My Perception

NPM: Detroit

2009-04-17T10:07:00.000-04:00

Despite a short stint up in the Wolverine backwoods, I've spent over 75% of my life living one block from the city of Detroit. I grew up in a house across the street from my grandparents and I now live in my grandparents old home. Funny how life can work out sometimes.

Anyone paying attention to the News is well aware of the problems with Detroit. I love the city. I love how dirty, grimey, and unpolished it appears to outsiders. I love the view you get driving north on I-75 coming over the Rouge River Bridge and the city skyline appears with the RenCen glistening and the Ambassador bridge in the foreground and the smoke and haze of manufacturing surrounding the beauty. I'm pretty unapologetic of my love for all things Detroit (even Kid Rock and Eminem, but not so much Lions and City Council)

They say New York is the city that never sleeps, well Detroit is the city that never stops working.

That was until they starting bailing out Wall St.

I won't aplogize for this video, and it's as in your face as it needs to be.

“Pardon me if I don’t shed a tear...‘Cause they’re selling make-believe and we don’t buy that here.” - John Rich

Unfortunately, no one's listening.

NPM: Black and White

2009-04-16T09:32:00.003-04:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn't agree with you. A camera in the right person's hand can be as powerful as any great work of art or composition. For quite sometime now a niche market has developed within photography focusing on black-and-white and the artistic ability it provides. According to Wikipedia,

"Today black-and-white media often has a "nostalgic", historic, or anachronistic
feel to it."

Who doesn't love black and white pictures? They usually capture a moment that communicates pure beauty. The magic is in there simplicity. Just one snapshot, catching a slice of life, that can sweep through our emotions. Stripped down to bare essentials, everything covered in shades of gray.

It evokes a simpler, much more easier time.

How long before my grand-children look at pictures of my life and "see the story of my life right there in black and white."

What I mean is, many of us nowadays hear the phrase "back in the day" to explain a time when things were easier and a Norman Rockwell moments was more commonplace than a car in the driveway. Dad worked, mom stayed home, and Eddie Haskell was your biggest problem.

But were those times easier?

Did my grandfather find times were great and things were easier as he walked to his factory job every day? Did my grandmother find her life charming and quintessential washing laundry by hand and walking to the grocery store with her kids everyday? Did they view their experiences as Norman Rockwell moments.

So, when will my grandkids pull out some old pictures and see my life in Black and White?

Really, is any time in life ever really simple and completely pure? Black and white? I don’t think so.
”A picture’s worth a thousand words but you can’t see what those shades of
gray keep covered …You should’ve seen it in color.” - Jamey Johnson

I'm on Board

2009-04-15T09:26:00.004-04:00

Unless we are anywhere near Somalia or Rush shows up.

NPM

2009-04-14T07:24:00.002-04:00

In answer to Corey's comment and to show my support for NPM and to prove just how clueless I can be sometimes, I offer this little diddie....

They said timing was everything, made him...
Want to be everywhere, there's a...
Lot to be said for nowhere
(Eddie Vedder dba Pearl Jam - "MFC" from the album Yield)

Most of you are far more talented in the arts than I am and should have a pretty easy time with this one....

Hopefully

Someday

2009-04-13T08:09:00.001-04:00

....and Mike is now with him.

See you on the flip-side buddy.

Sunrise

2009-04-12T07:13:00.002-04:00

He is not here....

9 lbs. 6 oz. 22.5" long 8:16 am 10-02-08

2008-10-03T11:35:00.007-04:00

NOAH MICHAEL

Still speechless, just like last time

Born a week earlier than the due date, and 1 oz bigger and 1.5" longer than Seth (who was born on his due date)!!! To quote the doctor, "You made the right decision to deliver this baby with a planned C-Section."

Michele is a small woman at only 5' 3", Doc says no way she delivers that baby the normal way.

So Seth now has a big, little brother sort of

The Revolution continues!!!

Watch out world, couple little Maloney boys gonna be running around doing there thing!!

*TEAR-DROP(S)*

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING!!!

2008-09-26T21:57:00.002-04:00

This "Presidential Debate" is absolutely brutal.

Neither one of them are answering any of the damn questions.

Lehere specifically asked each candidate what are they going to cut out of thier budgets and programs to help accomodate that probable, supposed $700 billion buy-out, and they spent (no pun intended) more time talking about what they want to do. Be a leader!!! Be a Maverick!!! Bring change!!! SOMEONE...ANYONE

AND THEN LEHER HIT THEM ON IT!!!!

"Neither one of you have said what you would do to make up for this buyout"

"One of you will come into office in January and be staring down one of the biggest and toughest times our country as ever faced."

AND THE BOTH GO BACK TO PARTISAN POLITICS.

"We have to do this..." "I want to do this..." healthcare, education, defense, blah, blah, blah...

And then Lehere says let me ask you the same question a different way to try and get an answer...

The poor guy can't get a straight answer from either one of these chumps, and one of them will be President.....

*sigh*

Hey, did you know that McCain is a Maverick?

Did you know that McCain agreed with Bush 90% of the time?

Did you know that Barack Obama is the most far left voting Senator?

Did you know that John McCain was a war hero?

Did you know McCain was for the war?

Did you know that Barack opposed the war from the beginning?

Do you know what John or Barack are going to do to solve the current crisis?

What are they going to do to maybe balance the budget?

Do we know what actual leadership qualities either of these guys bring to the table?

Week 3 Fantasy Football

2008-09-23T10:40:00.002-04:00

Not a very good week at all. Matter of fact, I think this is my worse week in Fantasy Football ever. Looking over our league's archive the last time I failed to reach 80 points in one week was back in 2006 during Week 5 when I scored 79.

Then, when you realize that A) - The guy I played only scored 92.65, which is less than the 3 week average, including this stinker of 76.7, of my team's scoring B) Another guy only scored 67.1 C) I left Fred Taylor on the bench (he got me 21 points) and D) this makes me the only 1-2 team in my divison.

Additionally, things aren't looking very good for my team right now. I just lost Jeremy Shockey for 4-6 weeks. I've already lost Colston and with the Brady injury, technically appear to have lost Randy Moss. David Patten appears to be hurt too now. My team is becoming a M.A.S.H unit.

I came very close to landing Addai and Gregg Jennings in a trade, but it fell through Saturday morning when I wouldn't part with Randy and Hines Ward....I probably should have. My own stupid fault there.

Anyway, here is the breakdown for this week.

I lost 92.65 to 76.7

My top 3 - Titans DST 25, Romo - 17, and Mason Crosby (yes my kicker) with 10 for a total of 52

His top 3 - Ravens DST 41, Anthony Fasano (who? exactly) 12.6, and Mat Prater (yes his kicker) with 10 for a total of 63.6

I'm definitely looking to make some trades this week and am wondering if I can tolerate Moss on my bench this week for the bye and then give him one more week (week 5) to see if Belicheck begins to allow his QB to throw deep to Moss. or if I should just take what I can get.

Crapping the Bed

2008-09-18T14:11:00.000-04:00

Being thoroughly confused to just what in the hell is going on with all this financial meltdown crisis and watching the Stock Market drop 1,000 points in just a couple I've been trying to read a whole hell of a lot and try and figure out to what extent my family will be affected.

By all accounts, with the exception of the 401K, HSA's, and IRA's we have, we should be ok going through this. We only are in debt the cost of our mortgage (which is only 30% of the orignal mortgage cost, so even if our house has lost value, our loss what be percentage points), and in addition to the 10% of pre-tax money we put into 401K's, HSA's, and IRA's we always aim to save an additional 10% of take home pay. No Credit Card debt, School Bills, or Car Payments. So, we are not overborrowed or in heavy debt but we'll need to still do some buckling down if we want to keep on saving. I am pretty convinced, as of now, this is great chance to Buy-Low, extremely Low.

ANYWAY, here are a slew of articles, commentary, and blogs on the situation for you to read if you want. They have helped me to really understand what in the hell is going on.

Maybe the best and clearest explanation from the WSJ "No end in Sight"
Doctor Doom from Forbes
Time Magazine weighing in (with a very lengthy piece) to let you know how massive this perfect storm is.
From the BBC, which is basically saying see you later to the Clinton Democrats (don't let the door hit you on the way out) and this modern anti-fiscal conservative Republican Party (good riddance!!!)
And, from the Atlantic it's not all George W's fault.......
it's ours as Deneen (some good Perotesque charts and graphs) and Larison say (this is succint, to the point, and brilliant)

Please make sure your seatbelts are buckled, your trays are in their upright and locked position and you have a snickers bar (or two) - we're going to be here awhile.

Week 2 Fantasy Football

2008-09-16T07:31:00.002-04:00

Did you guys see that MNF shoot-out last night? WHEW!!!!

Romo goes for 312 and 3 td's.

I score 125.5 points

and lose!!!

Yes sir, I had 169.7 dropped on me, unreal....I know.

But he had Warner, Boldin, MB3, and Julius Jones. Warner and Boldin alone got him over 85 points.

I am sitting in 2nd in my division though and definitely know that weeks like this happen in Fantasy Football. You have a great week and someone has an amazing week.

Oh well.

But my Do the Opposite is still shining through this young football season. Top rushers from this week did include Westbrook and AP. But, remember, Do the Opposite entails you drafting in the middle to late 1st round, meaning LT, Westbrook, AP should be taken first anyway. The other top rushers were Run DMC (5th round), Julius Jones (7th round), and Earnest Graham (5th round).

His top 3 - Warner (44.3), Boldin (41), and Julius Jones (27.8) for 113.1

My top 3 - Romo (35.2), Titans DST (33), and Chris Johnson (18) for 86.2

So onto next week and I wouldn't be surprised if I am able to swing a trade this week of some sort. A couple guys have gone 0-2 and there star players aren't performing for them (Addai, Carson Palmer, Jamal Lewis, Derek Anderson, etc.). I am aiming for Addai or Lewis (definitely buy-low) and chances are slim, but I have some depth I can offer and sometimes an 0-2 start can trigger people's fears and I'm like a shark in water. I am the guy who got Addai, Pitt Defense, Favre, Ryan Grant, Portis, and MB3 in trades last year. Some of those guys I traded away for each other (for example I got Portis in a trade and traded him for Favre).

But I am getting a reputation for my trading prowess so who knows.

Week 1 Fantasy Football

2008-09-09T08:03:00.002-04:00

It's funny, I was looking at my archives from last year when I was tracking my Fantasy Football team as I was on a mission to prove that "Doing the Opposite" is the way to go in Fantasy Football. Last year for week 1 I scored 115.4 points and lost.

This year - 115.8 and....I won!

At least I am consistent in the scoring.

Now, obviously, those of you that may have taken my advice this year and took Brady in the first round, I feel for you. Big time! I almost took Brady in the 1st round, but decided I could get Romo or Brees in the 2nd/3rd round and decided grabbing 2 WRs in the first 2 rounds was the way to go (Moss and Colston). But some of the top RB's also suffered injuries, maybe not season-ending but they still left games early...LT, Addai, and Marion Barber to name the Big 3. And up to this year, Brady had never missed a game due to injury in his career. Maybe it's a little karmic retribution for "The Hoody" playing games with the NFL injury report and listing Brady as questionable for some 3 or 4 years in a row every week.

My top 3 Romo - 26, Randy Moss - 22.2, and Thomas Jones - 21.4 for 69.6

His top 3 - Frank Gore - 21.1, Peyton - 18.85, Megatron - 16.4 for 56.35

So, of the 6 top scorers in our game - 4 of them were not RB's.

Hmm.....

Extermination and War

2008-08-27T10:27:00.002-04:00

Chilling piece from Joe Carter in Culture11 about how China and India, among other countries, are exterminating shocking numbers of baby girls in the womb. Hey, if abortion is legal and accepted, what right do any of us have to tell Indian and Chinese mothers they may not kill their baby daughters -- sorry, female fetuses -- because they'd prefer to have boys? Right, feminists?

Beyond the confluence of feticide and sexism, Carter foresees violence in the womb leading to violence elsewhere:

Even if we set aside the moral horror of a world that is killing its daughters, this oft-ignored trend of female feticide could pose a greater threat than many of the high-profile concerns that are touted by the media. For instance, the Chinese government says that by the year 2020 the men in that country will outnumber women by 300 million--roughly the entire population of the United States.

Imagine hordes of men, numbering in the hundreds of millions, who will never be able to have sexual contact with a woman, never be able to marry, and never leave a descendant to carry on their lineage. Think about the level of anger and frustration that will be generated. Now consider the fact that the number of males fit for military service (ages 18-49) in the U.S. is currently and remains steady at 54 million.

Pious Hand Wringing

2008-08-26T09:24:00.000-04:00

Further proof that the Catholics are getting it more right all the time and why the Evangelicals flounder and spin their wheels under the banner of "conversation."

Truth hurts, truth divides, and truth is love. Truth is not judging. Truth is compassion and not tolerance. Hurt and divide are the ugly results of truth, the difference is that the glory in truth is to far outshine the ugly. Too many times, we focus on the ugly and not the glory.

The Roman Catholic arhcbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, is someone I'd be a dummy for when it comes to the issue he writes about in this magnificent teaching document. He sets the Speaker of the House - Nancy Pelosi, a self-described "ardent practicing Catholic" straight about what her Church actually teaches and expects its communicants to believe on abortion. Rarely do religious leaders of any church speak so clearly and forcefully about faith and morality in public life. Here's a characteristic passage:

Ardent, practicing Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelmingly held that abortion was grievously evil. In the absence of modern medical knowledge, some of the Early Fathers held that abortion was homicide; others that it was tantamount to homicide; and various scholars theorized about when and how the unborn child might be animated or "ensouled." But none diminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong.

Of course, we now know with biological certainty exactly when human life begins. Thus, today's religious alibis for abortion and a so-called "right to choose" are nothing more than that - alibis that break radically with historic Christian and Catholic belief.

Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they're famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith.

Magnificent. Of course many Catholic Democrats and Christian Democrats will continue to vote and serve the Democratic Party. Earlier he wrote:

But [Catholics who support pro-choice candidates] also need a compelling proportionate reason to justify it. What is a "proportionate" reason when it comes to the abortion issue? It's the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life--which we most certainly will. If we're confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed.

And further

Carter lost his bid for re-election, but even with an avowedly prolife Ronald Reagan as president, the belligerence, dishonesty, and inflexibility of the pro-choice lobby has stymied almost every effort to protect unborn human life since.

In the years after the Carter loss, I began to notice that very few of the people, including Catholics, who claimed to be "personally opposed" to abortion really did anything about it. Nor did they intend to. For most, their personal opposition was little more than pious hand-wringing and a convenient excuse--exactly as it is today. In fact, I can't name any pro-choice Catholic politician who has been active, in a sustained public way, in trying to discourage abortion and to protect unborn human life--not one. Some talk about it, and some may mean well, but there's very little action.

"Pious hand-wringing." Exactly so.

Where's the humanity in a "Pro-Choice" stance?

Fantasy Football Update - Draft Results

2008-08-23T13:15:00.003-04:00

Muhahahahaha, Muhahahahahahaha, Muhahahahahahaha........

That's all I can say.

1st round - Randy Moss
2nd round - Marques Colston
3rd round - Tony Romo
4th round - Thomas Jones
5th round - Edge James
6th round - Fred Taylor
7th round - Chester Taylor
8th round - Jeremy Shockey
9th round - Hines Ward
10th round - Patrick Crayton
11th round - Matt Schaub
12th round - Packers D/ST
13th round - Chris Johnson
14th round - Colts D/ST
15th round - Mason Crosby

I debated Drew Brees over Tony Romo, but having Colston, I'm not a fan of pairing up Qb's and WR's. It works great when they have a 2 TD game together, but when one is slow, usually the other is to. So Romo was the call in the 3rd.

I would have rather had McFadden in the 5th over Edge but he was sniped right before me.

I may have been able to get Chet Taylor in the 8th but my second goal of this draft (Doing the Opposite being 1st) was to make sure I came out with the biggest, most important handcuff in the draft.

This is "Doing the Opposite" to perfection.

Fantasy Football Update - 1

2008-08-21T21:57:00.003-04:00

Well, I do practice what I preach.

I will be doing the opposite this year afterall. I traded my 1st, 2nd, and 4th round draft picks to the guy who had the 5th pick in the first round for his 1st, 2nd, and 4th round picks as well. I benefited big time by the fact that the guy is a big RB-RB guy and he knew in the 5th spot he wasn't going to get an elite back. So I am able to keep my 3rd and 5th round picks where they are (2nd in each round) as well as all rounds till the end. While my 1st round pick fell down only 3 spots, I moved up in the 2nd and 4th rounds, guaranteeing that I will get a top 5 pick in round 1, top 6 picks in rounds 2 and 4 and the second pick in rounds 3 and 5.

WOW!!!!

So I am most definitely going QB-WR-WR in some kind of order like that in the first 3 rounds. I haven't decided if I am going to draft Brady or Moss at 5. If I take Moss in the first then it's Romo or Brees in the 3rd with another top WR in the 2nd (Wayne? Colston?). Then it is all RBs in rounds 4-8. If I take Brady in round 1, then it is WR-WR in rounds 2 and 3 with, yep, RBs in rounds 4-8.

But maybe. I'm actually thinking of going TE in round 4 or 5 if Witten, Shockey, or Clark are on the board and I am comfortable with the RBs left on the board will make it to me

As last year, I'll track my progress for all to see just how right this strategery is.

My draft is 7pm tomorrow night, so results will be posted that night or the next morning.

Stayed tuned and see what I pull off.

Fantasy Football Time!!!

2008-08-14T15:42:00.003-04:00

For you faithful readers out there, you know I wax poetic on "Doing the Opposite" in Fantasy Football at your draft. Meaning, instead of RB-RB in rounds one and two, you go WR-QB or even both WR in one and two, and then go a step further and coming out of round three you have both your WRs and your top QB.

You can read a whole bunch more about this here and follow the links to track my progress last year. I ended up the Regular Season league champion and finished 3rd overall during the playoffs (damn Brady and New England D, as well as Kolby Smith...who...exactly....going for a buck 20 and 2 touches.....ugh). And when you read the article, look who I had listed as "sleeper" picks last year: AP, Lynch, T. Jones (he had 7 100 yard games last year), and Brandon Jones (if only he could have stayed healthy).

Well, this year, I landed the #2 pick. Doing the Opposite works best and ideally when you are not in the top 3 (most years). My league doesn't allow trading of draft picks, so I have number 2. Which is the highest I have ever drafted (last year was number 5 and that was the highest ever to that point). Having had the bottom of the 1st and top of the 2nd round for so many years, I started doing the opposite and cornering the market on WRs and QBs in the first 3 rounds, and then swooping up all RB's in rounds 4-8 trusting one will hit. And last year that was AP, 3 years ago that was LJ, 4 years ago it was Westbrook. You gotta do your research a little bit more on the middle of the pack RB's but the elite QBs and WRs are always the same, so you need time researching them, spend it on the middle of the pack RBs.

I could go on and on and on about follow the link above you can read all about it.

But this year, with number 2, I going RB in the first round. But do not fail....it's going to be all WRs and QBs in rounds 2,3,and 4. Then back to "middle of the pack" rb's in rounds 5-8.

I hate to disappoint all of you, but at number 2 I may get LT or Westbrook. My personal top 2 in all of fantasy football land. AP has been hurt every year of his collegiate and now NFL career, S-Jax has never lived up to the hype, and Addai doesn't touch the ball as much as Westbrook does and he too gets hurt...a-lot. Also, the guy holding 1 says he's taking AP #1, which leaves me LT!!!!! I'll find out next Friday (22nd) at the draft.

I am aiming for something along the lines of this coming out of the draft:

QB - Derick Anderson (Cleveland has the best O-Line in the game...take in round 4)
RB - Brian Westbrook (rd 1)
RB - Jonathon Stewart (rd 5)
WR - Marques Colston (rd 2)
WR - Larry Fitzgerald (rd 3)

How could you not like this team?

Do the Opposite!!!

BIG DAY TODAY!!!!!!

2008-08-08T08:41:00.002-04:00

ACTUALLY IT IS A HUGE DAY TODAY!!!!

A DAY LIKE THIS ONLY COMES AROUND LIKE:

3.28542094455852E-05

PERCENT OF THE TIME A CENTRURY

AFTERALL

TODAY IS

08.08.08

Whoa, trippy dude

On Vacation

2008-07-11T16:13:00.003-04:00

Vacation time

In Traverse City (well actually Leland) until sometime next week. Beaches, vineyards, lighthouses, sand dunes, friends (2 other families splitting the house with us for the week) and the whole family....get me there NOW!!!

