I believe God is the healer of our bodies, and I dont take medicine for that reason. During the night, the very very very very cold night, the very very fevered night (such that I could feel the heat trapped between my face onto the pillow), I remember tossing and turning, and on one of my many turns, I was facing the wall and I just began to tell God: "Lord, please help me now. Please help me now." Because I am resigned at this point - I've been through this so many times Im convinced that it wont be my mother or my sisters or brothers or father or the saints that save me. Its not going to be Chicken Soup that saves me. Its not going to be necessary rest and vitamins that save me. It takes God to save me. It takes God to heal me. I knew I would have to endure the sickness, that I would have to suffer - but I was very concerned about the fever because it had been consistently rising all night. Im not well-versed in sickness but I know temperatures are matters of grave concern the higher they get, and I wanted the fever to be gone.

On the morning of Sick Day #2, as I catalouged all of my aches and pains (there were many), I realized that my fever had broken in the night. Praise God! I then immediately despite the extreme protestations of my body went to check my blackberry for email messages or voicemails from work. There were none and that was unusual - so I decided to log on to the web server from home to ensure it wasnt just that the blackberry server was down. I got all logged in and up and running, and went to check my email and noticed that even on the server, I had received no incoming messages. Odd. I receive reports all day, every day. So I fired up a query email and sent it. A strange message popped up - for some reason the database was down (or something). So I logged off. Despite the raised eyebrows of my Mom and sister, I still called several offices trying to make contact to see whether a server was down. At the end of the day, it turned out that the only person down was me. It is like God put me, my laptop, my web connection, my blackberry, and all my work electronics into a little silo and turned off the switch: nothing out - nothing in.

So, many painfully sick days later (well, actually only 3 in total so far), things are looking up, Im feeling somewhat more human, hoping for no relapses, and hoping with a restful weekend Ill be out of the woods. Many other things can be said or related - time would fail. Ill end it by saying, it has really been a learning experience for me, in a whole new way. And I thank God that he trusts me enough to give me this experience, and give me the courage to go through it.

Great Slogan for playing in the snow

2008-02-02T14:56:00.000-06:00

When In Doubt, Just Wipe Out.
- Mackenzy

*this saves you from gathering too much speed for an unintended crash at the bottom. Scared? Worried? Going to fast? WIPE OUT ON PURPOSE!! :)

SNOW DAY

2008-02-02T04:03:00.000-06:00

Wow. So fast forward to this weekend. After barely making it home on Thursday without wrecking the truck (thank the LORD! I almost did crash a few times), I ended up getting snowed into my driveway. Work at home day, anyone? anyone?? But thankfully, I kinda expected it the night before, and had no intention of going into the office on Friday anyway. So, imagine my humour listening to Mark get up and leave the house to (1) start his car, (2) shovel the driveway, and (3) drive away to work. Three separate occasions he left the house. On time number three I got up and looked out my window at the next street over. It was buried in snow. .. ... ... .. So, yes. It was quite funny when the front door opened again many minutes later and he trooped back in and said he couldnt get out of the driveway. To which I replied - you mean you've been trying for the last hour???

THAT was funny. Still, it was no real escape for me, because I was telephoned, emailed, and basically hunted down all day. This is why they call blackberries "crackberries" - because they are addictive. Then, once you get over being addicted to checking your email everytime the thing buzzes (yes, even work email, even on your vacation, even on your sick day), you begin to realize how beholden you REALLY are because it dawns on you that you actually HAVE to answer it. That's about when it ceases to be fun or cool. And, since you have the ability to "telecommute" you have to now, and now your Snow Day becomes a true "work-from-home" day. So work ensued. Albeit in my comfy clothes.

Whatever the case may be, everyone was clearly on the same page, because everyone, adult and child wanted to go play in the snow tonight - I tried to fight it, but eventually succumbed and went.

What Fun! I had forgotten how much fun playing in the snow could be - it was totally awesome. Natalia Green got much better pictures, and we had a great time. All in all, a great end to an interesting and trying week. Thank the lord. :)

Getaway?

2008-02-02T03:47:00.000-06:00

So last weekend we had a "girls getaway" weekend, thanks very kindly to EDubbs who spearheaded and planned the whole thing. What a darling. So, I wondered (to myself) if I would spend the weekend in private claustrophobia, what with me be travel weary and it being 7 girls in a 2 bedroom all weekend. AND I had flown to New Jersey at 6am on Thursday morning, flown back to Chicago on Friday morning, went straight to the office, worked all day, went straight home - did NOT unpack, instead packed my bags (with awell-rested Tiph looking over my shoulder breathing down my neck) into the car and headed straight for Fox River.

