see you in a week

See you here on this blog in about a week. I'm going dark!

Save the Cheerleader!

The show is Heroes. I'm hooked.

Quiet Time Coming

Beginning on Sunday and going for one week, I am going to be fasting from as much electronic and print media as possible (hopefully all of it). That's right. A full seven days, with no T.V., no radio, no internet, no magazines, no newspapers, no email, no cd's, no dvds, no text messages. The only information coming into my head will be from humans speaking to me live or over the phone and the only media going into my brain will be the Bible or else a quality book.

Why? So much noise, so much information, so many voices in our modern society, that it can be hard to slow down and find quiet in the mind, and it is much too loud to stop and think about God and the more important things of life.

So, for one week, I'll be fasting from all these things. Want to join me?

Motivational Posters

Sometimes, those motivational posters at work just don't tell the truth. Someone sent me some that are closer to reality. Funny stuff.

Save the Earth!

Cowboy Hats Remain Cool-Truly American Cool

Harry Potter Meets Uncle Sam

The military has recently capitulated to requests by Wiccan members to allow the Wiccan symbol on military graves. So, walking through Arlington cemetery one day, you might see a Jewish Star on one grave, a cross on another, or perhaps even a cresent and star on another. And then, you might come accross a satanic pentagram.

Strange, is it not? Witchcraft, by definition, is an anti-religion. It has an enemy: Christianity, and, at times, Judaism.

Whatever floats your boat.

Winning Begins in the Mind

Who Said The Following?

Whose words are below? By the way, guesses only. No googling!

I think the vast differences in compensation between the victims of the September 11th casualty and those who die serving the country in uniform are profound. No one is really talking about it either because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11th. Well, I just can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country.

If you lost a family member in the September 11th attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million. If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000, direct death benefit, half of which is taxable. Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt.

Keep in mind that some of the people that are getting an average of $1.185, million up to $4.7 million, are complaining that it's not enough.

We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11th families are getting.

In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well. You see where this is going, don't you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad.

Why Did Toyota Become The World's Biggest Auto Maker This Quarter (Beating GM for the First Time)?

Answer: They build a better product.

American Auto Workers Union has sunk the American auto. "Quality is job 1." If you buy Japanese.

A Enemy of My Enemy . . .

The Rabid Bush-Haters Club

Boooo, Penn State!

Today, I am not Penn State Proud. I'm Penn State ashamed.

Free speech? Why is it that on a University campus it is not okay to speak about how Muslim radicals train children to be terrorists and to murder? Worse still, why can't an artist even paint about the subject?

Joshua Stulman, a student artist at Penn State, had his exhibit of anti-terror themed art canceled by the visual arts department of Penn State because it violated their "hate speech" rules.

"Hate speech?" I guess Penn State does. Hate speech, that is.

For details, click.

The Good Guys

What should never have been legal

One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap . . .

Ironically, in a week when we have the greatest masacre in US history on the Virginia Tech campus, our highest court has outlawed one of the greatest legal masacres in our nation: partial birth abortion.

We thank God.

the Killer Angel

Shaara's book about the Battle of Gettysburg he titled, "Killer Angels," based on the response that one man had to the description of mankind as being like angels. "Killer angels." And yes, we are.

We who bear the image of God are deformed in soul. Life is valuable, but very short and very fragile. Let us all bow and take note of our humanity, and our mortality, as our nation's eyes turn towards Virginia this week.

Springsteen as Travel Channel

Have you ever noticed how many of the Boss's songs are named after places?

Here's a few off the top of my head:

Badlands
The River
My Hometown
Philadelphia
Atlantic City

There's more. Lots more. (can you name some?)

Can you think of anyone else in popular music whose songs are so often named after places? I think he comes in first in this category. Triple A should adopt him as their mascot.

"Scratch My Back With a Hacksaw! Penguins Win!"

1 game to 1.

next game, Sunday, 6:00 pm.

Props To A Friend

Join me in prayers for my friend, Tom. Good man, doing a good job, for a great country --USA. I've known Tom since he was in Jr High.

Interesting Read On Imus and Politics

Here is a fascinating take on the possible political machinations behind Imus' firing.

Indoctrinate U Trailer

I'd love to see this movie.

Imus Got Canned (and I don't care)

Don Imus said something rude on the radio, his employers didn't like it, so they fired him. That's the whole story. Nothing more.

I can't figure out why there is so much buzz about this. I used to live very close to NYC and Don Imus is local and on the radio every morning. He's rude every morning, insulting every morning. He's definitely been insulting to many political figures I admire, that's for sure. So now, he got some attention for what he said and he got fired. Fine. End of story.