The plan is to be back in Detroit on Saturday the 19th, but maybe not. We'll see, we may stay an extra day or two.

I hope to catch up here (Darwinmania and This happens to me a lot are still gong strong, in case everyone last track and any of the What Say Yous are always wide open for everyone) and on everyone else's blog with comments, etc when we get back. Although, based on the last 2 or 3 weeks, hasn't been much...at all. Maybe everyone is on vacation.

Anyway, see y'all on the flip side and keep the faith!

This happens alot to me....

2008-07-08T08:06:00.002-04:00

Maybe all the time actually.

I can't figure out why some things become such a huge deal before legitmacy is proved.

Maybe I am missing something. And I know my bias comes out in these types of things, but nothing has appeared with these types of news stories to make me regret showing bias. Actually, there's been nothing, ever, at all to make me re-think my bias in these situations. That, as the media purports will happen, has my faith been shaken and rocked to its core. Everytime these things prove to be fakes, frauds, or were completely misinterpretted.

James Ossuary (Or "Loss Tomb of Jesus)? - Fake
Gospel of Judas? - Grossly embrassing for National Geographic
Tomb of Jesus? - That was the same thing as the James Ossuary, and yet, it made it's way back to the forefront under a different name and had the backing of "famous" people like James Tabor and James Cameron. Books, TV shows, etc., etc., etc. Big oops on that one

So why keep going?

So, why is Dan Brown-esque hysteria allowed to happen?

So, what am I missing with the newest discovery that, get this, goes from having no evidence at all to almost no evidence at all that Messianic resurection was an option.

There are elements in the Jesus story -- and in other stories in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) -- that have analogues in other traditions. If this new discovery proves to be exactly what some think it is, so what? How does that falsify the resurrection of Jesus? It certainly makes it easier to believe that the Jesus cultists, so to speak, made it all up. But couldn't you say the same thing about the messianic prophecies in the Hebrew Bible -- that Jesus's followers, knowing about the prophecies as part of the Jewish tradition, adapted the story of their Lord's life and death and resurrection to fit those prophecies? I mean, if you're determined to disbelieve, there are plenty of reasons to disbelieve. And if,like me, you're determined to believe, material evidence doesn't much matter, does it? Especially when that material evidence continues to fall short time and time again.

My reaction to this latest news is, "Ho hum." But maybe I fail to grasp its true significance. What say you?

What Say You (07.02.08)

2008-07-02T07:24:00.004-04:00

Let's get right to it:

"Be willing to take the first step, no matter how small it is. Concentrate
on the fact that you are willing to learn. Absolute miracles will happen" -
Louise L. Hay

Anyone want to take a stab at this one? Is someone overusing the word "miracle" again? I mean, don't we hear this "miracle" word thrown around everyday?

"I got an A on my test."

"I got a new job after getting railroaded out of my old one."

"The surgery was a success and the cyst is gone."

"The cop didn't pull me over."

"The tornado hit every house on the block but ours."

"Wow, I have a hot wife!"

We all have our own personal stories or have heard stories where miracle is thrown around like a..... (rhymes with....too-bit-bore).

ANYWAY, what of the idea of taking baby steps toward accomplishing something?

And, what if I were to share with you this link, the wikipedia entry of the source of the quote, after reading (skimming) the link, does your attitude or response change at all?

When leaving your comments, try and leave them in 2 steps. Your initital reaction and then your reaction after reading her life story and what she truly means behind this quote. Maybe it'd change maybe it wouldn't, but I'd be interested none the less.

If I can muster any comments on this blog, it'd be a miracle.

What Say You (06.26.08)

2008-06-26T08:39:00.000-04:00

Wow, the latest edition of this series was a smashing success. What Say You (06.19.08) was, I thought, a way to talk about death, sons, fathers, etc. but didn't happen. Maybe I should have laid that out, maybe no one wanted to talk about it, maybe no one cares.

Regardless, hopefully the latest edition does better.

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very
few virtues." - Abraham Lincoln

Whoa?!?! Wait a minute.... having an addicition (or a vice to use 1860's language) is a good thing? It can build character? This is an interesting look at how we fall prey to, repsond to, and use for the negative or the positive our vices, virtues, will-power, self discipline, and within the context of today's consumeristic, me-first, I can have whatever I want when I want mindset and worldview is an important discussion.

So, let's discuss. I am pleading to all of you faithful readers to sound-off and get the conversation started.

Darwinmania!!!!!

2008-06-24T12:43:00.000-04:00

I found this New York Times column zooming around some other blogs and found it to be an interesting look at Charles Darwin and the likely festivities that will surround two important anniversaries soon to be celebrated. And what better group of people to discuss this than all 2 of you:

The party is about to begin.

In a week or so, the trumpets will sound, heralding the start of 18 months of non-stop festivities in honor of Charles Darwin. July 1, 2008, is the 150th anniversary of the first announcement of his discovery of natural selection, the main driving force of evolution. Since 2009 is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth (Feb. 12), as well as being the 150th anniversary of the publication of his masterpiece, "On the Origin of Species" (Nov. 24), the extravaganza is set to continue until the end of next year. Get ready for Darwin hats, t-shirts, action figures, naturally selected fireworks and evolving chocolates. Oh, and lots of books and speeches.

But hold on. Does he deserve all this? He wasn't, after all, the first person to suggest that evolution happens. For example, his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, speculated about it towards the end of the 18th century; at the beginning of the 19th, the great French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck made a strong case for it. Lamarck, however, failed to be generally persuasive because he didn't have a plausible mechanism -- he could see that evolution takes place, but he didn't know how. That had to wait until the discovery of natural selection.

The author goes on to explain just why Darwin, who wasn't the first to think of natural selection either, deserves the parties that will be held in his honor; and I'd tend to agree, for the most part.

As a Creationist, you'd think I'd have problems with Darwin's theories. Kinda, sort of. Call it riding the fence if you will. But here is the best way I can explain it:

I believe that God made the world and everything in it (I wasn't around during this time, so I really can't speak to the timeline or how long it took God to do all of this); I believe that He directly created the souls not only of the first two fully human creatures on Earth, but that He continues this act of direct creation of the souls of every human being in existence. In other words, the human body may have been formed by evolution (but not from monkeys or even "neanderthal" as in the stereotypical thought that enters everyone's mind when I said neanderthal), but the immortal soul of every human being is not something which developed naturally, or exists as a naturally occurring characteristic of the material existence of humans.

The real conflict between religion and science often comes about when science claims that the ability to demonstrate certain empirical truths automatically disproves the existence of the non-material. This is no less true for the various debates that have arisen about ideas based on Darwin's observations than it has been for other similar conflicts. Those followers of Darwin who say that evolution and natural selection prove that there is no God, as man no longer requires a Creator, or that there is no immortal soul, as such a thing could hardly have evolved and can't be empirically observed anyway, are stepping outside the bounds of science and into metaphysics, where by definition they have no business; the tools of empiricism are useless in the realm of the transcendent realities.

But the strict empiricist doesn't believe that there are transcendent realities. All is physical, all is observable, all is the result of brain chemistry or hormones or the twirl and dance of deoxyribonucleic acid. Love isn't a many-splendored thing, but the predictable and combined result of proximity, the observable qualities of the other that strike the observer's eye as desirable, and the activity of certain physical and chemical processes; beauty may not be in the eye of the beholder, but what does it matter so long as the proper hormonal response is achieved?

And hate is in the gut--literally--and crime located somewhere in the glandular systems, and free will is an illusion that we've evolved to believe in because otherwise the sheer randomness and preprogrammed nature of our choices would drive us to despair--or, at least, to whatever physical/chemical combination "despair" really is.

So for the empiricist, any talk of God being involved in the creation of the world, even if religious believers are quite willing to entertain the notion that it pleased God to set evolution in motion (provided we retain our beliefs about the soul, which the strictest empiricists don't believe in anyway) still isn't acceptable. For certain people whose beliefs in non-creation and the non-Creator are inextricably tied to their beliefs about science and about all of reality, this is not a compromise they can live with--it seems as though they must convert believers to their non-belief, so ardently do they insist that evolution proves that God is not.

It does no such thing, of course. And I can't help but wonder just what sort of biochemical impulses the strict empiricist-evolutionist blames for his unhappiness with the whole notion.

What Say You (06.19.08)

2008-06-19T09:28:00.003-04:00

Read the First Edition here....

2nd Edition Here There is still time for you to add your 2 cents to this conversation, it has just been me and Gary so far and how can that be any fun?

This time, not so much a one line quote as an 8 minute video from a manly and courageous son talking at his dad's memorial service.

I know these things get overblown because what makes Tim Russert better than any other dad. We're only seeing this because of his national noteriaty. But sometimes none of that matters, emotion just takes over.

Context

2008-06-14T12:07:00.004-04:00

Cheez-it, cheez-it.

One of the worse kept secrets right now is the continued rising price of gas. $4 a gallon right means to me that it costs me $12 a day for one round-trip drive to work (25 mpg, 76 miles round trip). And that's if it's normal and then I do no errand running during lunch or after work. $60 a week isn't too bad and thankfully, Michele and I are in a spot right now where it is affordable for us. None the less, I've been trying to figure out a way to car pool. Back in 2006 and the very early part of 2007 I was able to car-pool with a co-worker. You know back when gas was $2.50 a gallon! We took turns driving weekly back and forth to work. At that time we were working on the same team and were able to hold the same hours. Since then we've both been promoted. Me within my same team and she took a position with a new company that my company spun off. So both our hours kind of increased and she had to trvale more and then we had Seth and I needed to have a car in case I had to run home...so it has fallen apart. Now no one lives close enough to me to car pool.

So, I started looking into the bus system. It is very extensive system in Detroit actually. It's surprising actually. I live in Lincoln Park exit 42 off of I-75 (same house you and JP visited me Gary, way back in the summer of 2001). It's about 8 miles South from downtown Detroit. I work in Auburn Hills, MI (exit 79 off of I-75) about 3 miles from the Palace of Auburn Hills. My normal daily routine is that I leave the house no later than 6:45am (6:30 ideal). Arrive at work by 7:30 and then leave anywhere between 4pm and 5pm. Sometimes I take an hour lunch sometimes I don't. I prefer not to take a lunch and leave as soon as possible so I can be home. I kind of figured the bus thing would result in more time away from home, but would include some cost savings as well as the experience in public transportation. The ability to meet all kinds of people, see some different parts of the Metro Detroit area, even allow me to some work on my laptop as I occassionally have to do at home.

So I started to research the routes and potential pick-up and drop-off points, would I need a ride to the bus-stop or from the bus-stop, how much would I have to walk. All those details.

So what does all this have to do with Cheez-Its?

I'm getting there.

I was shocked at what would be required of me to use the bus system. The best I could find for my trip to work was to leave at 5:13am and arrive to work by 8:06am. This meant I would have to walk a total of 45 minutes, wait for a bus for 13 minutes, and ride 2 different buses for 2 hours combined. And that was just to get to work by 8:06am. But to get to the bus stop by 5:13 meant I'd have to get up at like 4:30am at the minimum. Not that ideal.

Then for my trip home, assuming I can leave after working a straight 8 only (not that likely). I would hop the bus at 4:18 and be home at 7:46.

Basically I would have less than 9.5 hours at home...throw in 6 or 7 hours of sleep and I'm down to a couple hours of awake time at home. My kid goes to bed now at 8:30 - 8:45, I'd see him for an hour a day at the best, thus leaving just an hour with the lovely and talented one and myself.

This idea kind of went out the window almost immediately.

And then I got to thinking....

Sometimes you need context.

Con-text, con-text.

No idea how I remembered this movie, and if you search YouTube you'll find a lot more on this movie. But we've all heard the stories from famous athletes, people on TV, and the kids down the street or in our Youth Groups.

Sometimes we all deserve a slap in the face.

Context, context

How can this be?

2008-06-12T07:56:00.002-04:00

Anyone else bothered by the fact that Catholic's in America are actually Roman Catholics?

I mean, America is in a different hemisphere, a different continent, 4,000+ plus miles away, and 6 time zones from Rome, yet they are called Roman Catholics. Is this ridiculous?

If you are kind of nodding your head right now, then DO NOT click here, I don't want to advocate such unneccesary reading.

Nothing but love brother....nothing but love.

What Say You (06.09.08)

2008-06-09T09:48:00.003-04:00

Read the First Edition here....

2nd Edition...

"Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well" - Josh Billings

So, what say you about this statement?

Some of you are big card players (you even excercise your Christian liberty this way sometimes). How do you play a hand that holds no pairs, or just deuces, or a "farmer's hand"?

What about playing "partner's best?"

Is this State Prosecution Exhibit 1A for over cliched statement that's easy to say than do?

Is it even possible? How do you know if you've played your cards "well"?

I eagerly anticipate your repsonse and the discussion to follow....

FREAKY!!!!

2008-06-06T15:51:00.003-04:00

So, I just had to save a file while at work. One of the requirements is to date all work files when updates are made, this way old work doesn't get lost, you can see trends, maybe mistakes, blah, blah, blah.

ANYWAY, I saved my file 06.06.08 and it dawned on me....

2 years ago was 06.06.06

FREAKY!!!!!!!!

I almost couldn't click the save button, my heart was fluttering so bad......

Hillary Widmore

2008-06-06T14:21:00.003-04:00

This is for all you "Losties" out there......

Hillary Widmore!!!!

It Never Gets Old

2008-06-05T07:51:00.004-04:00

Watching the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup. Way to go Boys!!!!

After spending Monday night downtown in the D hoping to cash in on the celebration and getting one of the biggest gut punches ever (as well as no sleep), last night was awesome to see.

I was pulling for a Saturday morning parade but they're having it Friday instead. Little bummed out, I was seriously thinking about packing up the family and taking in the experience on Saturday. Oh well, with the way things go, there should be more opportunities.

For those that watched the game and especially the last 1:47, was that not the wildest minute and forty-seven seconds ever in sports!?!?!?! Mad dash, scrambling, the puck all over the place and literally floating just in front of the goal mouth...AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, awesome to see.

What Say You? (06.02.08)

2008-06-02T10:53:00.003-04:00

I'm a big "Planner" guy. Meaning, I have a Franklin Covey planner and write everything down in mine. It's how I schedule things. It's how I get things done. I even keep a revolving 4-year historical file of all my planner entries. I'm not into the whole Franklin-Covey thing where I prioritize and delegate and all that jazz. But just the basics with monthly and daily tabs. Being that I get free supplies through work, I just work with what I can get. I've kind of created my own "system" (doesn't everyone?) and it works for me.

I say all that to make my blog entry look bigger and have more lines. Kind of like how Rob Bell writes his books

like this where each line

is written in shotgun blast form

to make it look cool and fill up

150 pages with just 50 pages worth

but I chose to implent both of the obvious choices

authors use to make their writing look more than it is

double spacing short sentences and rambling on about

nothing related to the original intention of the writing.

ANYWAY.....

Each daily sheet has a quote for you to read and if we want to to think about. Famous people, athletes, actors, complete nobodies. Authors, poets, famous movie lines, Bible verses, slogans, etc., etc. Many of them are really good.

Well today's was this:

"To work in the world lovingly means that we are defining what we will be for, rather than reacting to what we are against." - Christina Baldwin

So, to borrow from a famous blogger, what does this quote mean to you? What do you think about it? Can you define what you are for and not react?

A Warning to My Readers

2008-05-19T11:26:00.003-04:00

Do not think me gentle
because I speak in praise
of gentleness, or elegant
because I honor the grace
that keeps this world. I am
a man crude as any,
gross of speech, intolerant,
stubborn, angry, full
of fits and furies. That I
have spoken well
at times, is not natural.
A wonder is what it is.

A Warning to My Readers - Wendell Berry

Perhaps I owe everyone an explanation. Maybe I don’t.

But for all intents and purposes, I’m done with the blogosphere. I gave it a try for a three and a half years and I think I’m just done. I think I am just sick of it. It’s become predictable on what exactly will be said and who will take which sides and say certain things. I mean, as soon as I hit “submit” I pretty much know who is going to say what. And I think if everyone else was honest they’d admit the same thing. There’s been nothing new. Corey goes Pomo on everyone (sorry Corey, its true) with artsy language and fancy writing. Toby takes the opposite side of any subject that the Religious Right or Evangelicals are in an uproar about it, he’s going to dig it…a lot! If it’s a squishy subject with the same group, he’s going to take the other side. Every time. And then Gary, well, actually you know what, there was some change. Gary did come out of the closet. The atheist closet I should say. But I feel like I’ve known this for like 12 years. I greatly apologize for this Gary but this has kind of the same feeling to it as that kid in high-school (or maybe your uncle) everyone kind of thought, might be, kind of acts, *gulp* gay. You know, he says something once and awhile that makes you stop and think, but you say “nah, no way” and the other guys in the circle of friends kind of think it themselves but never out and out say it. And then the 10 year reunion happens and sure as monkey crap (that’s one of those odd phrases), they’re there and with their “partner.” It’s fully confirmed now, and you’re happy that they’ve come out and can go on from there, but you’re also bummed out that they gave into that inner turmoil. That they’ve made the wrong choice….

Wait?

You’re not bummed?

They didn’t make the wrong choice?

And that’s the problem. I am grieved, horribly, that Gary caved in and made this decision. And the collective response everyone had opposite this proves what I think I always knew, but needed this little three and a half experiment to prove.

I’m not Postmodern, I’m not Emergent, and I am very, very, very set in my ways. So much so, that I’ve actually been very out of character in the last couple of years in the blogosphere. I don’t get Pomo or Emergent and I don’t want to…at all, ever!!

This isn’t to say that I won’t converse with you and have an intelligent discussion with you. I am well capable of that. I have 2 college degrees from an accredited public university. You know the kind that makes you take 20% of your classes from the “diversity” catalogue of classes. I served as an Executive Officer on student government, the business club, and a National Fraternity. I’ve managed white-collar and blue-collar workers from all different kinds of nationalities and backgrounds and ethnicities. I’ve minored in Philosophy and Journalism. But to be honest, didn’t complete either of them. I like to talk, not postulate and write. I mean, this whole thing you are reading right now is written at 5th grade level!!! And I think I’m smart with 2 college degrees, and I write a 2300 word essay at a 5th grade level!

And through all of that, the number one book I use to shape my mindset and set of ideals is the B-I-B-L-E (yes that’s the book for me). Now, don’t get me wrong, I kind of suck at living it. But the Bible is the book. It is the guidepost, instruction book, how-to manual, reference guide, devotional, whatever good or bad designator you want to put on it, for me. Now obviously, culture plays a role in my life too, I wear khaki’s to work and blue jeans to church. I drive a car and drink coffee. I listen to the radio and watch TV. But I don’t let culture dictate my mindset. Influence, yes, obviously, anyone that says otherwise you probably shouldn’t listen too anymore. But not dictate, not be the final word on the matter. This is more than frameworks and artworks and good works.

See, Jesus didn’t operate in a postmodern mindset. That’s different than culture. Culture does change and evolve. But a mindset is different than that. Yes, Jesus went around as a radical. Hanging out with the folks in the margins AND hanging out with the established religion of the day. He was a guy that everyone wanted to hang with. Why else are the religious people always around? I know they tried to trip him up and take him to task on a lot of things. But he made them look bad…a lot. But they kept coming around and seeing what was going on.

He brought some radical teachings to the people of his lifetime. They were operating in one set of cultural norms and he was bringing them to another set of cultural norms. But his mindset was always the same…that of his own, which is to say of the Father. And within that he always “spit the truth.” Culture didn’t influence his mindset.

He told some people to leave it all behind and follow him, he told others to just believe in him. He spoke hard truths that resulted in thousands leaving him. He outed some people within the midst of their dysfunctional living and showed utter compassion and love to others in the midst of their dysfunction. He showed up at some places and partied and he showed up at other places and threw everyone out in a rage. He talked and conversed and asked questions and answered questions. He told awesome stories. He taught people, he amazed people. And he always, always, always made sure to tell everyone that he was the only way.

Way to what?

The Father. Not heaven, necessarily, or not a way to not get to hell, necessarily. A way to the Father. This is huge, because that was the purpose of our Creation. And at the fall, it was lost, all of it. But Jesus showed up and offers a way back to the Father. And that is the goal (if you will) of all of this.