Much to my surprise I was embued with sudden strength - in fact, though I was indeed a shocker to gals by being the first to bed after a robust cup of coffee, I stayed up FAR past what I thought my normal limit. So HA, ladies. Yes I do go to bed at a reasonable hour. Needless to say, we had a BLAST. And we didnt even leave go outside on Saturday (*Liz had duties so she did, and Im sure some kind creature took out the trash to the front stoop. God bless you.)

The scripture admonishes us to "know them that labour among you," and indeed I recommend it. No better way to get to know your fellow saints than to lock yourself away with them for a few days - so thanks again ladies, thanks EDubbs, and thank the lord!

Women in the Workforce?

2007-12-05T17:33:00.000-06:00

This sister's testimony was very inspiring - it is here:

Single Moms for God- Thy Maker is Thine Husband: Interesting Article on The Perception of Women and Managment

This was my reply comment:
You are very right, you know. Sister - you are right. I have to read that article, but wanted to let you know that there are women out there in the workforce who aren't "that" woman who turns her nose up at homemakers - in fact, we rue that we ARENT one. But, sadly, I cant tell you how many lunchroom or cubicle discussions Ive been in that have "turned" into stay-at-home-wife bashing. That is one thing at work I cannot keep quiet on - I've often defended homemakers to other women - and will continue.

I also once read an article (I'd be really amused if it is same article you quote above), that shows by numbers that with the young educated women of today (yes, even the worldy-wise women), there is a significant Feminist Backlash, and these women value staying at home far above their "Feminist Movement" mothers. They say it is because the young woman of today is Yesterday's Latchkey child, and in her heart, she watched her mother leave her alone at home and work herself to the bone in the work force - and for what?

It was a very good read. Thanks for the note, the article, and for the saved life and testimony. Keep on pressing on and praising God.

The Airport -

2007-12-05T17:17:00.000-06:00

You gotta love sitting at the airport. I mean, what's not to like about sitting at the airport? I mean....for hours, and HOURS. What's a girl gotta do to get to Denver? Snow delays, pshaw! When has snow ever stopped the City of Chicago???

Great Slogans #2 and #3

2007-09-05T23:45:00.000-05:00

Arrive Alive
Click it or Ticket
-someone's state government ad agency
-front-of-mind because of recent travels

Our-Kansas?

2007-09-05T22:34:00.000-05:00

Sooo....went to Arkansas. SOO good. SO good. Funny how I never really want to go because the crowds are overwhelming to me - this time around it was far more cozy, with fewer people, although there were many congregations in attendendance. It was almost familial. I felt....a part. I felt....like I got to know the saints better. I....learned things about people in my OWN congregation that I had never known! You know - older people are really amazing. Just when you think you know everything about them, they pop out with some other obscure experience you never knew they had. I tell you - sometimes I think they keep stuff back just to whip it out when you least expect it:

.....
___________________________________
Marilyn: So....Mom? Blank happened when Blank happened, and it made me feel like Blank, and I dont know how I feel about that - isnt life complicated?

Mom: .....

Mom: ......

Mom: ........

Mom: ...pshaw! lifes not complicated, just full of wonder - why, I had that exact same thought back when I was sitting in the Taj Mahal and looking at the domes -

Marilyn: Whaa..?

Marilyn: .....

Marilyn: ......

Marilyn: You went to the Taj Mahal????!!?!?!?!?! When were you going to tell me you went to the Taj Mahal? How has such an experience slipped your mind these many years???
__________________________________________

I rest my case. Point being: I learned interesting and cool facts about the saints - it made me feel closer to them somehow. It was great.

OCEAN Test

2007-08-24T22:22:00.000-05:00

Check out my personality!

my username is theladycat take the TWINS test!

This is me.

2007-08-24T22:01:00.000-05:00

My Color Quiz Results. So true. So true!

Your Existing Situation
Volatile and outgoing. Needs to feel that events are developing along desired lines, otherwise irritation can lead to changeability or superficial activities.

Your Stress Sources
An existing situation or relationship is unsatisfactory, but she feels unable to improve it without willing cooperation. Unwilling to expose her vulnerability and therefore considers it inadvisable to display affection or to be over-demonstrative. She regards the relationship as a depressing tie but, although she wants to be independent and unhampered, she does not want to risk losing anything. All this leads her to react touchily and with impatience, while the urge to 'get away from it all' results in considerable restlessness. The ability to concentrate may suffer.