I don't care if CBS is motivated by morals or money, they are free to fire their employees if they want to. It's done. Let's move on.

Only In America

Monty Johnson, though he owns 42 acres of land, is not a rich man. He lives in a single wide trailer with his wife. He happens to live beside John and Elizabeth Edwards, and Elizabeth has made him a star by saying he is a "rabid, rabid republican" and she fears for her children because he lives next to their $6 million estate, and he owns a gun.

Three words for Elizabeth: Out of touch. This guy is not a criminal and not dangerous. If she's afraid of him, she's afraid of a good part of Armstrong county and many rural folks all across this great land. Her husband ran with John Kerry a few years ago saying that there were two Americas: one for the rich and priviliged and the other for the regular folks. I wonder which is which in Monty's neighborhood?

"Rabid, Rabid Republican." Hm.... Is this they way she and her circle of friends speak of Americans that don't agree with her point of view? Rabid? Such vitriol.

All I can say is that I hope the publicity that Monty gets from this will get him enough money to buy a doublewide.

For All Our Steroid Heroes

I bought this bracelet from theonion.com; I'm wearing it to celebrate Barry Bonds and his soon-to-be great accomplishment of breaking Hank Aaron's home run record.

Of course, everyone who watches baseball KNOWS that Bonds' home run production increased late in his career, as did his unusual bulk. They also know that his trainer is now famous for steroid distribution and said under oath that Bonds used it. So, we know that Barry Bonds cheats.

So did Mark McGuire, when he broke Roger Maris' record (which Barry Bonds would also break).

When Bonds breaks the record, it won't be impressive to me. Cheaters often win. It is a fallen world.

Fred's Thoughts On The Iran Kidnapping Crisis

The following was written by Fred Thompson:

Oil prices fell. The stock market rose. Video images of smiling British soldiers with Iranian President Ahmadinejad were everywhere. So were pictures of the 15 freed hostages embracing family members back home. The relief over the return of the Brits was so tremendous; you could almost hear birds singing.

Maybe it's because military action won't be needed or maybe it's just because the ordeal won't drag on and on, but the world is breathing easier now. A lot of folks are happy. The problem, as I see it, is that Ahmadinejad seems to be the happiest.

And why shouldn't he be? He has shown the world that his forces can kidnap British citizens, subject them to brutal psychological tactics to coerce phony confessions, finagle the release of a high-ranking Iranian terror coordinator in Iraq, utterly trash the Geneva conventions and suffer absolutely no consequences.

The UN Security Council summoned its vaunted multilateral greatness to issue a swift statement of sincere uneasiness. The EU, which has pressured Britain to rely on Europeans for mutual defense instead of the US, wouldn't even discuss economic sanctions that might disrupt their holidays. Even NATO was AWOL.

Please do keep reading . . .

Tony Blair doesn't appear to be in much of a mood for celebrating. I don't know how he could be, given the troubling spectacle of British soldiers shake the hand of their kidnapper as a condition of release. In the old days, they would have kissed his ring -- but wearing Iranian suits and carrying swag more appropriate to a Hollywood awards ceremony may have been as embarrassing. Ironically, Blair's options are fewer by the day as his own party moves to mothball the British fleet, once the fear of pirates and tyrants the world over.

Some in the West seem part of Iran's propaganda war; claiming that the release of the hostages was a victory that proves the Iranian dictatorship can be reasoned with. To misrepresent unpunished piracy as a victory is as Orwellian as the congressional mandate banning use of the term "the global war on terror." What are we — Reuters?

Ahmadinejad must be particularly pleased to see "deep thinking" journalists making the case that American actions in Iraq were the true cause of the kidnappings. To believe this, all you have to do is ignore the history of the Iranian Revolution, which has been in the extortion business ever since it took power. Between the 1979 American embassy crisis in Tehran and the seizure of Israeli soldiers last year by Iran's Hezbollah proxies, there have been more than a hundred other examples.

If you include the imprisonment of pro-Democracy dissidents and non-Shi'a Muslim minorities within Iran, the number reaches easily into the tens of thousands. The dwindling and persecuted Christian population of Iran, I suspect, found little joy in Ahmadinejad's explanation that he was freeing his victims as an "Easter gift."

It is critical that we see this incident as part of a long pattern of behavior -- that will continue as long as the current leadership is in power. More importantly, it will escalate unimaginably if Iran achieves nuclear status, and with it the ability to hold millions rather than individuals hostage.