I’m not trying to make this a heaven or hell argument. But, wherever God is, Jesus offers us a way to that is. And to not be with God is not good and is very, very, very bad. Call those heaven (with God) and hell (not with God) if you want to. As for me, I do. But in the end, I don’t really care if heaven (as we all know it to mean) exists and if hell (as we all know it to mean) exists. But in the end, we are judged. Those that went through Jesus get eternal life with God, those that did not, get eternal life without God, which includes being in the same “locale” with satan. And I have no doubts that that means eternal damnation and ultimately eternal torture. How different would life be if you knew, with every inch of your body, heart, mind, soul, and spirit that God was gone? Never to show himself to you in any context ever again? That is damnation and torture. Maybe it includes “hell fire”, maybe it doesn’t. I just know I want absolutely zero part of that.

Jesus taught love God, Jesus, your neighbor, and yourself but he makes it clear there are definite black and white sides to be taken by all of us. He most definitely teaches and commands, no, demands we believe in him and chose his side. And those sides are to be taken here in this lifetime. It’s about choosing Jesus, all of him. Even the parts about him that make you feel uncomfortable. It isn’t about how anyone of us feels or about what anyone of us experience. It isn’t about your worldview and my worldview. Sometimes things are black and white even though they cannot be explained. Sometimes science and faith mix and sometimes they don’t. That doesn’t remove black and white from the equation.

With the exception of a couple of you, this is not a big deal. For those that it is….uh….too bad. And to sound clichéd, I’m praying for you. And I am specifically praying that you will realize how wrong you are and the grave danger you are in. I’m not going to condemn you and for me to say “If you don’t believe you’re in trouble” is not condemning you. It’s just telling what is. Plain and simple. If my mom had told my brother and I to not hit each other in the head with a baseball bat or we are in trouble, and my brother hits me in the head and I tell him, You’re in trouble, I’m not judging him. That’s up to someone else, namely my mother. So, I am praying for anyone that doesn’t believe this. Sometimes it is by name and other times it is in generalities, but still the same. More than praying I am grieved for you.

For those of you with no problems so far. Then let me try and give you one to have with me. There are things that I believe that really aren’t open to debate, (yes…per the Bible) namely:

** Abortion is wrong.
** Sex outside of a husband and wife is wrong…all and any sex whether hetero or homo.
** Husbands are the head of the household. It doesn’t matter who makes the decision, the husband will answer for all of them. And this isn’t to say that men have more value than women, but equality does not work.
** Women shouldn’t be in a leadership role of the church that results in them teaching men.
** Professed, practicing homosexuals should have ZERO leadership in the church.
** Divorce? Sure, but you cannot get married again unless it is to your original spouse. Basically, except for death, we’re only allowed one spouse in this lifetime.
** Pastors should not agree to officiate the marriage of anyone that has been divorced.
** Church is a requirement for Christians.
** I think Jesus would vote if he were here today, and I think any pro-choice candidate would never be an option, no matter their other political beliefs.

I am sure there are a lot more things, but these are the real hot button issues that I have primarily engaged in within the blogosphere. Many of other subjects like pre-destination, Calvinism, rapture timing, etc…..I just do not care. People spout off Bible verses and teachings of profound authors over the centuries on both sides of the argument and throw in their own 2 cents and “feelings” on the matter. None of that matters to me on the basis of how I live my life. And, none of the stuff above appeals to me anymore to argue over them. To argue over any of the above is just stupid. It’s wasting our time. It’s an excuse to avoid the hard stuff and life Jesus calls us to live for him. I’m just about done fighting and arguing over the peripherals.

We just keep re-hashing the same arguments over and over. We keep taking the same sides of the argument over and over. We keep spinning our tires and taking up our time saying the same thing we’ve always said. At times I find enjoyment in that, and most times I do not. But to go over and over the same stuff is kind of like this essay has been. A rehashing of stuff you all already knew about me.

So why’d I do it? I don’t know, like I said in the beginning, maybe I wanted to offer an explanation? Maybe I wanted to remove any and all doubt as to where I stand? Maybe I wanted to feel good about myself? Maybe I really do like to argue but didn’t want to admit it? Maybe I’m trying to drum up comments to my blog? Maybe I wanted to remove my BS filter? Maybe I just needed to throw a temper tantrum like a 3rd grader? If everyone else can throw a temper tantrum over what, if any, prepositional phrase to put in front of the word “church”, to really make it “church” (I thought you just needed Jesus (who is everywhere so that’s easy) a couple people and a C, a H, a R, and a U…….you can do that playing Wheel of Fortune and get “church” and that’s in the bonus round where you can win $50,000 or a new car, or a trip to Fiji or something) can’t I throw one for the lunacy and absurdity that is blogging?

In the end, I’m still here. And I’m still going to pop up once and awhile. But first, I’m going to read my Bible and go to church, and pray for people who have and are turning their backs on Jesus. I am going to change my son’s dirty diaper and rub my wife’s feet and pull weeds from the garden. And after that, if I have time, I’ll blog. And even then, only if I want to.

As you can see, I have a lot of issues to get over……

Bureaucracy vs. Humanity

2008-04-04T15:07:00.002-04:00

In Poland, traditional farmers are being driven out of business because of European Union regulations favoring factory farming. The ironic thing about it is that cultural and culinary trends are shifting in the direction of precisely the kind of traditional farming that they do. But they are going to be wiped out by Brussels' cookie-cutter regulations.

Kirk said that true conservatives have an "affection for the proliferating variety and mystery of human existence, as opposed to the narrowing uniformity, egalitarianism, and utilitarian aims of most radical systems." Conservatives ought to be on the side of the Polish farmers. I've no doubt that many who call themselves conservative will sneer at this thought, and say that the Poles should give way to market efficiency. Well: the price of something doesn't always reflect its full cost.

So, is God still judging America?

2008-03-31T10:07:00.004-04:00

Thanks to the 4 people who voted and the 3 who left comments (I'm sure those 3 also voted) on whether or not you think God is still judging the nations. I know I have more readers than that so maybe I should have included a "I do not know" option so you could have added to the conversation.

Even with the small response here at MP, the conversation has continued offline on this whole God still judging the nations discussion. As a result, this interesting question has raised it's ugly head.

In Romans, we are commanded to obey our government. As such, were our forefathers very, very wrong to engage in the Revolution? Afterall, it was an uprising against the government resulting in war? Which resulted in a complete over turn of said government.

So, was the Revolution wrong in God's eyes?

Is God still judging America for those actions?

Leave some comments, vote in the poll and let's see what we all think about this.

Politics and Culture

2008-03-28T10:03:00.001-04:00

"The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Culture and politics are intimately related. And the current economic crash we appear to be on is proof of this. The financial recklessness that engulfed Wall Street and Main Street both didn't come from nowhere, and it wasn't imposed on us from on high. No, the politicians that allowed this to happen came out of a culture that enabled it. Politicians aren't created in some lab or basement or factory and come out minted 100% whole; they are human beings who are produced by the culture they serve, and as such reflect the strengths and weaknesses of that culture.

How many politicians of either party could have hoped to have been elected to national office over the past quarter century by preaching thrift, self-discipline and self-sacrifice?

Already we can see our tendency is to blame other people for this confrontation with limits. It's the Chinese and Indians. It's the oil companies. It's Bush/Cheney. It's the Islamofascists. It’s like heavy traffic. Heavy traffic is always other people. When you say 'traffic was terrible' you’re never talking about yourself. Well, folks, the traffic is terrible. But the last thing we should be doing is building more roads.

Here's what I don't get about conservatives (i.e. me). We are able to recognize the danger in Big Government; our understanding of the fallenness of human nature makes us rightly suspicious of the concentration of power in the hands of the state. But what makes us so willing to disbelieve that concentrating so much unchecked power in the hands of financiers will lead us to paradise? Is the financier any less human and more angelic than the government bureaucrat? Is he less susceptible to greed, to envy, and to all the ordinary vices that deform human character and cause us to behave in foolish and reckless ways? Law and culture are two gifts of civilization to help us order our liberty, and put constraints on individual action. Too much constraint, and you stifle life, growth and creativity; too little, and you have shipwreck.

God's Judgement on the Nation cont. 2 (poll)

2008-03-28T08:06:00.003-04:00

I've put a poll up on this subject, vote on it.

Add to the conversation as well in the combox.....

God's Judgement on the Nation cont....

2008-03-26T08:02:00.004-04:00

Wouldn't you know it........

Following a reference from one of my buddies in response to reading "God's Judgement on the Nation" he lead me to a couple resources he knew of that would perhaps answer some of the questions I proposed in that post.

The issue came up not long ago in an Mars Hill Audio Journal interview with Prof. Steven Keillor, author of a book called "God's Judgment." Unfortunately, if you click on the link you have to pay for the podcast or other form of media you'd like to use to hear it. I didn't get to hear the podcast but was given the highlights and the following link with an excerpt from a critical but largely favorable review of the Keillor book, which appeared in Books & Culture and was written by Prof. Brad Gregory of Notre Dame:

Those of us skeptical of Keillor's aim [to show that it's possible to argue seriously that God intervenes in history -- my note.] need not accept his premises in order to see the force of his arguments. His claim that the Bible offers a divinely revealed understanding of history can be tested (albeit never proved) by its analytical power in interpreting major historical events. Keillor seeks "to correlate known causes of the event with known categories of divine holiness and judgment" as disclosed in Scripture, well aware that such interpretations can be perilous and are often abused:

We must beware of presumption in claiming to know the mind of God. But the pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme, where the inability to know for sure morphs into a refusal to ask questions that cannot be known with certainty and then into a dismissal of the category of divine judgment.

In short: if God's purposes are such and such, then certain events are plausibly understood as his judgments in the flow of human history.

I won't get into the details of Keillor's theory of how we can discern God's purposes in historical events -- the B&C review does this nicely. Bible Girl's column, though, was a good reminder as to how rarely many of us serious Christians ever think about God's judgment with regard to national events -- and how unbiblical that is. In the Mars Hill interview, Keillor explicitly discusses the temptation to read divine purposes into the events after the fact, or perhaps to justify wars and other events. But just because it's common for people to do such a thing doesn't mean that we should dismiss entirely the idea that God uses dramatic events to chastise nations and to teach them something about their behavior.

We all remember Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson's pronouncement right after the 9/11 attacks that the event was God's judgment on America brought about because of the actions of the abortionists and gays. When I heard that, I was enraged and furious. Some time later, though, I had to confront the possibility that they were right, that the events of that day were, in some sense, permitted by God as a judgment upon America. I think that given the symbolic power of the attacks, a far stronger case can be made that if -- if -- the God of the Bible intended those attacks as a judgment, the symbolic meaning of the targets would lead us to conclude that He was trying to teach us a lesson about the corrupting power of wealth and materialism (the Twin Towers), and about American militarism (the Pentagon). That interpretation wouldn't suit the political purposes of the Revs. Falwell and Robertson, but it makes a lot more sense to me. See the difference?

It seems to me no bad thing for American Christians to think more rigorously about how our nation measures up to the Biblical standard, and how God might be speaking to us collectively through historical events to call us back to obedience and fidelity. We so often assume that our national aspirations and intentions are consonant with the Almighty's, and that's a profoundly hubristic assumption. So many US Christians support the idea that spreading liberal democracy is a fulfillment of the Great Commission, a sort of divine "mission civilisatrice " for the world, that we don't even stop to consider how God might see what we do. Even the Chosen People fell away from the divine will, and suffered for it. Why shouldn't we?

In the Mars Hill interview, Keillor said that one reason we modern Americans are uncomfortable thinking about interpreting history in this way is that we are opposed to the idea of collective guilt. We judge individuals, not groups, in our legal system. We expect God's judgment to conform to that model. But insofar as the Bible is a reliable testimony of God's literal historical dealings with humanity, we are imposing our own model on Him, and it's baseless. He does judge nations. Neither the United States nor righteous Americans are immune.

So: laugh at Bible Girl if you want to, but whether or not you agree with her conclusion, she's standing on firm Biblical ground in asking the right questions.

Round 2

2008-03-22T00:32:00.000-04:00

What in the h is in the water down in Tampa!?!?! Both 12's and both 13's pulled out victories...unreal. This means we are guaranteed at least 2 double digit seeds in the sweet 16. We could have 4, which isn't a lot, but no matter what 2 of them will be 12's or 13's...that's crazy.

Well, my Elite 8 (and Final 4) for both brackets are still alive. I did lose a couple sweet 16 teams (UCONN and Vandy) but almost everyone lost UCONN (except my wife...of course she took San Diego, just like she took Siena and W. Kentucky...however, Zona in the elite 8 wasn't too good and a Final 4 of Tenn, Wisco, Texas, and UCLA with Wisco beating UCLA was probably her downfall...but crazier things have happen).

I was right on my 2 "for sure" giant killers of Western Kentucky and Kansas State, but my other maybes weren't even that close. Winthrop lost by 31 (even though they were tied at halftime), Cornell lost by 24, Baylor by 11, Oral Roberts by 19, and St. Joe's was the closest with 8.

I'm still covinced Xavier and Duke are overated (I have both losing in the next round) and they both almost proved me right (that's what March Madness is about...it's the "almost" and the "Giant Killers").

Looking at just the seed number, my next wave of upsets are Notre Dame, MSU (sorry Corey, they DO NOT suck), Marquette, West Virginia. This means in both my brackets I have these 4 teams making it to the sweet 16 by beating a team seeded higher than them.

I also like Purdue and Kansas St.

One thought I've been going over is that I'd like it if we could get a couple of us together on a blog and "live blog" as the tourney plays on. Maybe next year. I think that'd be cool, to see our progress and emotions through the tournament. It would be some work and require some time, but I think it wouldn't be too hard to do. Just keep the post creator open and every 5-10 minutes provide some random thought/update.

Maybe I'm crazy....this makes 2 nights in a row I'm up past 10:30 nevermind the fact past 12:30....and that's just crazy!!!

A special for those that missed it or just to re-live it. (Accoring to Michele that was out loud scream at TV, followed by jump off the couch number 37 so far...I think half of those came during the MSU game anyway)...

March Madness Time

2008-03-20T10:36:00.001-04:00

Well, here goes another attempt at prognosticating the future, college basketball style.

2 brackets this year

Brack et#1

Elite 8
North Carolina, Tennessee, Kansas, Georgetown, Memphis, Marquette, UCLA, Purdue

Final 4
Tenn, Kansas, Marquette, UCLA

Kansas over UCLA for the Champ

Bracket #2

Elite 8
NC, Tenn, Kansas, G-Town, MSU, Texas, UCLA, West Virginia

Final 4
NC, Kansas, Texas, UCLA

NC over Texas

Now, the obvious one awesome element to the Madness are the Giant Killers (lower than 10 seeds who spring upsets on the "Giants"). With playing 2 brackets I switched some up here and there but a couple remained consistent in both brackets:

Kansas St over USC
Western Kentucky over Drake

The other Giant Killers I liked but not enough to put in both brackets:

Winthrop
Baylor
Cornell
Oral Roberts
St. Joe's

I also have Duke losing in the 2nd round in both brackets and the South bracket looks to be the one where I think the most "madness" will happen.

Desperate plea to y'all

2008-03-13T09:54:00.001-04:00

So what's the problem?

I've had 18 posts this year here at MP. And 13 comments to go along with those 18.

10 of those posts didn't even get a comment, so that leaves 8 posts to receive 13 comments.

One of those got 4 comments, and that was on the 1 year birth of my son, so it's to be expected to get the obligatory congrats. So that leaves 7 posts with 9 comments. 2 of those came from me so 7 posts with 1 comment each.

It's not like I've spent my time boring you with my mundane day-to-day life and a running diary of my life. There has been some fluff stuff that probably doesn't warrant a comment at all. But some stuff has been really meaty and posted, on purpose, to ellict a repsonse.

Here's the title to some of my posts:

Consrevative Christian
Gimmie some of that new old time religion
To pass on the faith, live it....with discernment
Animal Husbandry

And one I really thought would spark some dialogue was the last one I did:

God's Judgement on the Nation

I do have readers here who I talk to face-to-face about many of things or sometimes my blogging is a result of those opinions and discussions and I post stuff here to get specific responses from some specific people. Those I do not see face-to-face.

But I've gotten nothing lately.

So, basically Why?

This whole ploy of mine, may be desperate, but I enjoy posting something and getting a response. It's part of the reason I do this. Don't get me wrong, I, like all other bloggers blog for myself. But I eagerly anticipate responses.

Is everyone in agreement with me on everything so why say something?

Am I too confrontational? I disagree sometimes and can do so vehementlly, but I never personally attack anyone.

I don't offer anonymous comments because I weed out the crap from people who spam comments with advertising. It's not because I'm afraid or worry you'll crash the conversation (although there hasn't been much lately). But I can change that.

Is the material just plain horrible?

I've put a poll at the top of the page with all kinds of options...vote away, comment here....let me know. You can select multiple choices, so if you have multiple reasons, go ahead....I'm going to take the feedback and see what I can do about it.

Please....

God's Judgement on the Nation

2008-03-10T12:50:00.003-04:00

This is some interesting stuff I came across and has me really thinking just what it is I believe.

Bible Girl, aka Julie Lyons, is a white Pentecostal who keeps a blog at the Dallas Observer (Dallas' weekly Alt-mag). From what I can gather she worshipes at a black church. And as you will see, she apparently has a history of being fearlessly honest in her writing.

She's got a column about why, even though she remembers a Nigerian pastor prophesying in 2001 that after the Bush years, God would give America a black president, and even though she's a pro-life D will not consider voting Republican until the GOP gets serious about what she regards as racial justice, she will not vote for Barack Obama. The reason? Abortion. Excerpt:

It is interesting how Scripture virtually ignores a king’s political or military accomplishments. Jeroboam II, for example, presided over a time of great prosperity and influence for Israel. Yet the Bible dismisses these things in a few brusque sentences. Jeroboam II ultimately failed in keeping God’s commands, and he was judged to be evil. Because he called evil good, he caused the people to do evil as well. End of story; over and out.

Which brings me to abortion again. I’m one of those people who was never passionate about this issue until I had a child of my own -- kind of like the folks who don’t care about famine in faraway places until they see the pictures of starving children. God touched my conscience one day concerning abortion; today I passionately oppose it and call myself a pro-life Democrat.

I see it as an elemental thing: the value of life. You couldn’t identify an issue that cuts to the core more than that.

I won’t say I’m the deepest thinker on this subject. It’s just simple to me. I will put no other god before me, neither will I play God and make decisions reserved solely for him. Every time man has been given the power to decide who deserves to live and who deserves to die, hideous things have resulted.

The Middle Passage. The Holocaust. The Nazis’ extermination of the mentally retarded and gypsies. Genocide in Armenia, Rwanda, Darfur. The executions of innocents in Texas and other states. Abortion.

Yet I can’t escape the words of Kings. God will judge a leader by one thing: his faithfulness to God’s Word on matters for which the Christian position is clear.
No, that’s not a fashionable concept these days. It won’t win me many friends in the circles I travel. I do understand that we don’t live in a theocracy; our nation is governed by a constitution. As voters, we deal in a continuum of hope and reality. We don’t get everything we want.

Well, whoever said the world would understand or approve of followers of Jesus Christ?

I believe that Barack Obama will be our next president; the hand of God is upon him. If you read Kings, though, that can cut many ways.

But I will not give him my vote.

So, does God still judge nations?

I mean her explanation is unusual. She based her conclusion in large part on her reading of the Bible, and its clear testimony that God intervenes in history to judge nations that fall away from His will. She is withholding her vote from Obama because of her very real conviction that God's judgment will fall on this nation if it fully embraces the legalized extermination of unborn lives (nearly 50 million of whom have died at the hands of abortionists since Roe v. Wade was legalized in 1973).

For non-believers, it is obviously foolishness to make a political decision based on fear of God's judgment. But do believers really have the option not to consider it? Abraham Lincoln didn't think so. His Second Inaugural Address framed the Civil War as God's judgment on America for the sin of slavery. Excerpt (again):

The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?

I don't think Lincoln was speaking figuratively. He really believed the Civil War was an act of divine judgment. Anyone who takes the Bible seriously as a record of God's dealing with His people in history cannot escape the testimony in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) of God withdrawing his protection from Israel in response to its stiff-necked behavior. God sent the Prophets to call Israel back to holiness. And when that didn't work, He allowed chastisement to humble his Chosen Nation.

If we believe that God dealt with Israel that way, why wouldn't he deal with us, and with any other nation, that way?

Bummer

2008-03-05T12:51:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately the HTML banner tag has got to come down.....

