As I See It (Subject To Change . . . )

ACORN busted

2009-09-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

An ACORN employee named Juan Carlos Vera, who used to work in the San Diego ACORN office until he was fired, seems to be crying NO FAIR!

"I never done anything wrong in my life," Vera said. "They destroyed my family."

The trouble with that is, he is caught ON TAPE offering to help smuggle under-age Central American girls into the U.S.A. by way of Tijuana using his "contacts." He also wanted to contract for the services of the supposed prostitute in his office.

The last I knew, human trafficking and soliciting for prostitution were both illegal. Even if they weren't, they are morally wrong.

If Mr. Vera engages in such behavior and manages to keep it from his family, he is also guilty of lying. That's wrong, too.

His family may be "destroyed" but it isn't the fault of the film makers. Mr. Vera needs to look in the mirror when he points fingers at who is to blame for his woes.

Tax on soda?

2009-09-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

There is a commercial running on TV in which a woman tells "government" not to tax sodas and juice drinks (a.k.a fruit-flavored sugar water) because it makes things too hard on families who are struggling to get by as it is.

I am all for lower taxes. There are too many taxes already and people are paying too much of their income into the bottomless hole of government programs.

HOWEVER, her reasoning leaves a lot to be desired. If times are so hard for her and her family, DON'T BUY THE STUPID SODAS IN THE FIRST PLACE!

If you don't buy them, it doesn't matter how much tax is on them because you won't be paying it.

They aren't good for you, anyway.

WAIT! This ad is sponsored by the people who make and sell juice drinks (a.k.a fruit-flavored sugar water) and sodas. They are TERRIFIED that you will figure out this is one tax you can so easily avoid if you don't buy their useless and unhealthy product!

Don't buy the products - don't pay the taxes. The companies lose, the government loses, but YOU WIN!

Jimmy Carter

2009-09-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Carter seems to think that if people don't agree with Barack Obama then people are racist.

Are you kidding me?

Does he really think that people have to agree with Obama's socialist destruction of America or they are RACIST?

Unbelievable.

Besides, what Obama says he believes in and what he says he is going to do depends on who he is talking to. That means what he says to group A can be polar opposite of what he says to group B. Are both groups racist because they disagree with what he told the other guys?

The Train Wreck That Is Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Part 2

2009-09-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

So sad.

You Lie!

2009-09-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Joe Wilson told the truth. Barack Obama does not. Too bad Joe Wilson chose an inappropriate moment in time and an inappropriate place to point out that inconvenient but irrefutable truth.

It Begins In The Home

2009-09-07T06:54:00.000-07:00

"On the Job: Employers struggle with unprepared college grads" published in The Salt Lake City Tribune features the struggles employers deal with when they hire irresponsible immature self-centered children masquerading in adult college graduate bodies.

The article meandered around without ever establishing how this mess could happen.

Let me suggest that it happens at home, as the child grows up physically but is never taught to be a responsible adult.

Far too many parents pull their kids out of school for frivolous reasons such as vacations, trips to Disneyland at the parents' convenience, or for any other spur of the moment reason.

It may be dry, boring and fuddy duddy, but a kid's job is to be in school, and he or she should be there unless he or she is sick, or unless there is a real family emergency such as an accident or death in the family.

Another cause is that while parents may TELL their kids it is wrong to lie or steal, they don't actually live their lives that way. The child isn't taught that calling in sick when you are not sick is lying. The child isn't taught that when you are at work, you are exchanging what you have (skills) for what the employer needs. They are buying your time and your skills and paying you money for what you do for them.

>>EMPLOYERS ARE NOT PAYING EMPLOYEES TO SURF THE INTERNET OR TALK ON THE PHONE TO THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! <<

Employees who accept pay while engaging in such behavior are guilty of theft.

The newly hired college grads featured in the article probably have no idea why they were fired. No one ever taught them such behavior is not acceptable in the workplace. That concept probably should be reinforced in the schools, but it need to be a lifelong mindset that begins at the beginning - at home.

The Train Wreck That Is Jon & Kate Plus 8

2009-08-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

I confess that I don't watch this show as much as some people do, for the same reason most people I know don't watch it at all: it is *REALLY* hard to watch Kate bash and totally disrespect Jon behind his back, to his face, in front of the kids, to the kids, and all on national TV.

As professing Christians, Jon is commanded to love his wife, and Kate is commanded to respect her husband.

That doesn't happen. At least there is no evidence of it.

I remember watching part of a re-run of the episode where they first went to Utah. Jon took off up the slopes and I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh! He looks like such a weight has been lifted off of him!" I had never seen him so free and relaxed.

To me that was the beginning of the end.

Did Jon get a taste of - or was he reminded of - what it felt like to be free of domination? And once he tasted liberation he just couldn't go back?

Who knows? Certainly not me!

FWIW, I am fully aware that no separation is totally the fault of one person. I have no idea how Jon behaved off camera and we did not see a whole lot of him on camera except in the interviews. Even then Kate did not seem to think he could do anything right. She seemed to find countless ways to belittle and humiliate him, such as the time she picked him to pieces for saying something like "lunch picnic" instead of "picnic lunch."

