Buckeyes Exposed!

Gators crush the Ohio State Buckeyes. All is well in the world of College football.

Penn State pounded Tennessee. Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ohio State all choked.

Life is good!

OKAY, LET'S SIGN UP!

With thanks To Nancy for pointing this out, here is the petition that begins our quest!

www.petitiononline.com/msan2008/petition.html


Sign up now!

Hope and Joy in the New Year

HI ALL! I WANT TO SEND YOU SOMEONE ELSE'S WORDS. I had never heard of the author before. He is Craig R Smith, a commentator. (I hope he won't mind me reprinting his article in full, but if he does, I'll take it down. For more, www.craigrsmith.com). Someone sent it to me via email. However, I love the tone of the post. Why take the outlook on the world that we are told to take? What if there is more good to see than we hear about on the news? With that in mind, I offer the following words WHICH ARE NOT MY OWN, with thanks to the author:

Posted: November 20, 2006 1:00 a.M. Eastern By Craig R. Smith © 2006
The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right? The same magazine that employs Michael (Qurans in the toilets at Gitmo) Isikoff. Here I promised myself this week I would be nice and I start off in this way.

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I starting thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?''

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home, you may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of having a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. Yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news.. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells. Just ask why they are going to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book and do a TV special about how he didn't kill his wife but if he did ? insane!

Stop buying the negative venom you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

I close with one of my favorite quotes from B.C. Forbes in 1953:


''What have Americans to be thankful for? More than any other people on the earth, we enjoy complete religious freedom, political freedom, social freedom. Our liberties are sacredly safeguarded by the Constitution of the United States, 'the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.' Yes, we Americans of today have been bequeathed a noble heritage. Let us pray that we may hand it down unsullied to our children and theirs.''


I suggest we sit back and count our blessings for all we have. If we don't, what we have will be taken away. Then we will have to explain to future generations why we squandered such blessing and abundance. If we are not careful this generation will be known as the ''greediest and most ungrateful generation.'' A far cry from the proud Americans of the ''greatest generation'' who left us an untarnished legacy.

My Other Candidate for President

I just learned about this guy from my brother-in-law (grey wizard on last post comment). He also is not running for president. I might write him in for vice president. His name is Jeff Flake (I know, wimpy last name. Whata ya gunna do?)

Republicans who wonder what went wrong? It's because of a business-as-usual mindset! This quote from Flake's website says it all:

It's out of control in Washington, DC. Tens of billions of dollars in pork barrel projects were included in spending bills every year. Who's running Congress, the liberals? Unfortunately not. Regrettably, under Republican control, spending other people's money has become the way to do business in Congress. We've got to change the system of inserting costly projects into spending bills in the dead of night. I am leading an effort to have all pork barrel projects subject to an up or down vote. That way, if one Congressman gets money for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his district, the rest of us can vote it down. Now that would be priceless.

Okay, so my ticket is set. Sanford for president, Flake for vice president. I'm going to send them both an email and tell them their assignments. Wish me luck.

My Candidate for President!

The man on the left is Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina. Do you know what he did in 2004? After the Republican-lead state legislature over-rode 115 of his line item vetoes of pork-barrel spending, the next day, he marched into the legislative chamber carrying two pigs under his arms!

He set them down on the floor and one of them crapped right there!

The Republican leaders were outraged, claiming that the governor was out of his mind, that he no longer could lead, and he hadn't taken his medicine. The people of South Carolina, though, got the point! He was re-elected in a landslide in 2006.

His office in Columbia, SC has lowered the governor's employee payroll by $7 million. He has made it $100 million cheaper to run the Columbia Government over all. Before being governor, he was a representative in Congress in Washington DC. There, he slept every night on a cot in his office, and reduced the cost of his staff, saving tax-payers millions. He was known for not backing down on cutting waste.

He's the one for me. I'm voting for him. Of course, as of now, he's not running. Nobody knows him on a national level. But I'm voting for him anyway.

Another Boring Notre Dame Bowl Game

Notre Dame got stomped by LSU in the Sugar Bowl, proving, once again, that they stink.

Every year, we have to watch them get ranked 5 to 10 notches higher than they deserve, and then they get whacked in a bowl game!

Can we settle this once and for all. Notre Dame is the shell of a great team, nothing more. They deserve to play in the car-quest bowl, not the Sugar Bowl.

Thoughts?

House of Strange Prayer

There is a ministry in Kansas City called, "The International House of Prayer." This is a place where there are people praying and worshiping God 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sounds good right? Well, I've been checking out their web information and came across something strange. Read below (taken from http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=22543):


"Children are trained weekly in areas of Kingdom Ministry, Creative and Prophetic Expression. They are being trained to speak and teach God’s word, heal the sick and prophesy. Children are trained and released to minister in all IHOP Mission Base services."


Weird, huh? Teaching kids "prophetic expression?" Teaching them to "heal the sick and prophesy?" I didn't realize that healing and prophesying took training. I thought they were gifts from God. What do I know?

There is no precedent for such things in the Bible. What kind of strange children will come from this?

Penn State Wins!

I love it when Penn State Wins! They looked great today!

Michigan Loses to USC

I love it when Michigan loses!

The Dubious Art of Hearing God

How do you hear the voice of God?

I TRUST NO ONE WHO TELLS ME GOD TOLD THEM SOMETHING. Am I not spiritual enough?

I have never seen evidence that anyone is hearing God say new things in our day and age. So, I stick with the Bible.

I like Pat Roberston. I think he is a good Christian who is responsible for good works all around the globe and the spread of the gospel to millions. I love him. However, he hears God tell him things, special words of knowledge. For example, he said this last year:

"I go away at the end of each year to pray, and if I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms. I think we're going to see some really serious storms. And this warning from the storm center, one of the experts in Miami is just one of them. They're talking about storms up the East Coast, and there is a very real possibility of a tsunami or serious flooding and storming in the West Coast, as well. I am sure those in New Orleans are praying that such a thing has happened to them won't happen again. But one more hard hit without those levees being set up, and New Orleans may be part of history."

Now don't we look stupid? If Pat Roberston, who is a good Christian man who does much good, can be so wrong about hearing the voice of God, who can we trust?

God speaks through his Word, spoken by prophets and angels in the Old Testament, and by Jesus and His Apostles in the New. When two prophets show up in Jerusalem breathing fire and speaking from heaven, I'll believe them. Until then, my standard is 100% accuracy in all prophesies and all words from God. I've never seen that.