Mike Huckabee formally withdrew from the Republican race and endorsed John McCain. Good for him. He got blown out in Texas last night -- exit polling showed that more Texas Evangelicals voted for McCain than for Huck. I didn't want it to end this way, of course, but it has, and Huckabee's withdrawal was graceful and honorable. "I'd rather lose an election than lose the principles that got me into politics in the first place," he said. I loved his paying tribute to the little men and women who sacrificed for his campaign, "a voice for the hard-working people who lift heavy things every day." It was heartfelt, and his marvelous exit speech reminded me why I fell for Huck in the first place -- and why I hope this isn't the last we see of him.

By any measure, Huckabee accomplished so very, very much, and on little more than his ability to give a great speech, and to convince people of his authenticity. He outlasted the mighty, multimillion-dollar Mitt Romney campaign, and in fact was critically important in derailing it. Had he remained after tonight, he would have come off as a crank and a dead-ender. By going out on a high note, and pledging to do everything he can for the GOP this fall, he's done a lot to ensure his continuing influence in the party.

I'd like to ask Huck backers (and anyone really) what should our man do now? He'll be a formidable campaigner for the GOP this fall, that's for sure. But assuming he doesn't get the vice presidential nomination, what about after the election?

Rumor has it he may try and run in the Senate race in Arkansas (deadline to file is Monday). Some have suggested he could succeed James Dobson as the voice of Evangelicals. Maybe McCain picks him as a member of the Cabinet? Maybe he goes back to church, starts preaching again and we never hear from him again.

An Inconvenient Conference

2008-03-04T07:19:00.005-05:00

This weekend, my family and I (or should I just say my family?) travelled to Cedar Springs (15 miles or so North of Grand Rapids) to visit some college friends and to partake in the festivities of a first birthday party for their son Ethan. Good times for sure.

But during the festivities, I believe it was channel 8 news ended up on the TV and the weatherman proceeded to tell the viewing public that February 2008 was going to go down as the snowiest ever for Grand Rapids and only had 16% sunshine the whole month.

What a truly incovenient month it has been for Grand Rapids and really the whole left coast of Michigan. And I can tell you that Metro Detroit has not been much better at all. Probably right on the same track. And again today, 3-6 inches of snow.

It has almost become something of a joke when some "global warming" conference has to be cancelled because of a snowstorm or bitterly cold weather.

But stampedes and hysteria are no joke -- and creating stampedes and hysteria has become a major activity of those hyping a global warming "crisis."

They mobilize like-minded people from a variety of occupations, call them all "scientists" and then claim that "all" the experts agree on a global warming crisis.

Their biggest argument is that there is no argument.

A whole cottage industry has sprung up among people who get grants, government agencies who get appropriations, politicians who get publicity and the perpetually indignant who get something new to be indignant about. It gives teachers something to talk about in school instead of teaching.
Those who bother to check the facts often find that not all those who are called scientists are really scientists and not all of those who are scientists are specialists in climate. But who bothers to check facts these days?

A new and very different conference on global warming was and is currently being held in New York City, under the sponsorship of the Heartland Institute, on March 2nd to March 4th -- weather permitting.

It is called an "International Conference on Climate Change." Its subtitle is "Global Warming: Truth or Swindle?" Among those present will be professors of climatology, along with scientists in other fields and people from other professions.

They come from universities in England, Hungary, and Australia, as well as from the United States and Canada, and include among other dignitaries the president of the Czech Republic.

There will be 98 speakers and 400 participants.

The theme of the conference is that "there is no scientific consensus on the causes or likely consequences of global warming."

Many of the participants in this conference are people who have already expressed skepticism about either the prevailing explanations of current climate change or the dire predictions about future climate change.

These include authors of such books as "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years" by Fred Singer and Dennis Avery, and "Shattered Consensus," edited by Patrick J. Michaels.

This will be one of the rare opportunities for the media to hear the other side of the story -- for those old-fashioned journalists who still believe that their job is to inform the public, rather than promote an agenda.

The subtitle of the upcoming conference -- "Global Warming: Truth or Swindle?" -- is also the title of a British television program that is now available on DVD in the United States. It is a devastating debunking of the current "global warming" hysteria.

Nobody denies that there is such a thing as a greenhouse effect. If there were not, the side of the planet facing away from the sun would be freezing every night.

There is not even a lot of controversy over temperature readings. What is fundamentally at issue are the explanations, implications and extrapolations of these temperature readings.

The party line of those who say that we are heading for a global warming crisis of epic proportions is that human activities generating carbon dioxide are key factors responsible for the warming that has taken place in recent times.

The problem with this reasoning is that the temperatures rose first and then the carbon dioxide levels rose. Some scientists say that the warming created the increased carbon dioxide, rather than vice versa.

Many natural factors, including variations in the amount of heat put out by the sun, can cause the earth to heat or cool.

The bigger problem is that this has long since become a crusade rather than an exercise in evidence or logic. Too many people are too committed to risk it all on a roll of the dice, which is what turning to empirical evidence is.

So why has no one heard about this conference? Why no news or reporting or a daily update from cable news networks? Why no "panel of experts"?

Because, it's a true inconvenience for those who have a big stake in global warming hysteria to show up at the conference in New York, and unfortunately that includes much of the media.

Genius, pure genius

2008-02-28T09:14:00.002-05:00

Did you hear what happen Tuesday night across the whole nation...yes the whole country?

From 5:30-8:30 there was a lot of trouble. Feet were tapping tap, heads were aching and foreheads were sweating. Starbucks was closed!!!

NO!!!!!

Yes it happen.

6 weeks ago, Howard Schultz took over the reins (again) as CEO of Starbucks. Since then, he's been on a mission to return the company to its previous form. Tuesday, every store throughout the nation closed for three hours for "remedial espresso training." Or in Schultz's terms, "to teach, educate and share our love of coffee, and the art of espresso."

I beg to differ. This might be about a better cup of coffee, but there's a lot more to it than that, and it's pretty slick.

Shutting down your operation creates buzz. Apple knows this; they do all their online store updates in the middle of the day, and they bring down their whole site as the rumor sites go ablaze in anticipation. Starbucks knows this, too.

When you tell the world you are shutting down for three hours to learn to excel or to make changes, when things reopen, people want to investigate. They'll want to see if the coffee is better and what new tricks the baristas have up their collective, trendy sleeve.

Even more genius, Biggby coffee was offering free coffee at the same time......

If you aren't on the Biggby coffee bandwagon (you may see it as Beaners) time to get on.

I'm telling you, get on board.....

2008-02-26T09:50:00.005-05:00

Click here and add to favorites

The Bride's a Slut. They Call it Progress

2008-02-21T12:16:00.002-05:00

The New York Times reports today on a new trend in weddings:

The gown was almost wanton — fluid but curvy with a neckline that plummeted
dangerously. “It makes me feel sexy and beautiful,” said Natasha DaSilva, who
slipped it on for a fitting last week.

Cut away at the rear to reveal a tattoo at the small of her back, the dress suggested a languorous night in the honeymoon suite.

Except that Ms. DaSilva, who will be married on Long Island in
September, plans to wear it at the altar.

“Why not?” she asked. “I want to look back in 20 years and feel like I
looked hot on my wedding day.”

Ms. DaSilva, 26, thinks of herself as adventurous, but not so brash
that she is about to cross a line. Dressing for a wedding as if it were an
after-party is accepted among her family and friends. “For my generation,
looking like a virgin when you marry is completely unappealing, boring even,”
she said. “Who cares about that part anymore?”

Natasha DaSilva, that tattoo just above your butt telegraphs to the world that you're one classy dame. I'm sure your daughters will be so proud of you one day. "Wow, Mom, you really hooched up your wedding, didn't you?" Dreary old me, maybe you do become an old-fogey at 30.

Airplaneseatreclineology

2008-02-20T14:04:00.004-05:00

It took me awhile to find this comic, but I finally did so.

Corey's post is what got me thinking about it. I read this comic quite awhile ago but it is very appropos to the conversation.

Read Corey's post, view the comic and have a good laugh. But I would encourage everyone to think about the fact that a comic strip is mocking the jist of the problem with humanity.

If you have more to say on the subject, do so at Corey's blog, he started the conversation, let's keep it going over there.

If you like the comic then I encourage you to check out Pearls Before Swine....it is hilarious stuff. Basically the mouse is an arrogant "know-it-all" who feels the need to tell his "pearls" of wisdom to the pig (who is the only one that will listen to the mouse). Hence "Pearls Before Swine"

And yes it is a direct result of Jesus words in the gospel. But I have found nothing that tells me the author is an Evangelical or Born-Again.

There's more to it, but give it a chance. Good stuff. A lot of pop culture and a look at humanity in the whole....as the above comic.

Here's the website (via comics.com)

Here's some Wikipedia info on the comic strip. Maybe a good place to start to figure things out.

Animal Husbandry

2008-02-19T14:44:00.000-05:00

It turns out that a slaughterhouse's cruel practice are behind the massive nationwide recall of beef, the largest in US history.

Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went
to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been
eaten.

"We don't know how much product is out there right now. We don't
think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take action," said Dr. Dick
Raymond, USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety.

Federal Officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an
undercover video from the Human Society of the United States surfaced showing
crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

Two former employees were charged Friday. Five felony counts of
animal cruelty and three misdemeanors were filed against a pen manager.
Three misdemeanor counts -- illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal -- were
filed against an employee who worked under that manager. Both were
fired.

Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise
abusing "downer" animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into
the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats, San
Bernadino County prosecutor Michael Ramos said.

No charges have been filed against Westland, but an investigation by
federal authorities continues.

About 150 school districts around the nation have stopped using ground beef
from Hallmark Meat Packing Co., which is associated with Westland. Two fast-food
chains, Jack-In-the-Box and In-N-Out, said they would not use beef from
Westland/Hallmark.

Most of the beef was sent to distribution centers in bulk packages. The
USDA said it will work with distributors to determine how much meat
remains.

Federal regulations call for keeping downed cattle out of the food
supply because they may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli,
salmonella or mad cow disease since they typically wallow in feces and their
immune systems are often weak.

Watch the undercover video that sparked the recall here. WARNING this is strong stuff. We don't have to or shouldn't wait for Congress or state legislatures to even do anything about this. We can take action now!

STOP BUYING FACTORY FARMED MEAT NOW!!!

Buy from your local farmers.

This website has the most comprehensive national list of meat producers who refuse to allow factory-farming methods. Not just cattle/beef either. We're talking eggs, milk, honey, pork, turkey, etc. Take a look -- here is a link to just the Michigan locales. It's surprising how many exist. And some even ship.

Watch that video and still say you trust the industrial food system to provide healthy meat. This is not the dominion mandate. This is not the husbandry that God commanded us and has given mankind. This is not the husbandry I am working toward handing off to my son one day.

Hard to Believe it has been a YEAR!!!!!!

2008-02-17T12:31:00.000-05:00

What more could a kid want!!!

Presents to open, toys litterd everywhere, and a mom and dad addicted to the camera!!!

BTW - Don't worry about the medicine bottle in his hands, it's empty

To pass on the faith, live it...with discernment

2008-02-14T08:05:00.004-05:00

I was emailed this link by a buddy of mine who, even though it has a Catholic slant, thought I would greatly appreciate it....I did.

It is an interview with Amy Welborn, who appears to be a pretty big deal in the Catholic blogosphere.

ANYWAY, back to the interview, here is a snippet worth repeating...

The problem is that when you look at Catholic history, the faith has never been passed on predominantly in classroom situations. The faith has been passed on in families and in parishes and in communities. You can have really nice catechetical materials in which you have kids learn about a saint each week and you introduce them to various devotions, but if all of that is absent from parish life, and if all of that is absent from the life of Catholics, which it is for the most part…It's something that any teacher of, particularly, the humanities can sympathize with. Think about the poor teacher trying to teach Shakespeare or Chaucer to kids who go home and are on the Internet for four hours and then are playing video games and doing all kinds of other things. It's not just a religious ed problem; it's a cultural problem. [Emphasis mine]What we are trying to transmit in a classroom setting isn't reinforced culturally.

In the Catholic setting, that means it's not reinforced in most parishes. There's no Catholic life that continually reinforces the Catholic faith. Our churches are bare. Kids don't have the opportunity to study murals and pictures of stained glass and they get bored.

Catholic education is getting better in the classrooms but we haven't grappled with the bigger cultural issue of a community's responsibility to transmit the faith outside the classroom setting.

What's the broader message for people of faith? That passing on the faith to our children is not something we can or should rely entirely on the institutional church (sermons, Sunday school, Christian schools) to do. We have to do it in our homes and in our cultural lives -- and not in the sense of, "Tonight, children, we are going to discuss the doctrine of the Incarnation." The Christian faith has to be woven into the fabric of everyday life, has to be experienced not as an interesting add-on to normal life, but as normal life itself. This is particularly challenging in a culture like ours, where increasingly the only normative belief is that there is no normative belief. But what choice do serious religious believers have?

This is why I'm attracted to the idea of living in some sort of community with other families who share our faith. My kids need to see that it's not just our family that believes and lives by these things -- and they need to see that every day of the week, not just on Sunday.

But there can be problems to that and it was why I am VERY selective on who I include in that community in terms of leadership and influence in my life and that of my family. I'll talk to anyone and let anyone "in" but when it comes to who I am going to listen to and take direction from, who I want to be a role model and someone to follow, sorry but I am judicious and selective.

And ironically, while purusing more of the Catholic website where Amy's interview came from I came across this "essay." It furthered cured the cement work I have laid down for my foundation on life, faith, and community. The author's summation with a number of statistical facts is fascinating and all too revealing, most of them showing that despite the Catholic Church's growing numbers on paper, the content of the Catholic faith in the hearts and minds of its adherents is rapidly changing to something that's Catholic in name only:

A survey in 2005 found that 76 percent of the Catholics of the United States thought someone could be a good Catholic without going to church every Sunday. Other elements of Catholic belief and practice also fared poorly. Three out of four said good Catholics needn't observe the teaching on contraception; two-thirds said the same of having their marriages blessed by the Church and accepting the teaching on divorce and remarriage; 58 percent took the same view of giving time or money to the parish and also of following Church teaching on abortion. These numbers have gone up dramatically since Davidson and his colleagues began collecting them in 1987. And, by 2005, nearly one in four held that a good Catholic needn't believe that Jesus rose bodily from the dead.

In 2003, the researchers tested American Catholics' views on the Catholic Church and other religions. Some results: 86 percent agreed with the statement "If you believe in God, it doesn't really matter which religion you belong to"; 74 percent said yes to "The major world religions are equally good ways of finding ultimate truth"; and 52 percent accepted the proposition, "The Catholic religion has no more spiritual truth than other major religions."

Apparently not all of those highly educated and loyal Catholic Americans measure up too well by the standards of Catholic orthodoxy. I am reminded of the 25-year-old chap, a baptized Catholic with six years of religious education who claimed he went to Mass twice a month. Upon leaving a showing of the movie The Da Vinci Code, he told The New York Times: "The Catholic Church has hidden a lot of things—proof about the actual life of Jesus, about who wrote the Bible. All these people—the famous Luke, Mark, and John—how did they know so much about Jesus' life? If there was a Bible, who created it and how many times has it been changed?"

People who talk as the happy-talkers do about the glories of contemporary American Catholicism aren't crazy. They know what’s going on. But they pass it over lightly because that suits the project of replacing a form of Catholicism they consider moribund with an endlessly evolving religion without norms. In their estimate, a Church like that would better suit the exigencies of post-modern times. Call it Anglicanism with a figurehead pope. (In general, I think, bishops who take the same line don't share that objective—they simply think blarney is good for morale.)

The author concludes by saying that anybody who believes there's a simple solution to this very deep and broad problem is either a liar or a lunatic. But he says any attempt to turn it around must begin with telling the truth:

Jesus tells us, "The truth will make you free" (John 8:32), but today illusion—the illusion that we aren't doing so bad—is choking the life out of the Catholic Church in the United States.

Shaw's critique concerns the US Catholic Church, but it's not hard to read it as a broad indictment of the American way of being Christian. What he's talking about is the evolution of the Christian faith to fit American cultural norms: whether we realize it or not, most contemporary Christians are Moralistic Therapeutic Deists now.

See, this is why I'm not impressed when I read news reports saying that America, unlike godless secular humanist Europe, is still a land of vibrant faith. I suppose it is, in a way, but what is the content of that faith, anyway? What does it mean to tell a pollster that you are a Catholic, or an Evangelical, but in practice do not mean by those terms what they historically mean? What does it mean to report that Christianity is doing well in terms of the numbers of people who call themselves Christians, but to ignore or downplay the qualitative aspect of their belief?

I'm not trying to read anybody out of Christianity, but what I am saying is that as a theological matter, to claim you are a Christian -- a Catholic Christian or a Protestant Christian -- means and has always meant that there are a certain number of irreducable foundational doctrines that one must believe -- doctrines that teach who Jesus is, what He did on the Cross, what Scripture is, what the Church is, what man is, and so forth. See, even a trampoline has a sturdy frame that everything else is attached to. To reject them is to reject the faith itself, in any meaningful sense. Over the course of the past 2,000 years, the churches argued over aspects of those foundational beliefs, which is why the church, sadly, is no longer united. Christians have argued over what it means to be a true Christian, but have not argued over the idea that there was an objective standard by which to define Christianity. What you wouldn't have seen, until the present day, is the widely accepted belief that it doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe you're Christian. That Christianity has no objective definition, and is primarily defined by subjective emotion.

Why does this matter? For one thing, some of us have this quaint idea, as did every Christian until practically yesterday, that the point of religion is to save souls, and Jesus taught us how to do that. To be crude, humankind was lost, but God intervened in history to send us a guide. Scripture (and, for most Christians throughout history, the Church) is our map out of the wilderness. If we lose the map, we could lose our souls, and the souls of our descendants, whose salvation depends on our passing the map to them in good condition. So much American Christianity has become a matter of forgetting, or denying, that there is any such thing as a map.

Why does it seem the Catholics are getting "it" more and more often?

Gimme some of that New-Old Time Religion

2008-02-11T08:34:00.000-05:00

[UPDATE] - I couldn't help it, while looking out my window at the blustery winter Sunday afternoon of single digit temps and below zero wind chills. Watching garbage blow away down the street, tree limbs bend oh so close to breaking and thankful for the ability to burn fossil fuels to stay warm.

Modern man has shucked off most of the restraints of traditional religion. While a majority of people still say they believe in God, or at least in some form of higher being, they have rationalized their belief system so as to owe no real tribute to their ill-defined deity.

No longer are they bound by the sanctions and rules dictated by the old-time religions.

But instead of enjoying their “liberation”, their “freedom” from the inconvenient "thou shalt nots," they're embracing a different sort of puritanism and welcoming equally suffocating restrictions in regard to the new gods of health and the environment.

These new faiths, in practice, are amazingly similar to the old.

They have their own schedule of sins and vices and are just as intolerant and judgmental of those who stray from the path of righteousness. They also will go to extremes to impose their doctrines -- witness New York City's recently-passed law forbidding city hospitals from sending new mothers home with baby formula, to push breast-feeding (it's amazing what news stories catch your fancy when a child is introduced into your life).

Skeptics are demonized as heretics. To question the causes and impact of global warming, for example, is blasphemous, and many in the scientific community are finding the price for expressing doubt is banishment.

The new religions are no more tolerant of non-conformity -- smokers are shunned the way libertines once were. And they are equally instilled with an evangelical zeal to spread the faith. "Fan the flame!!" (or should we say "put out the flame" or........)

Like their predecessors, the obsession of the new religions is controlling the behavior of the flock. The real agenda of the campaign against global warming is to achieve the longstanding goals of environmentalists to force people onto mass-transit, draw them back from far-flung suburbs and minimize their ability to profit from the earth.

The new religions give new interpretations to several of Catholicism's seven deadly sins, including:

Pride . The vanity of individualism is discouraged as a threat to the collective good. Lifestyle choices must conform to the standards of propriety set by all-knowing spiritual leaders (think Al Gore).
Gluttony . Consumerism and overconsumption are the great evils. Frugality is a virtue, and piety is attained by the Carteresque measure of living a smaller life, accepting less. Traditional religions reward sacrifice and self-denial with immortality (allbeit heretical in it’s own rite); it's not yet clear how the new faiths will incentivize deprivation.
Greed. The notion that American ingenuity and productivity entitle this country to a bigger piece of the pie is unholy. We're expected to feel guilty about our prosperity, pressured to give away our wealth.
Lust. While these new faiths don't meddle so much in your sex life -- nearly any sexual practice is OK, as long as it's "safe" and consensual -- if you hunger for big trucks, big houses, big cigars -- your wages are damnation.