I have no idea if Ahmadinejad and those who put him in power really believe the Shi'a Twelver doctrine that they can spur the messiah to return by triggering Armageddon. You have to admit, though, that the possibility that they look forward to entering paradise as martyrs would make them a whole lot scarier as a nuclear power than the USSR ever was.

There is hope, though. The Iranian people are not an anti-Western horde. They're an educated and freedom-loving people for the most part, and reformers there have been begging us for support and sanctions that would weaken the ruling theocracy. Instead, they've just seen the Iranian dictatorship successfully bully the West into impotent submission. This is not a good thing.

We need to understand this and use every means at our disposal, starting with serious and painful international sanctions, to prevent Iran's rulers from becoming the nuclear-armed blackmailers they want to be. Unfortunately, we are hearing demands that we abandon the people of the Middle East who have stood up to Islamo-fascism because they believed us when we said we would support them.

If we retreat precipitously, the price for that betrayal will be paid first in blood and freedom by the Iranian people, the Kurds, the Afghanis, the secular Lebanese, the moderates in Pakistan and the Iraqis themselves. And America's word may never be trusted again.

Right now, the pirate Ahmadinejad is clearly more confident about the outcome of the Global War on Terror than we are. That ought to give us pause.

There Goes Johnny

Johhny Hart died today. He was the creator the BC comic strip and a Christian. It is appropriate that he died just after Easter. He came under great criticism once on an Easter Sunday comic that showed the link between Judaism and Jesus. This was deemed offensive by many Jews and his comic was pulled from many newspapers. Of course, it is only offensive to connect the cross to Judaism if one doesn't believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

Paul preached the crucifixion, saying that to Greeks, it was foolishness --to Jews, a stumbling block. In other words, the cross as the way of salvation is offensive to Jews and non-Jews alike.

Johnny Hart, thanks for your work. See you later, I'm sure.

Guys, This Is Not Necessary, Really

Every year at this time, in San Pedro, Philipines, a bunch of people carry their crosses for a mile or so and then have themselves nailed to the cross to celebrate Easter. They guy in this picture has done this for the last 11 years, I think.

Why?

"to obey is better than sacrifice," says the Lord. A man can't pay for his own sins in the way Jesus did. Jesus paid the price for sin on His sinless body.

At best, this is just a very painful and dangerous wrong-headed way to worship, at worst it is ungrateful blasphemy. Ungrateful? yes. How? Jesus paid for the sins of these men when He was on the cross. They insult His sacrifice and its infinite value by mimicking it. It would be like having a loved one pay for an expensive meal for you and then going back and throwing a penny on the table and saying, "No, I'll pay."

Fred Thompson FL GOP 1998 Statesman of the Year

Here's the guy I want for president. He's gaining steam without even announcing officially. He has a great reputation.

What will happen next? Expect character assassination attempts to come soon. There will be those who will not attack his record, but his character. Politics is dirty business.

I hope he runs.

2005 PSU Highlight Video

Baseball, Hockey, Basketball, golf, they all have their little attractions. But in the long stretch from January to September, I needed a fix of the best sport ever invented. Nothing like some highlights from Penn State Football.

Won't Miss Too Many of These

If you are ever going to watch basketball on TV, try to catch the NBA playoffs when the Phoenix Suns are playing. Steve Nash is the most enjoyable athlete to watch in the Sport. Disagree? Who would you rather watch?

(BTW, for Hockey it is Sidney Crosby)

House Dramatizes Reality

The T.V. show "House," which I enjoy weekly, this week had Dr House changed when, as one who proclaimed the baby in the womb to be not valuable, the hand of a pre-born baby reaches out and grabs his finger during surgery. Great episode. Catch it if you can.

I Did It!!!

(The picture represents victory --the body looks like mine!)

I didn't see a single NCAA Men's tourney game, nor did I know what was happening! It wasn't that hard either. I have to admit, I slipped only once: While opening up the ESPN website, in a glance, last night, I saw that Ohio State and Florida were playing. But, I didn't watch the game and didn't discover the outcome till today! Yay me!

Also, I made the mistake of thinking I was successful as far as the ladies go, for I expected the ladies tournament to be over (for feminists out there, the word "ladies" used to refer to women as a way of showing respect, I mean "women's NCAA"). Boy was I wrong. So, checking to see who won, I now know that Tennessee and Rutgers will battling that out tonight. Go Rutgers. I'm not watching!

You know, for all the millions in advertising money that went into that tourney, it feels good to know I ducked the whole thing. Life feels complete.