Your Restrained Characteristics
Willing to become emotionally involved.

Your Desired Objective
Wants to make a favorable impression and be rewarded as a special personality. Is therefore constantly on the watch to see whether she is succeeding in this and how others are reacting to her. this makes her feel that she is in control. Uses tactics cleverly in order to obtain influence and special recognition. Susceptible to the esthetic or original.

Your Actual Problem
Seeks to avoid criticism and to prevent restriction of her freedom to act, and to decide for herself by the exercise of great personal charm in her dealings with others.

Your Actual Problem #2
Anxiety and a restless dissatisfaction, either with circumstances or with unfulfilled emotional requirements, have produced considerable stress. She tries to escape into an idealized atmosphere of sympathy and understanding, or into a substitute environment of estheticism and beauty.

2007-08-24T21:59:00.000-05:00

Take the quiz. I've found this quiz is spot-on accurate, even when I was uncomfortable with what came out. :D

Play Practice is INSANELY FUNNY!

2007-08-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

I remember why I like drama - its so much fun! Watching and acting during practice is so much fun, simply because you get to see the entire play come together from nothing to something wonderful. The characters develop, everyone finds their niche - its all good.

I really hope think this play speaks to all - A Desperate Struggle - we can all relate, I think.

And the Last Southern Belle is funny already.

Great Quote #2

2007-08-06T21:26:00.000-05:00

The Bored are boring.
-author unknown

Oh Dear...

2007-07-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

Service this morning was quite inspiring. My. My, my. The Message?

"Striving Against Sin"

So timely. So on point. So insiteful. So scary. Sometimes I'm so in agreement that I could whup myself ("Self, you're BAD! You're NOT gonna have your way! *whipping ensues*)......

....but I figure God's got that one covered. So our job is to attack our flesh the only way I know how we can - by more consecration.

Godspeed on your spiritual journey.

*heads off to Street Meeting*

How to Make People Not Respect You

2007-07-26T12:51:00.000-05:00

1. First, upon meeting them, be extremely nice.

2. Agree with everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, they say, even off-the-wall opinions.

3. Tell them how great they are.

4. Admit that you don't like yourself. Put yourself down in personal way, all the time.

5. Be extremely wishy-washy in your views: agree with people who don't agree with you, and when they call you out about not agreeing with them, make some excuse.

If successful, you will be fondly considered slightly dumb by some, completely ignored by others, and generally thought by all to be the group "submissive." No one will want you on their team.

- 2nd bitter observation from said "Old Journal" (observation, mind you, not personal experience)

How to Completely Alienate Yourself From Everyone

2007-07-26T12:44:00.000-05:00

1. First, be extremely opinionated in coversation - to the degree that you begin to insult others who don't agree with you.

2. Then be offensive and ask complete strangers questions about their personal life. Personal questions, mind you.

3. Then offend the people who know you by asking THEM personal questions in areas you know are sensitive.

4. Be rude and arrogant by always making the other party the cause of the argument. NEVER admit to being a part of the problem.

5. Be intellectually offensive by making lofty comments about others nationality, sexual prefence and religion. Adopt a smirking, preachy, self-righteous attitude. Impose it on others.

6. Refuse to go away until the anger dies down. Stay in their face, constantly pestering and being underfoot.

7. Then apologize profusely at every chance you get. Don't stop apologizing, keep going until they are extremely annoyed, and keep an "I don't understand" attitude at all times. Play dumb!

If successful, even people who agree with your opinions will hate you, and yes, your very own friends will recant and reject you, in an attempt to distance themselves from you.

Now, you will be alone to pity yourself in peace.

- a bitter recrimination from said "Old Journal"

Found an old Journal

2007-07-25T22:30:00.000-05:00

and it was both SCARY and CATHARTIC reading it. Wow. I had no idea I was such a tortured soul back then. Ok, yes I did, and so did everyone else - but it is so encouraging reading what God told me back then, and looking back in hindsight to realize that when I was in that place, furiously holding onto scriptures and hope, scared out of my little mind about life, and what would happen to me - how God was prophesying my future RIGHT TO ME, RIGHT THEN.

Oh my God. You have no idea the very words he spoke in direct scripture, and how looking back, I can see clearly how they have come true in my life. Its awe-inspiring to me, especially given what I am facing now. Man! Its actually pretty cool to think that God watered my little soul with courage when I was in a very dark place - no light in sight it seemed - and how even then its clear now that he was reaching down and lifting my chin, so-to-speak, and saying "Cheer up, daughter" or "Courage, child!"