Unfortunately, there is no rabid oppession and acceptance of a separation of church and state to protect non-believers from being pressed into observance as their is with the "Old-Time Religions". Canonical law is written by secular legislatures and enforced by public agents.

An agnostic -- or Mother Earth forbid, an atheist -- living in this new religious environment may find life as uncomfortable as did the “witches” of Salem.

It Would Appear I am back.....

2008-02-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

Looks like the Union Pacific lifted the pornography ban with blogspot.com and I can now post and comment. YIPPEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

My productivity will plummet now at work....

Ok just kidding, sort of.

ANYWAY, may take me a little bit but I'll probably be bringing back the Last 5. But You Tube is banned in all facets (even embedded videos on other websites) so I am going to try and re-vamp it a little.

Who knows.....

I've been spending ALOT more time over at PoliForum and I would imagine that would stay consistent until the General Election is come and gone.

ANYWAY, stay tuned and hopefully MP fires back up with all the controversy, eye-rolling, pot-stirring, absurd, obnoxious, "dogmatic" content you've come to know and love.

CHEERS!!!!

This sounds familiar...

2008-02-06T08:29:00.000-05:00

Not sure if you'll ever hear me quote Rush Limbaugh ever again in my life but I read this in a news article and it sounded oddly familiar.

If the Republican Party expands because we have a candidate who's going out trying to attract liberals by being like them, then the party's going to be around but you won't recognize it.

How does Limbuagh pontificating and fire breathing anti-McCain rhetoric sound familiar you ask?

Like this:

If the Church expands because we have Christians going out trying to
attract non-believers by being like them, then the Church's going to be around
but you won't recognize it.

Already pre-ordered it....

And here, if you do not have a PDF reader.

XLII

2008-02-05T14:07:00.000-05:00

1. The best team won. I am happy the Giants pulled it out and I really found myself at the end getting nervous and rooting so hard for NY. And the miraclous Eli escape/35 yard heave to some guy named Tyree/who caught it by pinning it to his helmet play IS probably the best Super Bowl play I have ever seen.

2. TV is ruining sports. It really is. The game dragged and dragged last night. I am tired of watching commercials and long commercial breaks are killing the Super Bowl experience for me. Everyone wonders why these games are not usually great? Well how can anyone get into a rhythm when every stoppage in play is a two minute commercial break!!! This has to stop and if you watched the NBA playoffs last year, it was also an issue. And I am a use to have to write essays every year on the Super Bowl commericials because I am Marketing Degree toting Head of the Advertising Team of my church kind of guy. Part for the game in and of itself...sucks.

3. Corey Webster. The much maligned cornerback got beat by Randy Moss on the go-ahead TD for New England in the late stages of the fourth quarter, only to bounce back and make play after play against Moss on the last drive. I was happy for the kid that he dusted himself off, got up, and got the job done the next time. It is a lesson for everyone out there.

4. Fox did a great job on the broadcast. They really did. The super slo-mo shot of David Tyree's catch was incredible. There whole new slo-mo camera technology is awesome actually.

5. Classless move by three classless guys, Bill Belichick, Richard Seymour Cheapshots, and yes, Golden Boy Tom Brady for not staying on the field until the clock hit all zeroes. Sissy move and classless. Brady laughed at Plaxico's prediction earlier in the week and said "we are only gonna score 17 pts"? YES TOM how about 14!!!!! Man up and go shake hands with the guys who pummeled you next time! Especially since your team's motto was you never stop coaching and playing 100% until the clock hits triple zero's. You don't end the game, the officials end the game. You will never by the way hear the Michigan sports writers or fans call out Brady for this. Too much of a man crush by the whole state on this guy. "He went to Michigan so I gotta cheer for him..." So did Amani Toomer???

6. Why in the heck can't the Lions find guys like David Tyree and Ahmad Bradshaw. 6th and 7th round draft picks that are having an impact not only in the NFL but in the SUPER BOWL!!!!! The New York Giants have been to 4 Super Bowls in the last 22 years. 1986, 1990, 2000, and 2007. The 86 and 90 teams were kind of the same team. But in the other Super Bowls, it has been an entirely different cast of characters and teams leaders to get them there. As well as 3 different head coaches and 3 different QB's. As for the Lions?

Spending Your Rebate

2008-01-25T09:38:00.001-05:00

[UPDATE] - I posted the same thing over at the PoliForum, but some of you may not even check that site out....

Most of us are going to checks from the government to encourage us to spend money to keep the economy from going into recession:

Under the plan, as many as 117 million people would get rebate checks. Individual income tax filers would receive up to $600, working couples would get up to $1,200, and those with children would get an additional $300 per child.

How are you going to spend your rebate?

Stay away from whether you think this is the right move or not, it's happened and we are getting the checks, and while we are all people with very heavy convictions, I doubt any of us are going to throw the check away or not cash it if we disagree with this move.

Save it?

Spend it?

Pay off debt?

Buy a car?

Paint the house?

Use the money as a down payment on a house?

Buy a PS3?

Or maybe you will throw it away.......good for you, you're an idiot but good for you.

Amen!

2008-01-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

"The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort
and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." -
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

So, What Gives?!

2008-01-04T18:13:00.000-05:00

No idea!!

With the New Year came some new changes at my job and the ability to surf the internet. Specifically, blogspot.com.

Here's the deal - I can read any blog hosted on blogspot I want. Including my own. Whew. Problem is, when I click to leave a comment, read a comment, Sign In or go to the Dashboard, I get the Union Pacific disclaimer page that says I tried to access a site that is banned for knowingly hosting pornographic materials.

No kidding.

95% of all my posts originated while I was at work. True, I took the ocasional time out of my actual work day to not work and rather blog, but I mostly did this stuff at lunch. Being that I get home from work around 6pm, I am not too sure when I'll actually have time to blog. Here or at the PoliForum.

Bummer.

Real bummer.

So that's where I have been. I've been observing and that is about all. I can't read comments, I can't leave comments, I can't post, I can't edit, etc., etc.

What this may do is push me over to Wordpress. I am going to see what happens there. If I am not banned, I be on the move!!!!!!

In other news, I finished 3rd in Fantasy Football this year.

Conservative Christian pt.3 is coming soon.

Christmas was awesome

New Year celebration was fantastic.

And today marks 5 years to the day that the hottest thing out of Reese, MI, Saginaw County, Mid-Michigan, Michigan, the Great Lakes Region, the Midwest, the U.S., North America, the Northern Hemisphere, and under God's green earth and little ole me said I do!!

I thank God for you everyday Michele and despite knowing all my shortcomings you have stuck with me and even birthed me a heir!!!! And you want to do it again too......

Let's hang a 0 after that 5, whatta say!!!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2007-12-21T10:54:00.000-05:00

UPDATE - For the sake of expediency I have published these thoughts without having fully edited them to make it "flow" better. I'm still embarking on this whole Christmas/Advent thought process and with Christmas just days away, I wanted to make sure to get this fledged out. I apologize if this appears to be a jumbled mess of writing and preachiness, I tried really hard to not make it that. But as I wrote out my thoughts I started to make sense of some of it and make conclusions. I write this more for me and myself than to appear to being "preachy" to you. I hope you enjoy it and I pray that this will continue to make your days merry and bright as we celebrate the birth of the greatest man who ever lived, the Savior of Mankind. Merry Christmas!!!

Been thinking more about this Christmas story and the fact that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Last time focused on the shepherds and their comparisons to us. The normal mundane human going about their day-to-day job and yet God brings down his glory to the shepherds, to us. And their response to it compared to what our response is. One comment left by a reader mentioned their “scrooge mood” response to Christmas and how it has changed somewhat as a result of the post. And I feel that is the best comment someone has ever left me. It bums me out that Evangelicals allow the world and its systems to “bum them out.” To let it seep into their very fabric and being and sap the glory of God from their lives. Don’t get me wrong, I’m guilty of it too. But at the expense of advocating CEO Christianity (Christmas and Easter Only) it is at Christmas and Easter that Christians should be at their peak of revelry and fun.

Both are doctrinal tenets of the faith but both are clouded in mystery and mysticism. Incarnate, Infinite God taking on the form of a helpless new born babe, being entrusted to the care and provision of humanity. The same humanity that if they have proven anything, it’s that we screw things up, actually, we screw everything up. Incarnate, Infinite God dying with the weight of the world on his shoulders, only to show His Incarnate and Infinite Godship by rising from the dead. All to rescue our screwed up humanity.

But Easter doesn’t carry the “scrooge” effect with Christians. There isn’t the commercialism and consumerism attached to Easter as there is with Christmas. Easter has been hijacked, but Christmas gets the negative connotation. I’d like to diffuse that. I had to start with myself and begin to embrace Christmas some years ago and everything around it. As well as put a renewd focus on the Christmas story and see where it applies nowadays.

So I have continued this thought with the story of the wise men.

First things first. I know people like to harp on the fact that in the nativity scenes around the world, there are 3 wise men represented for the 3 gifts brought to Jesus. More than likely, it wasn’t 3 individual wise men on their own. It was a massive caravan of hundreds and they probably met up with Jesus and the family as much as a year or two after his birth. These trivial issues behind us, let’s continue.

Most times the focus of the wise men is the gifts. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The King, the Priest, and the Sacrifice. Or the focus is on the mystical journey these wise men embarked on and how that applies to our life. The fact that there was this spiritual force in play put in action by God to turn the cosmos to get these wise men from afar to follow a moving star to the boondocks of Bethlehem. We feel this sometimes in our own lives. That there is a spiritual force at work and all things are linked together someway, somehow. It’s all been contrived and set in motion to arrive to this one moment. And we are left scratching our head sometimes when we realize it. How did that just happen? Sometimes God will move the whole universe for you to experience him.

But there’s another element to this story I’ve been contemplating.

It seems that everyone wants to talk about the story behind Christmas. To give life to all the central characters and share in the secret they were able to discover. All the big bookstores have displays setup to sell books that speak about Christmas. To give you the meaning behind Christmas. To maybe provide more depth and understanding to the cast of characters. Most of these books are conjecture on the part of the author. Sprinkling in real life with some historical perspective with some just good old fashioned writing. All to entertain you and warm your hearts. Well, I want to explore this secret. A secret that not a lot of people think literally about, but if you think literally about it, it will change your life so dramatically you’ll never be the same. And it’s all based around the story of the wise men. We can still see the bumper stickers that say “Wise men still seek Jesus.” Well, we still have to seek him and it’s interesting where we can find him. To give you a hint, I’d almost call this, “Why I stick with the Church 3” because if you can grasp this you’ll look at people and church differently.

The wise men blazed this path and discovered something about the way God works. They were lead somewhat mystically to “The King of the Jews” but stopped along the way to still ask “Where is the King of the Jews.” A lot of people are asking that even now a days, Where is Jesus? While we can’t discover it in the same way the wise men did we can still discover it and act on it.

Ever seen pictures of Jerusalem? Israel? Bethlehem maybe? How do those compare to Hawaii or Ireland, or Bermuda? Israel is chalky white and cold hard concrete. Not a pretty place. Not very “green.” Why in the world would God show up there? I’ve been to Cancun and Cancun looks a lot better then Israel. Israel looks like the backside of the world. Why not show up in Rome, the capital of the known world?

Jesus comes to this place with no pomp and circumstance. Sure there's the big party in heaven, but what of the earth? His mom was a teenager, who wasn’t married to his earthly dad. Despite the picture, she is probably walking, not on a donkey like the Hallmark card’s show. They were dirty, knocking on everyone’s door looking for a place to stay. Started at the Hampton Inn, then went to the Motel 6, then the Econo Lodge, then the hourly motel and then the truck stop, and then the rest area, and finally someone says, "hey I have an old Chevy in my garage and behind there is a cot if you wanna stay there."

Where’s the pomp? Where’s the circumstance? Instead, it’s the smell of animals and stubble and hay and fleas and birth. All those smells and earth and dust of travel mixed together.

And isn’t that just like God? So humble to hide one of the greatest events of all time.

This is the birth of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and it’s hidden in a shed. We’ve come up with all kinds of King James words to make it grand. He was born in a manger. He was born in a stable. Stable makes it sound permanent. But if we say he was born in a shed, in a barn, next to dung, they laid him in a dog dish that was big enough for all the animals to eat out of is crazy…just crazy.

He was so hidden and tucked away in earthiness, that some of the wisest men in all the world had to stop and ask for directions. These guys were waiting for this. They had put their money where their mouth was. They know it is happening and they go out searching for him, “traveling afar” and he’s so hidden that they have to ask the leader of the Jews where the King of the Jews is and he doesn’t even know. He so doesn’t know that he says to an entourage of hundreds of brilliant people, be sure to look hard for him. He’s hidden. Trying to find a needle in a hay-stack.

But they do find him, lead by divine providence. They see him, leave their precious gifts, depart, and our mystically lead again to not return to Herod. So that is their story.

What is ours?

Where is Jesus?

Is he hidden in the stuff of the earth?

Yes he is.

And you know what stuff he is hidden in?

You and Me!!!

Now, I don’ think we go to each other and fall down and worship each other. But I can be a blessing to Jesus by being a blessing to any one of you. Just as I can persecute Jesus by persecuting anyone of you. Jesus even implicates Paul this way at his conversion.

Here is why I go to church?

I get to see Jesus. He dresses up like Jeff and like Matt and like Corey. And he is visible in the eyes of every person there. He hid himself in you and me. I see him in Jeff, I see him in Matt, I see him in Corey. And he likes looking at himself. And that is why he put himself in both Corey and me. So now when the 2 of us look at each other, Jesus, goes “man I’m good looking.” And he’s not ego-maniacal because he is God and he’d be idolatrous if he didn’t think that.

This is the Christian ethic for loving one another. It’s why Mother Theresa could take care of dying people and orphans in Calcutta. I think she was looking for Jesus in each and everyone of them. Ministering to them like they were Jesus.

Christmas and the magi path is a wonderful story and I think if we’re wise we are still going to seek him. And one of the ways we discover him is in the lives of each other. The way I treat any of you is the way I am treating Jesus. This is the reason for us to go to church. Maybe I get there first so Jesus can walk on a snow free path to church. Then maybe Corey gets their early and he’s playing some drums getting ready because he’s going to play to Jesus who’s out in the congregation getting ready to worship Jesus. I’m not trying to take this to a tripped-out new age level and saying were all divine. But the logical conclusion of Jesus being in you and me is that we get to love Jesus by loving each other, and if we seek him through this mystical journey and find Jesus in one another, the world wouldn’t know what to do with us.

We should be ministering to each other. Bring gifts to Jesus by bringing gifts to each other. Being a blessing to each other to be a blessing to Jesus in each of us. Respond to the Savior inside of us, not to what comes out of our mouths. And allow yourself to be real and transparent enough for them to see Jesus in you and to allow others to be a blessing to you. Let people minister to you and be a blessing to you. Our own pride or fear can get in the way and we run away from help. But let it be done for you.

I hear all the time from people, “Why does everyone give me a present for Christmas, it’s Jesus birthday anyway?”

Well you know why I give presents?

Because it’s Jesus birthday and you’re his body and so I’m going to give you the ugly tie with the lit up palm tree, because I want to. I love you and I love Jesus inside of you.

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S

Sick

2007-12-20T09:38:00.000-05:00

The whole household. Seth has an ear and eye infection. Michele got a bit of the flu and I seemed to have gotten the middle ground. A high fever (101.3) and the aches and pains but at least I could keep food down. But talk about feeling helpless. I'm trying to be this big tough guy dad male macho and I'm watching my family travail in sickness and unable to do anything. I could barely pick Seth up and carry him to Michele when he needed to eat. But I'd feel 100% guilty if Michele went to get him herself, never knowing when she'd need to run down the hall to....well you know.

So that is why I was MIA Tuesday and Wednesday.

So here is a quick run down.

I lost this week in Fantasy Football, so I am playing for 3rd place. Which still results in winning money.

And no Last 5 this week and there will be none until after the new year.

Matter of fact, things will be very light around here until after the New Year. I have some posts already done and just waiting for me to hit "publish" so you'll get those and I'll let you know very quickly what happen this weekend to my fantasy team, but that's about all you'll get from me after Friday.

What Really Matters

2007-12-18T14:01:00.001-05:00

Liberty is Brewing

2007-12-14T12:56:00.000-05:00

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2007-12-14T08:19:00.000-05:00

"In the air, there's a feeling of Christmas"

Kind of makes you wonder what all the hub-bub is about.

Yesterday I made my annual pilgrimage out to the local malls and shops to do some Christmas shopping. And try not to laugh, but I actually like shopping at Christmas time. At no other time of the year can Michele even come close to getting me excited to want to go shopping. But, come Christmas time, I go with her when I need to and I always make one trip on my own.

As I said, last night I ended up not getting home until nearly 10 after shopping 2 malls, a couple other strip mall locations, and a Meijer. And I enjoyed it...all of it. As I wrote the same thing this time last year, I love everything about Christmas. And I thing it has something to do with the fact that Christmas never changes. Same decorations, same songs, same story, etc. But I got to thinking yesterday about all of this.....

What's the big deal?

Trees all over the world, wreaths on doors, whole neighborhoods full off lights.

What’s the deal? It’s just a birthday right?

Christmas is more than just a day that Santa supposedly comes and it’s more than the day we max out our credit cards. It’s a day set aside each year to celebrate the birth of our King and Messiah Jesus Christ. We celebrate him because he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the greatest man that has ever been and still is the greatest man that has ever been. In fact he is so powerful that he was born of a virgin and lived a perfect and sinless life, teaching of his Kingdom, using stories to explain that Kingdom and how it works. And then he did the ultimate thing. He was beaten and flogged for us. Nailed to a cross, gasping for breath and of a broken heart, breathed his last breath and died for our sins. And of course, 3 days later, rose from the dead declaring himself both Savior and God for all of eternity. Because of that he is available to us today. The Bible says whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

That’s why there are wreaths hanging around. That’s why we have Christmas trees. That’s why we have carols. That’s what the hub-bub is about.

And when you compare our hub-bub nowadays to this miracle, how does it measure up? How does all the pomp and circumstance and energy exerted nowadays compare to the same of the original day? Specifically, to the Sheppards response on the actual day?

Of all the people in the Christmas story, the sheppards are probably the most like us. Normal blue-collar people who we know very little about. We don’t know their names or where they are from or even exactly what it was they were doing in the field (watching over their flocks…what does that mean). Kind of like us.

But God interrupts all that normal and mundane. A heavenly host, the glory of the Lord all around in the middle of the night. The deep, dark midnight sky fully bright and fully alive with the same glory that Moses had to hide his face from.

BOOM!!!!

There it is.

What did they do with it?

They were told all this truth, but did not sit around in the field and just talk about and converse about these deep spiritual truths that the angels told them. And that happens a lot at Christmas. The theology is extremely important in the Christmas season. 100% God and 100% man and both are necessary for salvation. But we can talk about Christmas in such deep ways that we don’t really experience it too much. We get too wrapped in the teaching about.

Just the same we can make it too much of a pageant. Dress up in costumes and turn on all kinds of twinkling lights. But the Sheppard’s didn’t really pull out some wreaths and garland in celebration. One Sheppard didn’t reach down, pull of his sock and tell everyone his crazy idea of hanging that sock from a fireplace and having some fat old elf stuff it full of toys. That’s not what they did.

What they did, is get up from where they were and went to the party of Jesus birth. Quite the invitation!!

They got up and went and saw it with their own eyes. And the Bible says when they saw it, they went out telling EVERYBODY what they saw. We have carols that we sing to tell everyone about the fact that the sheppards went and told everyone what they saw at the party. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could have gone to the party? Wouldn't it be cool if we told EVERYBODY about the invitation we've all been given?

And?

2007-12-13T08:02:00.000-05:00

Who cares?

Does it even matter anymore?

40 years ago a highly anticipated report was released that was supposed to put to the rest the controversy and questions surrounding the assignation of the President of the United States. 40 years later, no one knows anything. The Warren Commission report was supposed to put to the rest the assassination of JFK. Instead it left it wide open.

Similarly, the Mitchell report will be released today and its purpose is to put to the rest the issue of Steroids within MLB.

Well whoopdee do.

Does anyone even care by now?

People are more curious about the “80 players” that will be named in the report. It’s a curiosity thing more than it is a caring thing.