The media is paying a lot of attention to Jon lately and he has been behaving quite badly. Flailing around like a balloon that somebody just let the air out of is the best description I can think of.

Do neither of these people stop to think their kids will read ALL of this some day?

Are they still going to church?

Are they getting marital counseling?

Does Kate not realize that when it isn't her turn to be in charge, Jon has the right to bring people into the kids' lives that Kate might not like? Oops - unintended consequence here.

I just think this whole sordid mess is really sad and there are eight innocent victims.

What a shame.

I really hope both Jon and Kate get some Biblically based Christian counseling.

Sat It Ain't So!

2009-08-07T05:54:00.000-07:00

According to CNN, certain people are trying their best to do away with IE 6 and force people kicking and screaming in protest to upgrade to IE 8.

IMHO, that would be an absolutely terrible mistake.

I recently "upgraded" to IE 8 and was reminded once again that "New and Improved" is almost always always only half right. In the first few minutes - *MINUTES* - of use I discovered that not only did the screen look "funny" but the spell check feature of the Google Toolbar did not work, I was not able to listen to the radio online as I like to do while working on the computer, and every time I signed into a second G-Mail account IE 8 automatically signed me out of the first one "for my own protection."

You gotta be kidding me.

All that in just a few minutes? And this is supposed to be BETTER??????

I couldn't uninstall that "piece of work" fast enough.

I am quite happy with IE 6 and I will thank you meddling techies to leave well enough alone.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Miss California USA

2009-05-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

Beauty pageants are nothing new. The Biblical Esther became queen because she won a beauty pageant.

But the most recent Miss USA pageant got downright ugly.

Miss California answered a really loaded question with her honest opinion, an opinion shared with the majority of USA residents and citizens. However, the person who asked her the question has a different opinion.

When she gave her opinion he immediately launched into the most vicious, vile, profane and mean personal attacks imaginable. He didn't just disagree - he personally attacked her. He threw verbal temper tantrums and called her all sorts of derogatory names. His behavior exhibited a total lack of class.

And he wasn't the only one. She actually received death threats. Her mother had to get a new cell phone number.

Throughout this all, she has remained gracious and polite, respectful and tasteful. Says a lot for one so young.

In fact, the ONLY people who I have EVER heard say ANYTHING negative about her don't even know her.

The people who actually know her all say positive things about her. All of them.

Queen Esther was put where she was "for such a time as this." The same can be said about Carrie Prejean.

Obama is NOT Cutting the budget

2009-05-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

President Obama's team is lying about the "budget cuts" in Obama's 1,500-page, $3.5 trillion budget.

They are not cutting the budget. In fact, Obama's budget is over $400 billion larger than President Bush's 2009 budget and $100 billion larger than the bloated budget resolution Congress just passed!

The fact is, the budget Obama released this week is basically the same budget his team released two months ago in "outline" form...

--This is the largest budget ever proposed by a President with the largest deficits in American history.

--It adds over $9 trillion to the national debt -- doubling the total debt accumulated from the start of our country through the Bush presidency.

--It includes the Carbon Tax, which could be as high as $2 trillion.--It includes the massive socialized health care program.

--It even ignores the $3.4 trillion budget Congress passed and reverts to Obama's original $3.5 trillion budget.

+ + The "budget cut" slight of hand

What about those "budget cuts"? As the Chicago Tribune Reported, the "news" of the budget cuts grabbed the headlines even though the supposed "cuts" were all in Obama's original budget!

There is nothing new. No new budget cuts.

Obama has simply repackaged his bloated budget -- ignoring Congress' budget resolution -- in terms of supposed budget cuts.

Obama fed this headline to the liberal media and they ran with it. Sadly, Republican leaders are trying to downplay the supposed budget cuts when, in reality, THERE ARE NOCUTS IN THE BUDGET!

+ + Expose this blatant, manipulative lie that is designed to portray Obama as a fiscally minded budget cutter when, in fact, he is the biggest spender EVER to sit in the White House.

+ + Action #1 -- Push the petition to 275 k. Please forward this to your friends and ask them to sign the "Stop The Spending" petition by going here:http://www.grassfire.net/r.asp?u=18902&PID=19941563

+ + Action #2 -- Spread the Word! We cannot allow the President to get away with this gross misrepresentation.

Also, call the White House and your members of Congress and express your disappointment about the Obama budget cut deception.

White House Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Talking Points:

#1--President Obama's announced budget cuts are nothing more than a political deception.

#2--Obama's budget is actually LARGER than the budget resolution just passed by Congress.

#3--The budget cuts are nothing new. In fact, this is the same bloated budget Obama proposed earlier in the year.

#4--Oppose the Obama budget that will nearly double our national debt and impose a massive Carbon Tax and a socialized health care program.

P.S. Again, even most Republican leaders are missing the real story here -- and the liberal media are pushing Obama's propaganda of "budget cuts."