He told me he would bring me out into a wealthy place. And he did exactly that. He did. He SO

So Yeah. Happy 25th Mark!

2007-07-18T22:54:00.000-05:00

Now Mom and Dad have no lil "chil'ren" under age 25. Scary huh? Anyway, had a great surprise visit from Aunt Lolo (who is more like a "cousin"), and after boring her to tears (which is what will happen if you visit my house during a workweek - we got JOBS people - meaning a 12 midnight bedtime!), we finally celebrated Marks 25th in the fashion he wanted: going out for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen in Naperville.

Big sister Tiphy came through in clutch with a suggestion to try out the Brunswick Zone off of I55, so she could check it out for her class - and indeed, the night ended with me polishing off the birthday boy and all others in bowling.

YEAH, baby!

Do you see what getting old brings us to? :) That was not only a long night for me, it also wore me out physically! :o)

Awesome Service Tonight

2007-07-18T22:52:00.000-05:00

Wow. Pastor was in rare form in bible class tonight! :) The Message?

"Keeping the Right Attitude"

Wowzers. Some of those examples. Whooooa.... But so true! So true!

Great Quote #1

2007-07-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

Some people have what you don't, because they've done what you won't.
- quoted by a texan

I'm on the Workout Wagon

2007-07-16T20:18:00.000-05:00

Yes. You heard me right - Im on the wagon. The workout bandwagon. So today I went and signed up at the local clubhouse, and now have access to all their facilities, including trainers, classes, etc. Nice, right?

Why would I do this, you ask? Well. Let's review.

#1. I know it needs doing.
#2. OTHER people seem to think it needs doing and feel free to constantly tell me! (rude, yes?)
#3. The workout equipment in the basement just isnt appealing to me, and I dont want to spend $20k finishing the basement to make it aesthetically appealing so I'll go down there to actually work out. On the flip side, Im not moving the equipment upstairs, either.
#4. I had a blast from my active past on the 4th of July, when we set up a volleyball net in my backyard, and I literally ran volleyball ALL DAY. It was awesome - I almost felt young again (ha!)
#5. I prefer active team sports rather than working out, but I highly doubt I'll be able to get the gang together for weekly, or bi-weekly games on a regular basis, so working out it is.

Anyway. We'll see how it goes - I have to schedule myself over there for an initial orientation on the equipment and a physical with a personal trainer (I dont look forward to that person telling me how much body fat I have (*sigh*) but I do think I'll be happier to refer to that readout over the next few months as I (hopefully) shed pounds).

Im stoked about it! I actually packed my workout bag and have it by the front door - I wanted to go over there tonight, but I have company for the next couple of days so working out will be out of the question for the next few days - still. Im excited. Can you tell Im excited????

Great Slogan #1

2007-07-15T22:50:00.000-05:00

Talk Less. Say More.

Forums v. Blogs

2007-07-15T22:25:00.000-05:00

Whats the difference between a forum and a chat room? I'll tell you. Chat rooms seem like transient things, where you type something into the ether, and it disappears forever (although its been years since I've 'chatted,' that's how it seemed back then). In some respects, IMing is the same thing, but IMing is more tangible because depending on your client, it saves the IM log and you (or your guardian/parent) can review the entire conversation at a later time. Plus - with IMing, you can send files, and also Video chat, which is cooler.

But back to forums. Forums are just cool - admit it. The nice thing about a forum is that you can post something, and it never goes anywhere, provided the host doesnt disappear. Second plus is that this posting feature allows the poster to leave a cogent thought, and other members to read it, think about it, and post something cogent (or not) later. Lengthy, well-thought out posts are more prevalent in forums, allowing for expanded discussion on more in-depth topics. Plus - forums have edit features, so if you have an attack of conscience, or suddenly see the light on stupid comment you made, you can always go back and delete your idiocy.

Really good forums turn out some really good like mini-columnists. Kind of like when you plop in to read a Op-Ed piece in the newspaper - except now you can respond to the column and generate even more discussion!

To me - Blogs are nothing more than a natural progression of forum posting. Forums gather large numbers of people in one common place about a common theme, whereas Blogs allow for the same type of comment/answering post feature, save for the fact that Blogs instead gather a large number of comments from ONE person in one page host, and allow for external commentary.

Blogs pivot on 1 person w/many themes.
Forums pivot on many people w/one common theme.

A First

2007-07-07T00:09:00.000-05:00

This is it. The first post - so lets check it out.