Alex Rodriguez?

Pudge Rodriguez?

Gary Sheffield?

Roger Clemens?

Randy Johnson?

If those names appear what’s going to happen to the sport of baseball?

Nothing.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m going to be sure to be at my computer at 2pm today when the report drops on the public. I want to see all the names too. But this isn’t like the Black Sox scandal of 1919. This isn’t guys “throwing a game” This isn’t Pete Rose betting on a game he is competing and/or managing. I know, I know, Pete Rose admits to gambling on baseball, admits to gambling on the Reds, but he never gambled against the Reds, or so he says. The integrity of the game has been tarnished, but none of us go to a baseball game and are suspicious the outcome has been “fixed.” We just expect to see a home run every inning.

Big Deal….right?

I’ve said it here before, so I won’t waste anymore of your time except to say this is a glorified book report. The issue of steroids is a bummer to baseball fans, no doubt about it. I don't like it. Bonds is an a-hole, that’s why he gets beat up the most. But he’ll make the Hall of Fame. McGwire? Probably won’t make it. But steroids aren’t a moral issue like the media wants to make it.

What we have is a great Oliver Stone script. Just as Oliver spent 3 hours presenting every freakin nuance of the JFK assassination, he has all the makings of a great 3 hour extravaganza making a mockery of a National Pastime.

Think about what this whole story has. Drugs? Check. Good guys? Check. Bad Guys? Check. A shady gray area between the Good guys and Bad guys? Check. A suspect leader? Check. We have speculation, conspiracy, back door shenanigans, and cover-ups. We have old pictures as possible evidence. We have interviews and taped testimony. We have (unfortunately) death and deceit. We have a massive investigation. We have a hyped media. We have one person who is the sole “patsy” of the witch hunt, and we have a slew of characters that have a shade of suspicion around them. And now we have a book report. A year and a half in the making that the public is waiting with bated breath to view. And all it will do is confirm what we all already knew……

Which is what?

The Last 5....(12.12.07)

2007-12-12T13:38:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The Last 5 (the I cannot believe no one left any comments from the last The Last 5 that had all the hilarious You Tube clips)

.... Songs played in shuffle mode on my MP3 Player

The Doors - L.A. Woman
The Who - Pinball Wizard
U2 - Vertigo
Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
The Wallflowers - One Headlight

.... Blog entries I read

.... Videos from You Tube

I think you forget how much we actually domintaed the Lakers in Game 5 of the Finals in 2004

these next two are pretty sweet

40 years ago, people were concerned about the "consumerism" of Christmas, and so some people made a cartoon about it.....priceless

So if that is the meaning, watch the movie. This is one of the few movies actually worth your time. Check out the trailer if you haven't seen the movie.

Fantasy Football Playoffs Round 1 Update

2007-12-11T16:07:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Nothing serious, I had a bye week, of course my team blew up for over 160 points(Favre, Grant, Lendale, Addai, Jags Defense....no way was I going to play the Pitt D against New England) and I have to play against freaking Tom Brady and the Patriots D for a 3rd time this year.

UGH!!!

Now, I have beaten that team twice already by a combined 13.5 points too. So, I know he can be beat, but it is really hard to beat a team 3 times, especially when they have Tom Brady.

Is there any doubt that Brady will have 5 td passes in the 1st half alone?

None the less, I anticpate a good game from my squad and plan on playing for all the marbles next week.

Anyone going to try and Do the Opposite next year?

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

Conservative Christian - A Prologue

2007-12-10T10:36:00.003-05:00

UPDATE: This is a prologue to the series of posts I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I have been composing on Christianity and the Conservative movement. I have really been thinking about this whole "Conservative Christian" moniker people like to throw around. And the more I wrote this prologue and wrote the next 3 posts in the series, the more I am finding it harder and harder to see the connection. Why is the prologue and why do the next 3 posts seem so different? Maybe you the reader will see something, but as I wrote the prologue and the subsequent follow-ups, I took a turn somewhere. None the less, know that I am going to publish the whole series (on Mondays) just as I have written them.

There are many conservatives who would like to return to the era of frequent public executions, even hangings. In fact, conservatives are generally united in strong support for the death penalty, a fact the liberal media enjoys equating with the election of George W. Bush as President, since as Governor of Texas, Bush presided over record numbers of executions. It is anecdotally said that Bush faced opposition to the death penalty from his mother, wife and daughters, but never flinched, even in the case of Karla Faye Tucker, an obviously rehabilitated evangelical Christian.

I support the death penalty. People like Ted Bundy and Timothy McVeigh deserved nothing less. As a Christian, I believe it is taught in scripture and I have no doubt that Jesus would have supported it. If I served on a jury, I would express my support for the death penalty without embarrassment.

Having said all that, I am uneasy with the current conservative posture on the death penalty. Not with the position, but with the posture; with our approach to the application of the issue. But it isn’t just the death penalty, it’s a lot of things that our “posture” is a problem within the “Conservative Christian” movement. The death penalty premise is an easier subject to express posture versus position. I know we are talking about human life, but the death penalty isn’t a “sticky” subject. At least I think it isn’t in relative terms to Immigration, Iraq war, Abortion, Homosexual Rights, Healthcare, etc.

Let me be clear about one thing. I do not believe we should question the death penalty as a way of making conservatism or Christianity "kinder" or "compassionate." If someone thinks that conservatism is cruel, they don't understand liberalism, which is tyranny masquerading as compassion. The Biblical admonitions that support capital punishment are presented as a way of properly valuing and respecting the fact that human beings are made in the image of God. It's not presented as a way to torture the guilty, but to remind the rest of us that people aren't like anything else in creation. I don't expect liberals to appreciate that, since they reject the Judeo-Christian worldview and its emphasis on the sacredness of human life. Note how liberals can't see why we oppose abortion yet support capital punishment.

No, my reconsideration is based on two factors: my enthusiastic belief in limited government, and my commitment to the idea of genuine, objective truth. Sad to say, I believe conservative enthusiasm for particular issues is obscuring the importance of these two principles. And we must be a principled movement, or our positions mean nothing.

Let's start with my second objection (what I believe to be the lesser of my thought out arguments, meaning you’ll probably find a lot of holes in this point, oh well): the importance of genuine, objective truth. Conservatives may not entirely agree on the nature of truth or the means for discovering it, but generally, they have refused the postmodern spirit and insisted that judgments, policies and personal choices be evaluated on their coherence to an objective standard of truth. Whether Christians or not, conservatives have said "You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

What does this have to do with the death penalty? Plenty. In making a judgment about guilt and punishment, conservatives need to take into consideration all the truth in a given situation. Frankly, this seems to be quite the opposite of what many conservatives want to do. For example, the truth of mental status applies in the case of Andrea Yates, the Houston mother who drowned her kids. Yes, it did result in dueling expert psychologists explaining her mental state, but we aren't acting on principle if we ignore that aspect of the case, even with the clear outrage of the death of five children. We should say that no punishment is appropriate until we know if this mother was rational, insane or some mixture of the two.

Every couple weeks or months, the news magazines like 20/20 or the big news channels CNN and Fox News run a special report where a convicted murderer was released because DNA evidence proved they could not have committed the crimes for which they were convicted. Conservatives say little about this, and I'd go so far as to say I suspect some are not happy at the development. The fact is, this is the triumph of truth, and conservatives should rejoice. It is liberals and postmodernists who want us to believe that truth is political and imaginary, shaped only by the agenda of the powerful (government and religious entities). As conservatives, we believe truth is a force that brings down tyrants and rights wrongs. We don't believe it is a commodity to be ignored or manipulated.

As the debate continues, it seems there is a fear, not entirely irrational, that we should be swift and quick in the use of capital punishment to insure that the culture of excuses, with all its various prophets of irresponsibility, doesn't turn the entire justice system into the O.J. Simpson trial. I sympathize and largely support that notion, but we will not achieve that end by reducing the "truth factors" considered in a particular case. The Houston mom was eventually ruled to be insane by a reasonable definition, as such she must be dealt with differently than McVeigh, and conservatives should be quick to say it. We should strongly support the distinction between children and adults, and be against the kind of sentencing that sees them as the same, because it is the truth that they are not the same. We should welcome the evidence of science in any form that gets us closer to what really happened. Truth is always our friend and ally.

When we love the truth, we are all more free. And freedom is a core conservative principle. Quick justice and swift punishment are not the legacies of our system of government, but the legacies of lynchings and tyranny. Conservatives may not like judicial activism, the ACLU, the trial lawyers lobby and the like, but let's not forget that the truthful use of the justice system is a precious benefit of our continuing American revolution. On any given day, it may be the only protection any one of us has, and perhaps our only hope of publishing the truth.

So, we go to my other consideration (the one I hold to dearly and is the crux of a lot of my belief), the principle of limited government. And here, I am bitterly disappointed with many of my conservative counterparts. We will applaud the limitation of government on taxes and regulations. We applaud the limitation of government in taking over the private sector. We applaud the limitation of government in forcing the liberal agenda on our families. But can't we see that limited government is important when it comes to the issues of our agenda as well?

Conservatives are attempting to preserve the ideas of the American revolution, particularly the idea that unlimited central government inevitably leads to abuse. It’s actually something I was taught relentlessly while sitting under the tutelage of school administrators. Any study of history will quickly reveal that one of the primary abuses of government in history has been the application of capital punishment. Christian scripture clearly says that government has the power to bear the sword, but that same scripture shows the execution of Jesus by the state as an evil act. The founding fathers of this nation were good candidates for swift execution by the British government. All dictatorial empires have used capital punishment to eliminate opposition and intimidate the public. To listen to some conservatives talk, you'd think that captial punishment, like Christmas, can only do us good. Read Foxe's Book of Martyrs. All those burning Protestants were fried up.........legally.

When we allow the government to execute McVeigh, we should be reluctantly yielding such power. When we see the incarceration of thousands of Americans for crimes like personal drug use or tax evasion, we should be uneasy. It is quite possible that capital punishment is abused by state governments and it is quite appropriate that conservatives be the loudest voices urging caution in the use of the ultimate punishment. Not because it is wrong, but because government is sinful and awkward, usually acting in the interests of the powerful, and not to be trusted completely in any situation. Even when implementing our agenda.

As I see it, conservatives are somewhat seduced by their desire for justice and order. While these values are important, even crucial, they cannot be purchased at the price of making government more powerful. Freedom, not order, is our primary value. Justice must include the possibility that government can be unjust, and frequently finds ways to punish those who are innocent of anything other than deviation from the norm.

So I would prefer that our attitude towards capital punishment be seasoned with a bit less enthusiasm, since we are, after all, giving to government the right to kill us all for whatever reasons it deems acceptable. That makes patriots nervous. So where are the patriots?

I don't expect many conservatives to join me in these reconsiderations, but I think they are important. Conservatives are showing a dangerous tendency to be willing to give up their freedoms to purchase more order in society. If we are reduced to such a choice, all of us will have difficulty choosing, but consider one option. If we empower tyrants with more power and less truth, how will freedom loving people rise up to oppose such a government and restore true justice?

Next I tackle myself.

Everything is Spiritual

2007-12-07T10:18:00.000-05:00

"Everything we do we do as an integrated being. 100% physical, 100% spiritual. These first Christians latched onto this right away.
'Whatever you do whether in word or deed do it in the name of Jesus Christ.'

What were they saying?

Every act is a spirtual act. It is, whether or not you are aware of the implications of what you are doing."

This is still one of the best speeches, lectures, sermons whatever you want to call it, I have ever heard.

Cannot wait to get my copy in the mail and pop it in the DVD player.

Well worth the $20 plus S&H.

Here's a morsel.

My Perception 101 - It's All About Him, Me, You

2007-12-06T09:47:00.000-05:00

It is with a heavy heart I go back into the annals of My Perception to bring a post written, what now seems to be, a very short 8 months ago.

Many of us know by now of the ghastly events that took place in a Nebraska mall yesterday afternoon. And as the details unfold and the news media outlets search for connections and string together a framework to answer "why?" I still believe the problem is all of us.

And it isn't just mass shootings at malls or from clock towers, it is most of our "problems." We fail to get over ourselves. It just takes something as schocking as a high-school shooting to put the spotlight on something as personal as say a lack of commitment or communication barriers.

Read: - It's All About Him, Me, You

The Last 5....(12.05.07)

2007-12-05T09:16:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The Last 5 (the WHAT A MONSTER TRADE by the Detroit Tigers Edition, instant World Series Contenders, if not favorites)

.... Songs played in shuffle mode on my MP3 Players

Audioslave - Original Fire (you knew it was only a matter of time before that song popped back up)
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
Beattles - All You Need is Love
Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours
U2 - Beautiful Day

.....According to Forbes, Poorest Perforimg Cars of 2007 (good thing my company has the Chrysler contract..yippee)

Chrysler Sebring
Dodge Nitro
Jeep Liberty
Dodge Caliber
Dodge Magnum

....Christmas Traditions I wonder if I could give them up (meaning I think I'd never be able too...make sense?), in no particular order

Snow
Christmas Lights (white only)
Shopping for Christmas Gifts
Christmas Music
Egg Nog

....You Tube Videos I watched (you are going to want to check all of these out, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud, loudly!!)

Week 13 Fantasy Football

2007-12-04T08:22:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Well, I lost 108.3 to 145.6 to finish at 8-5. But, I did win the divison on tie-breakers and the number 1 seed in the playoffs (I am the New England Patriots....ha) and have earned a much needed bye week for next week. Favre hurt, Roy Williams hurt and probably out for the year, LenDale White also hurt with a dislocated finger, and Braylon is nursing a hamstring injury. The Pitt defense will be facing New England in Week 14 as well. So, what a perfect time to not have to worry about anything except my WR depth is hurt now. I do have Patrick Crayton and Anthony Gonzalez, so things aren't too bad.

I do wonder if I could have won this week's game if Favre and Roy hadn't gotten hurt and played less than half the game. Maybe not, but I did lose out on $45 by not winning the most points scored in the whole league. I finished second just 16.1 points behind the leader. That's a bummer, but Fantasy Football thrives on the coulda, woulda, shoulda dilema

I did kind of back into the divison championship, sort of. I started the season 0-2, then got to 1-3. before going 7-2 down the stretch and so taking the divison isn't "backing into it" necessarily. I know the Championship isn't won, but I've done a pretty good job proving that if you can't get your hands on the top 2 or 3 rb in all the land (even though S-Jax and LJ have burned many teams this year) you DO NOT need to draft a RB in the first 3 rounds to have legitmate fantasy football success.

So, there really won't be much of an update for week 14.

My top 3 - Braylon for 30.8, Ryan Grant with 21.8, and the Pitt D with 17 to total 69.6

His top 3 - Romo with 42.9, Mcgahee went for 30.7, and Andre Johnson with 24.2 for a total of 97.8.

Recap. I lost this week, but still won the divison, took the number one seed in the playoffs and all this from a team that drafted no RB until the 4th round (Thomas Jones), started 0-2, and had an average of 133.49 points scored against every week. Matter of fact, only one other team had over 1700 points scored him he finished with 1,770 and I had 1,735 scored against.

I still feel there are some doubters so hopefully I win this whole thing and can prove it.

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

Two Words....

2007-11-30T08:55:00.000-05:00

Chuck.

Norris.

My Perception - "Lite"

2007-11-29T10:28:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

You are use to this:

Religion
Global Warming
SCHIP
Healthcare
The Church
State Level Politics

Lately, all you've been getting is this:

Fantasy Football
The Last 5

I know, I know. It has been v-e-r-y boring here at My Perception lately. Fantasy Football and random lists of stuff is all I've done in the last month or so.

"Brian, you didn't even give us a Happy Thanksgiving!"

August, September and October were like gang busters for me. Something to say or type almost everyday. I produced a total of 59 posts those months. Take the rest of the year combined, including November and this post and it totals...59. I was on a roll. But lately, it's been MP - Lite (and I hate Lite Beer, literally hate it, "Tastes Great!" "Less Filling!" BLEH!!!). It's been MP - Lite and I know it. I've almost done it purposely.

But there's a reason behind it all.

Myself.

My perception has changed. Not the blog, but my actual perception of things (notice the small p not the Big P). I've really felt the movement of the Spirit in me in terms of what I have been focusing my time and efforts on lately. And basically, it hasn't been the Spirit. It's hasn't been Jesus, the Gospel, or his Church. It's been on my perception.

I'm not trying to get cathartic all of sudden, or confessional, or make a proclamation the blog is getting shutdown, or I'm moving it or changing it's name or anything like that. No, I'm not going to make a "private" blog where only select people will receive an email from me to join it. I'm just saying things are going to change right here at MP. And I'm not even sure how sudden or drastic that change will be. I'll still provide the sports (fantasy and real) and still eat up 15 minutes of your day you'll never get back every Wednesday with my Self-Award Winning "The Last 5 Posts." I'll still rant and rave and appear to be a stubborn, bull-headed, confrontational person hiding behind a laptop computer. But things may change, no, they will change.

I've already begun work on it. And so far, I'm up to a 3 part series on politics and my affiliation with them. I've also began work on another series called "Detach and Attach" which has stemmed from the politics one and from some other discussions over time bewteen me and all you readers here at MP and at other blogs listed to your right. I'm not really sure when I am going to start roling all of these out. Tomorrow? Today? Next week? Next Month?

I'm not sure.

I also have 4 or 5 other ideas and posts rolling around on the Blogger Dashboard and in my head. Some I have mentioned before (Happiness, Why Pro-Life matters, etc.) others just because (Aliens and The Mothman, New Religions, etc.) and others will look all too familiar (the farce that is global warming, just this side of Libertarian fiscal policies and attitude on the government, and quit being a baby about Church) but I am just waiting for the "appropriate" time to roll them out. Who knows when that will be.

Regardless of all this banter and meandering, MP-Lite will be ending soon. And while the posts will probably get a little farther apart and come out in made for TV format or as a "series" I think you'll see somewhat of a subject matter change but the content should be a lot more deeper than just Fantasy Football.

So stay tuned, please.

Paid for by the committee to do away with My Perception - Lite

The Last 5....(11.28.07)

2007-11-28T08:11:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The Last 5 (It's Jake's birthday everybody!!! Happy Birthday little bro)

....Songs played in Shuffle mode on my MP3 Player

Andy Williams - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Do They Know Its Christmas - Band Aid
The White World of Winter - Bing Crosby
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman - London Philharmonic
Joy to the World - London Symphony Orchestra

.....People UofM should want as their Head Coach

Les Miles - Have you seen all the talent at LSU? have you seen what he has done with that talent? If not for a 4th down conversion and a crazy fumble, that's a 4 loss team!!!
Ron English - They guy's been a Coordinator for 2 years, lost all of his good players and promptly turned in a horrible job.
Frank DeBord - You thought Lloyd carr was a horrible play caller, have you ever seen DeBord play call? I have, for 3 years at CMU. Hor-ib-le
John L. Smith - The Kids are playing their tail off and the coaches are screwing it up.
Me - I hate UofM, maybe they should hire one of the above guys (they will, it will Les Miles)

....."Odd News" from the AP

.....NFL Teams in the most current rendition of ESPN.com "Power Rankings"

San Francisco 49ers
St. Louis Rams
Atlanta Falcons
New York Jets
Miami Dolphins

....NFL Teams in the PRESEASON ESPN.com "Power Rankings" (see why "preseason rankings" do not matter in the NFL or College Football?)

Washington Redskins
Houston Texans
Detroit Lions
Cleveland Browns
Oakland Raiders

Paid for by the committee to bore your life with a list of the Last 5 whatever I want to put there.

Week 12 Fantasy Football

2007-11-27T08:12:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Squeaking it out again? Kind of. I played against the guy who has Tom Brady and the Patriots D. Problem is he doesn't have much after that. Except he had Kolby Smith this week and started him, but the better team won (in my opinion...ha!).

144.8 to 139.8 and it really all came down to Thanksgiving, Sunday Night, and last night's Monday Night game. Brett Favre, Ryan Grant, and Joe Addai on T-day. The Patriots on Sunday night, and Pittsburgh on Monday night.

I was down 35 points heading into last night's game. I had Heath Miller and Pitt's D going, he had Najeh Davenport (told you he had nothing, his 2 starting RB's were Kolby Smith and Najeh Davenport). Heath Miller got me nothing, but the Steelers D pitched a shutout in a monsoon and got me 40 points!!!!

My top 3 - Favre with 45.1, Steelers D with 40, and Ryan Grant with 24.3 for 109.4
His top 3 - Kolby Freakin Smith with 37.2, Tom Brady at 35.6, and Patriots D getting 19 to combine for 91.8

So, I am 8-4, still sitting in first place with the number 1 overall seed. I did lose the overall points lead to the first place team in the other divison who is 7-5. If I win next week, I'll carry the number 1 seed and a bye week into the playoffs. If I lose next week, I can still win the divison based on some tie-breaker situations and what others do, etc., etc., etc. But bottom line, I am in the playoffs.

What a roller coaster of a ride Fantasy Football can be.

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

The Last 5....(11.21.07)

2007-11-21T12:50:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The Last 5 (20th Anniversary Edition in conjunction with the Did You Know Edition)

.....Songs played in shuffle mode on my mp3 Player (Did you know that yesterday was the 20th Anniversary of U2's release of The Joshua Tree?)

U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name

U2 - With or Without You

Pearl Jam - Worldwide Suicide

U2 - Bullet the Blue Sky

Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life

.....Actual Dates in November that Thanksgiving has fallen on (did you know that Thanksgiving will only fall on 6 specific days in November, the 5 below and the 22nd like this year and in 2001?)

23rd (2006)
24th (2005)
25th (2004)
27th (2003)
28nd (2002)

.....Year's Worst Performing Cars according to Yahoo Auto's and Forbes (did you know that I work for a company, Insight Network Logistics, who is the sole 3PL provider to make sure all Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep product make it to the dealership?)

Chrysler Sebring
Dodge Nitro
Jeep Liberty
Dodge Caliber
Dodge Magnum

.....Players to Win the NL MVP in Baseball (Did you know that since the turn of the millenium only 5 players in the National League have won it?)

Jimmy Rollins - SS Philadelphia Phillies (2007)
Ryan Howard - 1b Philadelphia Phillies (2006)
Albert Pujols - 1b St. Louis Cardinals (2005)
Barry Bonds******************************************************* - OF San Francisco Giants (2004, 2003, 2002, 2001)
Jeff Kent - 2b San Francisco Giants (2000)

Paid for by the committee to bore your life with a list of the Last 5 whatever I want to put there and to provide trivia and to show you how big of a cheater Barry Bonds is, he got indicted this week...haha

Week 11 Fantasy Football

2007-11-20T13:33:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Squeaking it out again.

Not the way I want to do this thing. But a win is a win. I also beat the divison leader in the other divison. So I keep the number 1 seed, sitting at 7-4 with the most points scored, 2nd most scored against and seem to have locked up a playoff spot no matter what.

110.2 to 106.25.

WHEW!!!!!

As I said last week, my team has been completely overhauled. I pulled down 3 trades in 24 hours last week and for one week, things look good. Peyton, MB3, and the Titans D looked horrible. Meanwhile Addai stayed strong, Favre threw 3 td's and Roy Williams showed up for the second week in a row.

My top 3 - Favre - 28.9, Addai - 16.6, and Roy Will 16.2 for a total of 61.7
His top 3 - DJ Hackett - 28.2, Colts DST - 22, Santonio Holmes - 13.5 for a total of 63.7

I have 2 weeks to go and they are against (this week) the guy who has Tom Brady and the Pats D. Then the last week of the season is against the other guy in my division who is 7-4 and is only 39 points behind me for most scored in the league. If we both win this week, then me and him would play for division, number 1 seed in the playoffs, and most points scored in the league. Winning the division and the most points scored would win me about $100 and with the $40 I already won (highest score for 2 weeks) I'd end up paying for my entry fee this year.

I've already beat both these teams earlier in the year so I know I can do it. But it will be tough.

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

Fantasy Football Update

2007-11-15T15:56:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

It'd be too confusing to lay it all out for everyone, but in the last 24 hours, I have cut 3 trades.

3 trades!!!

Gotta love the trade deadline.

Anyway, here is the new squad.

QB - Favre
WR - Braylon Edwards
WR - Roy Williams
RB - Joseph Addai
RB - Ryan Grant
RB - LenDale White
TE - Heath Miller
K - Gostowski
DST - Pittsburgh

Bench

Eli Manning
Kenton Keith
Patrick Crayton
DeShaun Foster
Mason Crosby
Greg Olsen
Viking DST

Waivers in our league run tonight and I am hoping to drop Crosby and Olsen for Chris Henry (LenDale's back up at Tenn.) and Kevin Faulk.

We'll see how that goes.

Honestly, it's going to be hard to prove my Do the Opposite strategy going forward. But I'll still keep you updated and show you how I am going to ride a QB and 2 RB's that no one wanted before the 7th or 8th rounds or didn't even draft can still lead you to Fantasy Football Success.

Also, Roy Williams, Braylon Edwards, Gostowski, and Foster are the only 4 people remaining that I actually drafted. The rest are all gone.

Crazy, never traded like this before, but I couldn't pass up some of the moves.

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

The Last 5....(11.14.07)

2007-11-14T08:35:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The Last 5

.....Songs played in shuffle mode on my mp3 Player

David Crowder Band - Here is Our King
The Ataris - The Boys of Summer (Hate to say it, but way better than The Eagles Original)
Lit - My Own Worst Enemy
John Mayer - Daughters
Miles Davis - Round Midnight

.....Scores in the UM/OSU Football game

2006 - OSU 42, UM 39
2005 - OSU 25, UM 21
2004 - OSU 32, UM 21
2003 - UM 35, OSU 21
2002 - OSU 14, UM 9

....."Odd News" Stories from the AP

.....Videos I watched on You Tube embedded here for your enjoyment (at least watch the 1st three)

Paid for by the committee to bore your life with a list of the Last 5 whatever I want to put theree

Week 10 Fantasy Football

2007-11-13T07:51:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Oh boy, OH BOY. I may be in a little bit of trouble.

I'm sure everyone knows about the Adrian Peterson injury that could cost him anywhere from 3 weeks to the end of the season. It's a huge hit!! I just lost the number 1 or number 2 running back in the whole NFL.

Besides that, Peyton decided to go Tony Romo and throw 6 interceptions (4 in the first quarter). So I was kind of doomed from about 3:30 on on Sunday.

83.6 to 133.55

Gone is the 5 game winning streak and 1st place! Bummer. But every team lays at least one egg during the season, better to lay mine now than in the playoffs. But the AP injury is the real problem here.

I still have the most points scored in the league at 1,412.8 (which makes me the only team over 1,400 points scored). I also have the highest points scored against me at 1,344.2.

So, I have a little bit of work to do this week to see what I can possibly do to shore some running backs.

My roster currently is this:

QB - Peyton and Derek Anderson
WR - Roy Will, Braylon, Isaac Bruce, and Patrick Crayton
RB - Thomas Jones, Marion Barber 3, LenDale White, DeShaun Foster, and AP
TE - Greg Olson
K - Gostowski, Mason Crosby
DST - Titans and Vikings

With the bye weeks gone, now is the time to dump off of the extra DST, K, and TE. So they're all going to be gone for sure.

I'm hoping to take one of my QB's and one of my DST's and trade to get a more consistent rb.

We'll see. Man is Fantasy Football fickle.

My top 3 - Peyton Manning (24.8), Roy Williams (16.5), and Mason Crosby (10) for 51.3

His top 3 - Donovan McNabb (39.25), Selvin Young (24.8), and Cowboys DST (21) for 85.05.

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

F R E E D O M ! ! ! ! ! ! !

2007-11-07T15:54:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

There sits Simon,
so foolishly wise
proudly he's tending his nets
Then Jesus calls,
and the boats drift away
all that he owns he forgets

More than the nets
he abandoned that day,
he found that his pride was soon drifting away
It's hard to imagine the freedom we find
from the things we leave behind

Matthew was mindful
of taking the tax,
pressing the people to pay
Hearing the call,
he responded in faith
followed the Light and the Way

Leaving the people
so puzzled he found,
the greed in his heart
was no longer around and
it's hard to imagine
the freedom we find
from the things
we leave behind

Every heart needs to be set free,
from posessions
that hold it so tight
'Cause freedom's not found in the things that we own,
It's the power
to do what is right
Jesus, our only posession,
giving becomes our delight
We can't imagine the freedom we find
from the things we leave behind

We show a love for the world in our lives
by worshipping goods we posess
Jesus has laid all our treasures aside
"love God above all the rest"'
Cause when we say 'no'
to the things of the world
we open our hearts
to the love of the Lord and
its hard to imagine
the freedom we find
from the things we leave behind

Oh, and it's hard to imagine
the freedom we find
from the things
we leave behind

- Michael Card "The Things We Leave Behind"

Paid for by the committee to spread the power and grace that is Jesus!!!!

The Last 5....(11.07.07)

2007-11-07T08:37:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The Last 5

.....Songs played in shuffle mode on mp3 player

Original Fire (You guessed it right?) A song hasn't done this much to me in a long time. Just watch the video below if you haven't already..
Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life
Pearl Jam - Love, Reign O'er Me
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Somehwhere Over the Rainbow What a Wonderful World
Miles Davis and John Coltrane - So What

.....Teams in the BCS Top 10 Standings

6 - Missouri Tigers
7 - West Virginia Mountaineers
8 - Boston College Golden Eagles
9 - Arizona State Sun Devils
10 - Georgia Bulldogs

.....AP "News of the Weird" Stories

.....Current "front runners" in the Presidential Race I'd vote for in no particular order (right now....and remember this is "The Last 5")

Hillary Clinton
Rudy Giuliani
Barack Obama
John Edwards
Dennis Kucinich

.....Blog Entries I read

Paid for by the committee to bore your life with a list of the Last 5 whatever I want to put theree

Week 9 Fantasy Football

2007-11-06T07:45:00.000-05:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Great googly-moogly.

215.95 to 166.95

Adrian Peterson got me 92.7 points on his own. 92 points!!!

Unreal.

AP is the number one running back in fantasy football right now and may be for years to come. LT better watch out.

Anyway, I am the first place team at 6-3. Tied with another team but I have the first tie breaker (points). I'm the only team with over 1300 points (1329.2) and only one of two teams with over 1200 points scored against me.

My top 3 - AP with 92.7, Titans DST went for 45, and Peyton with 20.35 to equal 158.05

His top 3 - Brees for 64.45, T.O. for 35.8, and Kellen Winslow with 20 to equal 120.25

Our game was a barn burner to start off. With Brees already at 300+ passing yards in the 1st half. But, except for a dynamite blow up by T.O. (which kind of happened) and Kevin Curtis (which didn't happen at all....whew) in Sunday night's 8 o'clock game, I was just hoping MB3 would get me some points to put me over 200.

In trade updates - I didn't land Joe Addai, not that I expect the guy to just dump him off for no reason. But that team is in last place at 3-6. I know other teams are making a run for Addai and I need to try and beat all of them to the punch (if they are able to pull it off.)

Man 215+ points, the highest scoring team in the league and doing it all by Doing the Opposite.

Should I continue to track why "You must grab a rb in the first two rounds or you have no chance" is overrated and just not true?

Yes sir, all the way to the championship.

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

The Last 5....(10.31.07)

2007-10-31T09:13:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The Last 5

.....Songs played in shuffle mode on my MP3 player

Matchbox 20 - Damn
Audioslave - Original Fire (I cannot escape this song!!!)
Bocephus - Family Tradition
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
Jason Aldean - Johnny Cash

.....News Articles from the AP: Strange News

.....You Tube Videos I watched, embedded here for your enjoyment

Week 8 Fantasy Football

2007-10-30T07:38:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Well, well, well. Look who is the number one team in Fantasy Football right now.

TEAM KOOL-AID!!!!

147.15 - 115.35

1st most points scored in the league gives me the tie breaker over the other 3 teams that are 5-3 in the league, 2nd most points scored against too. Good thing my team is high scoring or I'd be in some trouble this year. So we have 4 teams at 5-3, 3 teams at 4-4, 2 teams at 3-5, and one team at 2-6.

As I told you all on Friday, I made a huge trade Friday and then a smaller one after that. I traded away Holt, Welker, and Jags DST for MB3, LenDale, and Jennings. Traded away Jennings and Fred Taylor for Isaac Bruce and Patrick Crayton.

I have a lot more consistency at RB now and real good depth at WR and RB too.

Funny thing to is that I played against the team I traded Holt, Welker, and the Jags too, but still pulled it out.

My top 3: Titans DST - 31, Braylon - 30.4, and Peyton - 24.75 for 86.15

His top 3: Holt - 23, Jags DST - 21, and Carson Palmer - 16.45 for 60.45.

Since it has been awhile let's recap the first round draft picks in my league and their total points scored for the year.

LT - 154.7
S-Jax - 44.5 (missed extensive time to injury)
LJ - 96.9
Addai - 136.7
Peyton - 181.2
Gore - 73.0 (hurt now, what'll happen)
Alexander - 74.0 (washed up?)
Rudi - 40.5 (missed extensive time to injury)
Parker - 126.9
Maroney - 44.8 (missed extensive time to injury)

Peyton is the highest scoring pick out of the first round.

Now, the obvious pink elephant in the room is Tom Brady.

Those that say you can get a qb in the late rounds and it doesn't matter have a point. But what Tom Brady is doing is ridiculous. Think back to the first couple of weeks when he was only getting 30 points.

The problem, is that in our league, the guy who took him also took Shaun Alexnader and Travis Henry in the first and second rounds. So, the weeks that Brady has put up 300+ yards and 5 or 6 TDs he wins because of Brady alone. When Brady is like Brady for real, he loses. Brady has scored just over 30% of this teams total points. Compared to the rest of the league where only 18% of a team's total points is coming from it's highest scorer.

Basically, Brady is the exception (this year) to every possible Fantasy Football rule there may ever be.

This week I'm going to look to make a move for Addai. The team at 2-6 has Addai and has some depth issues, obviously. I'm thinking I can offer any 2 of my rb's and a wr if I have to to land Addai. Thinking a MB3, Thomas Jones, Patrick Crayton for Joe Addai (and Kenton Keith, gotta get that backup) to start with and see what he wants from there. Maybe even throw in Derek Anderson (Kitna is his starter....yikes).

Stay tuned, you never know.

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

Monster Fantasy Football Update

2007-10-26T14:53:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Another benefit of Doing the Opposite?

Preying on weaker teams in the league who are in a dire sitauation with their bye weeks.

Case in point.

I just traded Torry Holt, Wes Welker, and Jags Defense

for

Marion Barber III, LenDale White, and Gregg Jennings.

I then turned around and traded

Gregg Jennings and Fred Taylor

for

Patrick Crayton and Isaac Bruce.

I will tell you, the team I play against this week is the team I traded Holt, Welker, and Jags too. So, we'll see right away on the outcome of that trade. He's playing all 3 of them this week.

Now here is the roster

QB - Manning and Derek Anderson
RB - MB3, Adrian Peterson, Thomas Jones, LenDale White, DeShaun Foster, Ladell Betts
WR - Braylon, Roy Will, Patrick Crayton, and Issac Bruce
TE - Owen Daniels
K - Gostokski
DST - Vikings (picked them up off of waivers this week....which is why I could part with the Jags D), and Titans

This week MB3 is on the bye but after that I have a solid starting lineup and great depth to go with now.

QB - Peyton
RB - AP
RB - MB3
WR - Braylon
WR - Roy Will
Flex - Play the matchups between T. Jones, LenDale, and Crayton
K - Gostowski
DST - Vikes most weeks

WHAT A SQUAD!!!!

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

Tigers 2007 Review Part 2

2007-10-25T08:57:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Read part 1 here, but part 2 is only going to be a couple links.

Why?

Because the Tigers picked up the $13 million option on a washed up catcher in Pudge Rodriguez.

Plus, the newspaper article I am referencing re-hash most of the same stuff I would have minus my glaring critique of one Brandon Inge in addition to Pudge.

The Tigers actually do have a lot of issues to address in the offseason for a team that has done so well in the last couple of years. It should be interesting and (hopefully) kind of fun.

So here you go.

The Heat is On

Who's Your Next Tiger

Paid for by the committee to talk about my beloved Detroit Tigers.

The Last 5....(10.24.07)

2007-10-24T08:36:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The Last 5 (world series edition)

Songs played in shuffle mode on my mp3 player:

World Series Winners

St. Louis Cardinals (Still not over this one)
Chicago White Sox
Boston Red Sox
Florida Marlins
Anaheim Angels

Teams to lose the World Series

Detroit Tigers (Still not over this one)
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Tankees
San Francisco Giants

World Series MVPs

David Eckstein (Still not over this one)
Jermaine Dye
Manny Ramirez (Just Manny being Manny...I love this guy)
Josh Beckett
Troy Glaus

Teams in the Top 25 of the BCS

California Golden Bears
Auburn Tigers
Connecticut Huskies
Alabama Crimson Tide
Penn State Nittany Lions

News Columnists I have read

Paid for by the committee to bore your life with a list of the Last 5 whatever I want to put theree

Week 7 Fantasy Football

2007-10-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Wow did I pull one out!!!! 118.25 - 105.4

Peyton wasn't Peyton that much, but Garrard going out of the game may have helped me. Not the way I would have wanted it to go down, but I'll always take the win. I've lost games due to injury so it's nice to win one as a result. My 2nd lowest output of the year as well as the least amount of points I have faced this year. And now I am in first place in my division, still 2nd most points (966.1) scored in the league and I have the 2nd most points (928.3) scored against me.

But I am in first place at 4-3. But check this out, 3 teams in my division are 4-3 (I win the first tie breaker of most points scored), the other 2 teams are 3-4. So, with a one game lead between me and first, can't get too comfortable.

My top 3 - Wes Welker (34.6), Peyton (22.95), and Titans DST (22) for 79.55

His top 3 - Terrible Owens (21.6), Chiefs DST (20), Boldin (14.9) for 56.5

Considering he had LT and Steve Smith on the bye, you would have thought I'd of taken him to the bank but my team was average throughout and the Titans Defense decided to turn into a member of the Emergent Movement by going soft, letting anything and everything go and not make a stand during the 4th quarter.

After my 0-2 start (and then 1-3), I'm on a mini role with a 4-1 record over the last 5 weeks.

As for my usualy plug and brag about Do the Opposite, I leave it to the professionals.

All I can say, I was like 3-4 years ahead of the curve.

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

Fearmongering!!

2007-10-22T15:04:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The earth is warming!

True – the earth is warming.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says the global average surface temperature increased about 0.6 degrees Celsius over the twentieth century.

The earth is warming because of us!

Uhh…maybe

If our fossil-fuel burning is responsible for the warming, something doesn’t add up. Half of the global warming of the past century happened from 1900 to 1945. If man is responsible, why wasn’t there much more warming in the second half of the century? We burned much more fuel during that time. What about that? Huh? You don’t hear the environmental alarmists talking about it…

The planet is just in a gradual warming trend, coming out of what scientists call the “Little Ice Age,” which ended in the 1800s. Our climate has always undergone changes, and it’s presumptuous to think humans’ impact matters so much in comparison to the frightening geologic history of the earth. A graph of temperatures over the last four thousand years shows today’s warming isn’t such a big deal. We, humans, really need to get over ourselves.

There will be storms, flooded coasts, and huge disruptions in climate!

Probably not

FEARMONGERING!!!

Schoolchildren are being taught and are scared that America is dying in a sea of pollution and cities will soon be under water.

The National Resources Defense Council has lawyers (surprise…an environmental group with more lawyers than scientists) running around warning that sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. On and on and on and on and on and on……

WOW! We’re screwed!!

You thought Y2K was bad….

Wait it wasn’t…..

Exactly.

The Association of American Geographers has reported that melting Arctic ice won’t raise sea levels any more than the melting ice in your drink makes your glass overflow. The Arctic ice cap is a floating chunk of….ice. It’s not a land mass adding to water.

What about the melting glaciers of Greenland?

Glad you asked. In 2005 Norwegian, Russina, and American scientists issued a report that said Greenland’s ice was thickening, not melting.

Hmm…..

What about the scary claims about heat waves and droughts being brought about by all the high-tech computer models?

Ever watch the local evening news and watch the weather forecast? Ever see all their high-tech gadegtery and computer models and Doppler 23,000 X Viper Extravagaza 10 day forecast? How "accurate" and "right on" they always are?

Computer models are horrible at predicting climate because water vapor and cloud effects cause changes that computers fail to predict. Did you know in the mid-70s the computer models, warned us of a global cooling? The fundamentalist doom mongers also ignore scientists who say the effects of global warming may be benign. Harvard astrophysicist Sallie Baliunas says added CO2 in the atmosphere may actually benefit the world because more CO2 helps plants grow. Warmer winters would give farmers a longer harvest season, and might end the drought in the Sahara desert.

Responsible citizens of the globe doing our part to protect the earth and its resources?

Yes

Freak out and cry doom and gloom?

Ridiculous.

Paid for by the committee to stop the FEARMONGERING!!

IT HAS ARRIVED!!!!!

2007-10-22T10:03:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

After much work and anticipation, the drama will only intensify....

I will actually have to pay attention to a Monday Night football game for the first time this year because of Fantasy Football implications.

I am down by 6.5 points and I have Peyton Manning going, he has David Garrard.

The favorite on the surface would have to be me. But Peyton doesn't perform well, historically, at Jacksonville. But, historically, he does perform very well during prime time.

In addition to that, whoever wins tonight's game gets 1st place in our division, the loser gets 4th place (but still currently a playoff team).

Big time fantasy implications on the line tonight.

Paid for by the committee to make you think FEARMONGERING was on the way but it was actually a shameless post to let you know I need Peyton Manning to outscore David Garrard by at least 6.6 points so I can win this week, be in first place and give even more credence to the Do the Opposite strategy for your Fantasy Football Draft.

In the basement.....

2007-10-18T15:00:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

I'll be in the basement the next 24-36, maybe 48 hours (maybe over the whole weekend) pounding out another manifesto because I have a blog and feel it is important.

I'll be around sporadically offering comments (as always), but stay tuned for the post tomorrow (or maybe Saturday or even Monday) on Fearmongering.

I know, I know, your all on the edge of your seat waiting for it.

Trust me, it won't be much, I have a tendency to disappoint the more I talk something up, just ask Michele, I'm surprised we even have a kid.

Come on I had to say it!!!!!

So, the hammering, sawing, cussing, loud obnoxious noises you hear will be me in the basement trying to create something with my hands....

And keep commenting on all the blogs, just because I may not be there as much doesn't mean you can't continue bashing me and calling me uncompassionate and heartless and an idiot for being pro-Bible, pro-Church, pro-Bush, pro-Life, pro-Men, pro-My Wife, pro-beer, pro Conservative, pro-Libertarian, pro-Country Music pro-Do the Opposite and believing someone else's dogma over your dogma.

So.....

In the meantime, enjoy one of these oldie but goodies from back in the day (which was written almost a year to the day...and not sure I've changed any. Good? Bad?)

Paid for by the committee to tell you I'll be out of the blogosphere for a couple days but around enough to make some basic comments when I feel like and then proceed to piss you off, and rile you up, but by being out of the blogosphere for awhile I can avoid having to answer all your comments until such time that I can come up with real cool quips, comebacks, and logical thought to combat what you said.

Sinking SCHIP

2007-10-18T10:59:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Cue the music!

You know, that deep bass, I'm about to grow a tail in my shorts, suspenseful music that make you feel like dropping a deuce on the spot?!

Cue it up.....

It's about to get nuclear, or is nukelar, or is nuc......

Oh #$% it all....

Just cue the music......

Today, the House of Representatives will vote on a measure to override President Bush's veto of SCHIP (which is a massive government-subsidized health insurance entitlement expansion plan). I agree with the Democrats on one thing: This is indeed a "defining moment."

The left-wing elite is in high dudgeon over conservatives who have dared to question the wisdom of extending SCHIP to middle-class families, adults and even illegal aliens to the tune of $35 billion -- funding dependent on saddling millions of smokers with regressive taxes and maintaining their nicotine addictions.

Liberal columnists have called people like me (as well as way more famous people than me) "meanies and hypocrites" (you know that whole compassionate conservative moniker people like to throw around right now) who are "sliming" children. Even political stalwarts such as Joy Behar took their pot shots to condemn people like me as a "selfish b------." Why? For challenging Harry Reid's use of a SCHIP expansion poster family, the Frosts of Baltimore, last week. Cable TV Bush-basher Keith Olbermann paraded the Frost parents on television and coaxed them into displaying photos of their children in their hospital beds after a horrible car accident while they castigated conservatives for "distraction" techniques. Never mind that the president's veto does not affect families like the Frosts covered by existing policies.

But here's what the hysterical tantrum-throwers really don't want to reckon with: The Frost parents' status as two property-owning, three vehicle-driving, "intermittent" and "part-time" workers raises fundamental policy questions about which families should benefit from government-subsidized health insurance in the first place -- and whether even better-off families than the Frosts should be added to the public health insurance dole.

That's what Harry Reid and his socialized health care minions are telling us. And now they demand that we shut up lest we be accused of "Swiftboating" innocent children.

Are Democrats capable of defending their reckless, inequitable agenda without tot-sized human shields? Apparently not. In advance of the override vote, they simply switched flak jackets and brought out a 2-year-old child with a heart defect, Bethany Wilkerson of Florida, to lobby for the override. But like the Frost children, little Bethany would have been covered regardless of the entitlement expansion veto.

The Democrats may believe their Romper Room politics are working. And some queasy Republicans may be tempted to abandon fiscal conservatism for electoral expediency. But a majority of Americans polled by USA Today/Gallup this week -- 52 percent -- agree with President Bush that most benefits should go to children in families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level -- about $41,000 for a family of four. The polls showed that "only 40 percent say benefits should go to families earning up to $62,000, as the bill written by Democrats and some Republicans would allow."

Defining moment indeed: Who represents the truly needy? Who represents responsible taxpayers? Who represents future generations, who would be forced to send their hard-earned money to fund this hugetastic middle-class entitlement explosion? The GOP is already responsible for passing the obscene Medicare prescription drug entitlement expansion -- the largest in the program's history and the true costs of which were suppressed until after it became law.

If Republicans don't have the guts to torpedo the Democrats' SCHIP Trojan Horse permanently, they deserve to lose their seats.

Paid for by the committee to educate people on the real meaning of Compassionate Conservative.

The Last 5....(10.17.07)

2007-10-17T08:18:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

The Last 5 (cleveland sucks edition)

songs played in shuffle mode on my mp3 player

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Roller Coaster
Sublime - Wrong Way
The Verve Pipe - Wonderful Waste
Everclear - Santa Monica
Tom Petty - Running Down a Dream

teams in the BCS Top 25 Standings

21 - Tennessee Volunteers
22 - Texas Longhorns
23 - Cincinnati Bearcats
24 - Texas Tech Red Raiders
25 - Michigan Wolverines

beverages I have imbibed

Folgers Dark Roast Coffee - a morning tradition since the early 2000's
Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale (America's Original) - pumkin pie in a bottle!!!!!
Bottle of Ice Mountain Water - cool and refrshing after a hard day's work
Glass of my own home made wine (Muscato grape) - slightly fizzy, bursting into a bouquet of fruit, with bountiful flavor.
Custom Coffee Services French Roast Coffee - it's all the office offers nowadays

things I'll ever agree with (no matter the situation, culture, or any other variable or option ever available)

Toby on Church (glad that your job as a church leader speaks for me and my experience)
Gary on Christianity (so you found out it is a lie? How? When? Any proof?)
National Healthcare (government sucks, why let it run your own body)
Abortion (murder, no matter what anyone says)
Global Warming (Al Gore Style)

Paid for by the committee to bore your life with a list of the Last 5 whatever I want to put there.

Week 6 Fantasy Football

2007-10-16T08:02:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Yeah baby, back to .500. AP went LT and is showing why the Lions should have taken him #2 overall (and not Megatron).

185.85 to 145.5. A barn burner. But actually, I didn't even have the top score for the week. One of the guys scored 204.95, but he had LT and Norv Turner finally got half smart and fed LT the ball. So LT went LT as well as AP and AP out LT'd LT.

So now I am 3-3 with the 2nd most points scored in the league (847.8) and I also have the most points scored against at 822.9, and it's not even close as no other team has 800 points scored against them.

My waiver wire pickup of Derek Anderson (over Kurt Warner), was pure genius!!! And drafting Thomas Jones in the 4th round (the 10th leading rusher in the NFL) and Adrian Peterson in the 5th round (the TOP rusher in the NFL) is proving to be genius as well. Well, actually, Doing the Opposite it proving to be genius.

As I said, when you Do the Opposite, a second tier back always falls to you in the 4th round, always. Thomas Jones isn't a sexy fantasy football name. But he is the 10th leading rusher in the NFL (420 yards - more than Alexander, Westbrook, and LJ), on a run first team, and while he hasn't gotten the TDs neither has Willie Parker, Travis Henry, Willis McGahee (until this week) or LJ (until this week too.). But 3 years ago Rudi Johnson wasn't a sexy name, 2 years ago he still wasn't, and last year Brian Westbrook wasn't. Those are the guys I got in the 4th round in the last couple of years (ever since I started Doing the Opposite). So now that I have Peyton, Roy Will, Holt, and Braylon to go with AP, and T. Jones how good does this team look for fantasy purposes? Let's throw in the Jags Defense as well. Those of you that "had to reach early" for the Ravens and Bears, where are you at now?

With Do the Opposite, the only real research you do is on the RB position. You grab the top QB in the first round (Peyton), if you can't get him next year you can for sure go Brady or Palmer now that they have proven themselves. Then go WR in round 2 and round 3 (or grab Antonio Gates...if not Gates, you wait on your TE until the teen rounds). Then rounds 4-7 it's all RB's. That's where your research comes in. Rank your rb's from about 1-30 and take the top guy off the list or the guy who doesn't have the same bye week. To cut your research even more, go to Border's with a note pad, grab 5 or 6 fantasy football mags off the shelf. Go to their cheat sheets and write the top 30 guys they have at running back and their rank. Do this for each magazine. Then average out the rankings the "pros" give and re-sort for your own. You can get that done in a half hour. You keep one of the magazines (I prefer Fanball), and in rounds 13-15 you grab your TE, kicker and defense based on the ranking in the mag. From rounds 8 - 12 it's all the backups to your WR and QB.

I seriosuly get my research done in about an hour for the fantasy football season.

Anyway, I've preached alot on the no duh element of Do the Opposite. Just Do it next year.

My top 3 - Adrian Peterson (71.1), Derek Anderson (37.55), and Braylon (24.7) for 133.35

His top 3 - Matt Hasselbeck (37.5), Tony Gonzalez (27.4), and Brian Westbrook (22.6) for 87.5

More oddities from the league

I have more points scored against me than 7 of the other teams in the league have scored for themselves.
We have 3 teams with a record of 4-2, 4 teams with a record of 3-3 and 3 teams with a record of 2-4. Parity doesn't just abound in the NFL. I went from out of the playoffs last week to the 4th seed this week.
The lowest point total I have had scored against me this year is 116.45...the lowest. Take away that point total and the average for the other 5 games is 141!! So I guess I will have 140+ put up against me every week.
If I had not played Sammy Morris (who got hurt) and played Welker at my flex spot (Roy Will was on the bye) I'd of had the high score this week of 216.25. Coulda, woulda, shoulda, I know
This week I play the guy who did score 200+ points this week, is the top scorer in our league (he's had the weekly high score 3 times...$60 for him, he's 3/5 to paying his entry fee), is also 3-3, but has Steve Smith, Kellen Winslow, Chargers DST, and LT on the bye.
Can I say it anymore....D-O T-H-E O-P-P-O-S-I-T-E

Paid for by the committee to get you to Do the Opposite at your next Fantasy Football Draft.

Lions are to good football as Global Warming is to...

2007-10-15T08:54:00.000-04:00

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Al Gore has just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor he shares with Yasser Arafat and Le Duc Tho. Gore has received a number of awards and honors from Europeans, who seem to wish to punish George Bush's policies by showering awards on his defeated opponent. (Gore would have been president had he carried his own state of Tennessee, but he couldn't manage it.)

Unfortunately for Europe, the United States has been independent now for more than two centuries. It's nice for Gore that he won the prize, but who now remembers Frank Billings Kellogg, who won the Nobel for co-authoring the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, which outlawed war? How's that pact working out?

Americans have happily been ignoring Europeans for quite a long time, except when they have dragged us into their various wars between awarding people peace prizes.

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee likely cares little about Al Gore's "moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity" or his green cult or its pagan Earth-god. Gore's Nobel is just the latest evidence of the committee's use of surrogates like the ex-veep and Jimmy Carter (in 2002) and Mohamed ElBaradei (in 2005) to embarrass the United States - a state of mind that says more about European elites' insecurity in the modern age than anything else.

But as much material as the Gore Nobel feeds people of like political mindness like myself, the dimunition of the prize's seriousness is a tragedy.

The Nobel can have real power in shining a light into some of the world's darker corners.

In Burma, courageous monks are defying a brutal military dictatorship. In Iran, men and women die for their civil rights at the hands of religious despots. International chess star Garry Kasparov and others have been arrested resisting that country's slide back to authoritarian rule.

The Nobel could help elevate these causes to international attention. Instead, preening Nobel leftists throw their baubles at a rich ex-politician so that he can assuage his guilt of flying on gas-guzzling private airplanes to green fundraisers in sprawling Hollywood mansions.

Paid for by the committee to stop the FEARMONGERING!!

Why Does This Never Get Old?

2007-10-11T11:33:00.000-04:00

Ripping on Notre Dame that is

The Test....

2007-10-10T12:52:00.001-04:00

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

68%

Reformed Evangelical

68%

Emergent/Postmodern

64%

Fundamentalist

64%

Neo orthodox

50%

Modern Liberal

43%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

43%

Classical Liberal

43%

Roman Catholic

25%

I think I am down with the above explanation.

At the crux is the sufficiency of Christ and Salvation through Justification. But also, I'm more Arminian than Calvinist just as the Methodist.

In regards to the church, I am more about relationships and community than only being in the church. But, just as the Methodist, I hold the church in high esteem and believe it is the institution to lead the social action and justice that Jesus preaches and teaches in the gospel.

The Bible is the Word of God. And I am all about life values and the use of reason with the Bible as context.

The Methodist church carries a traditional position that any disciplined theological work calls for the careful use of reason. By reason, it is said, one reads and interprets Scripture. By reason one determines whether one's Christian witness is clear. By reason one asks questions of faith and seeks to understand God's action and will.

This church insists that personal salvation always involves Christian mission and service to the world. Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbour, a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world. Amen!

But I am not big on tradition and liturgy (Methodist are like Catholics in this regard with the Anglican liturgy) and within the community of believers I rely on dialogue. I'm also not a big fan of a church "hierarchy" if you will. I know I'm in a SBC church now, but if we changed Pastors, the congregation votes on the next it isn't assigned to us.

Seeing what other choices there were, I'd have to agree with the assessment given here.

Surprising

The Last 5....(10.10.07)

2007-10-10T08:23:00.000-04:00

The Last 5 (baseball LCS edition)

Songs played in shuffle mode on my MP3 player

Centerfield - John Fogerty
Cheap Seats - Alabama
Swing Batter - Trace Adkins
Take Me Out to the Ball Game - 40,000 screaming fans
Lifelong Tiger Fan Blues - Jeff Daniels

Players named MVP of the ALCS

Placido Polanco (Detroit Tigers 2006)
Paul Konerko (Chicago White Sox 2005)
David Ortiz (Boston Red Sox 2004)
Mariano Rivera (New York Tankees 2003)
Adam Kennedy (Anaheim Angels 2002)

Players named MVP of the NLCS

Jeff Suppan (St. Louis Cardinals 2006)
Roy Oswalt (Houston Astros 2005)
Albert Pujols (St. Louis Cardinals 2004)
Ivan Rodriguez (Florida Marlins 2003)
Benito Santiago (San Francisco Giants 2002)

AP "News of the Weird" news stories

Where's the Conservative?

2007-10-09T16:05:00.000-04:00

The GOP bandwagon rolls into Dearborn, MI for a debate today.

What the party needs out of this bunch is a fiscal conservative who'll get back to the principle of smaller, more efficient government.

Bush turned out to be an expansionist and, early on in his administration, for example, poured billions of federal dollars into a local issue, education.

It'll be Fred Thompson's debate debut, and he's overdue for showing some flash.

But, you gotta hand it to the GOP candidates. They showed up in Michigan while Dems pimped the state. Democratic presidential hopefuls blew off a September Fox Theater debate, backed by the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute. To paraphrase Kanye West, perhaps Democrats don't care about black people?

Plus, Dem candidates pimped Michigan by vowing not to campaign here. They didn't like the date of the state's presidential primary. You mean to tell me that the state with the worse economic windfall, most jobs loss, only rising unemployment rate, 80% blue collar work force, and cheer Big Blue every day aren't worth it over a date for a primary?!

I thought Howard Dean and the rest of the DNC were going to get their temper under control?

I think they realize what a tragedy it would be to have Granholm and Kwame standing to next them and doing the obligatory introductions when this state is in the worse economic windfall, most job loss, and only rising unemployment rate in the country.

But, regardless, the Republicans are here, the Dems are not and they won't be.

Week 5 Fantasy Football

2007-10-09T08:01:00.000-04:00

What a difference a week makes.

124.95 to 116.45. Just a great all around performance as I had 6 of my 9 starters go into double digit scoring. Also ended up being the highest score for the week (a nice $20 payout).

And boy oh boy are all those "stud" running backs just dominating the fantasy football landscape these days.

Joseph Addai (chest), Laurence Maroney (groin) and Steven Jackson (groin) were out. In Denver, San Diego backup Michael Turner (eight carries for 143 yards and a touchdown) did better than starter LaDainian Tomlinson (21 carries for 67 yards).

Shaun Alexander (11 carries for 25 yards), Frank Gore (16 carries for 52 yards) and Larry Johnson (nine carries for 12 yards) combined for 89 yards. In fact, three quarterbacks Vince Young, Trent Green and Eli Manning had more rushing yards than Johnson, and Green left the game in the first quarter with a concussion.

Can you trust your top running back anymore? Even when the star does well, like in Pittsburgh with Willie Parker running for 102 yards, Najeh Davenport comes in and scores two touchdowns. And Mike Sellers scores two touchdowns in Washington while Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts get none.

Let's not forget the Travis Henry debacle as well and the fact that Brian Westbrook is always week-to-week with will he play won't he play.

I cannot fault anyone for taking LT and S-jax with the top 2 picks, but after that, Peyton was the only sure thing. Addai has performed at expectation, but even in college he was never the #1 back, so his durability has been a concern. He's left 2 games with a injury this year and now has missed a game. But when he is in there he has been nothing short of a stud.

Do the Opposite, Do the Opposite, Do the Opposite. As the ever constant reminder, in my league the first round went like this: LT, S-Jax, LJ, Addai, Peyton (Me), Gore, Alexander, Parker, Rudi, Maroney.

My top 3 - Jags defense (23), Peyton (22.65), and Braylon Edwards (17) for 62.65

His top 3 - Brady (31.25), Patriots D (30), and Reggie Wayne (12.6) for 73.85

Notice no running back for either of us was one of our top 3 scorers! He had T. Henry and Alexander. I ran with Sammy Morris and DeShaun Foster. My two outscored his 2 (and his 2 were his first picks and my 2 were a waiver wire pickup and a 10th round draft pick) by double digit points. And this isn't just a one time thing. It's becoming a theme.

Now, if you did listen to me (which I know no one did) and took Peyton in the first round, you may have taken Marvin Harrison in the 2nd. This way you could double up on the TDs and Yardage points. Unfortunately, he didn't play this week, so one of the elite WRs did go down. But I hold to the philosophy that you DO NOT grab a QB and their top receiver in the draft. If a trade comes along or some kind of weird waiver wire instance (like I have Braylon but pick up Derek Anderson this week to replace Peyton who's on the bye) then go ahead. It's why I grabbed Holt over Marvin in the 2nd round. Everytime that QB throws a TD pass not to your guy you get bummed out, they share the same bye week, and if the offense has a bad day, then you get tag teamed with bad points. Just my philosophy that doesn't really hold any merit (unlike Do the Opposite which does).

Odd facts from our league:

I am 2-3, and 1 point out of the 6th and final playoff spot. Our first tie-breaker is points scored.
I am the 4th highest scoring team (662) and have the 2nd most points scored against (677.4).
Matter of fact 4 of the 5 teams in my division are outscoring the 1st place team in the other division, me being one of them and I am in last place in my division.
2 teams are 4-1 (both division leaders)
2 teams are 3-2
5 teams are 2-3!!! (parity abounds)
1 team is 1-4 (hsi only win is against me in week 1)
So, yes 6 teams have losing records......
Ronnie Brown is the highest scoring RB
Randy Moss highest scoring WR
Randy Moss is outscoring Ronnie Brown
Have I given any amount of credence to Doing the Opposite....yet?