Obama's proposal is by far the largest and most debt-ridden budget ever proposed.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Walk By Faith

2009-01-29T13:50:00.000-08:00

There is a song entitled Walk By Faith by Jeremy Camp which I believe was written after a very tragic personal loss. The lines that stand out to me are:

I will walk by faith

Even when I cannot see

I think of the Old Testament prophet Daniel who was taken captive into exile as a teenager. As a member of the evil and wicked Nebuchadnezzar's court, Daniel was likely "shifted into neutral" to live out the remainder of his life as a eunuch. When he was older, he was tossed into a den of starving lions.

None of this happened because of bad behavior or lack of faith on the part of Daniel. In fact, it was quite the contrary. But he never cried out, "Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?" Instead he prayed daily, facing Jerusalem, and trusted God.

When the 70 year exile was up and his people allowed to return home, Daniel was likely too old to make the journey; he would have been in his mid-80's and it's a r-e-a-l-l-y long walk from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Throughout his life, Daniel walked by faith, even though he had no way of seeing the extent to which he was being used by God.

We need to walk by faith also, even though we too cannot see what God is up to.

You asked for it - you got it

2009-01-23T15:26:00.000-08:00

What he said

A Lost Teachable Moment

2008-12-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

Recently a teacher took a lot of flak for the way in which students were taught about slavery. It seems the teacher chose two students, tied their arms and legs and had them spend a few minutes under a desk as a way to demonstrate how slaves were brought from Africa to the new world.

It seems the students didn't like being bound and tied.

Ya think?

Unfortunately, as I said, the teacher took a lot of flak.

IMHO, everybody (except maybe the teacher) missed the mark on just what a teachable moment this was. Somebody should have quietly told those kids and the rest of the class that the slaves didn't like it, either. And there weren't just a couple of slaves in the hold of the ship - there were hundreds. And the air was bad. The trip lasted a whole lot longer than a few minutes, and there were no potty breaks - use your imagination.

Furthermore the slaves had no mommy to complain to about the wrongs being done to them.

Let that sink into the kids' heads for awhile. Maybe they would develop a deeper and more meaningful understanding of what the slaves went through and how degradingly awful it must have been for them.

Yup - somebody missed the mark on this one, but it was NOT the teacher.

Change

2008-08-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

Back in March I posted that a friend of my daughter's had squandered two college scholarships and was now neither going to school nor walking with the Lord.

All of that is still really sad, but I guess that she just disliked school so much that it just wasn't worth it to her to go to school in order to continue the activity for which she received the scholarships.

She may live to regret the decision - I don't know.

Pray for her and her family.

TV Commercial Review - Baskin Robbins

2008-07-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Apparently I am a minority of one, but I just have to speak out against the latest rash of Baskin-Robbins commercials. So far there are three - all of them seeming to say that there is no level of unacceptable behavior that can't be overlooked for an ice cream cone.

1) Mom comes to pick the kids up at Grandma's and announces that if Grandma says they have been good they can all go for BR ice cream. They have obviously not been good. Guilt is all over their faces and Grandma's house has been trashed. But Grandma says, "These little angels? I'll get my coat."

Proverbs 6:16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

I guess Grandma missed that part, and BR has no problems teaching kids that lying is an OK way to get what you want.

2) A kid is outside playing in the dirt in the front yard when his mom comes out and says that as soon as he gets cleaned up they can all go for BR ice cream. Unbelievably enough, the dad turns the hose on him child abuse style. Not fun run through the sprinkler style, but think surveillance video from the Florida car wash where the mom turned the car wash hose on her kid and was arrested for doing it. If her attorney sees that commercial, she will walk away scott free. But apparently child abuse is OK if that's what it takes to get some BR ice cream.

3) A soccer coach hollers to his team that if they win everybody goes to BR for ice cream after the game. A pink business-suited soccer mom on the sidelines makes a professional quality kick, screams "SCORE" and then bends over and nose to nose with an eight year old (more or less) from what must be the opposing team screams "IN YOUR FACE!"

All of this disgusting and despicable behavior for ice cream?

I suppose they are trying to say that people will go to great lengths for BR ice cream. What they have really said is unjustifiably bad behavior can be overlooked if it gets you what you want.

Talk about an ugly and tasteless message.

Open Challenge To The Homosexual Community

2008-07-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

It is extremely doubtful that any of you will wander by this blog, but just in case, let me toss out a challenge.

You are no doubt aware of all the Biblical verses that specifically and explicitly define your sexual conduct as an abomination before the Lord. You are aware of these verses because well-meaning but misguided folks have rubbed your noses in them in a less than loving way.

So I'm not gonna do that. All I ask is that you find an equal number of verses that just as specifically and explicitly justify said behavior on your part.

Psalm 12:8

2008-07-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

Homosexuals will gather near where I live this weekend and march down the street with pride, flaunting their chosen sin in the face of God. In years past, unspeakable and unprintable behaviors and utterances have been common.
Appallingly, people will actually take their kids to watch.

The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.

Ps 12:8 NIV

The Long Primary Season

2008-07-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

I have always hated politics. Even though politics controls everything, I find it mean spirited and boring. Therefore, the less news coverage it gets, the better. And the shorter the campaigns the better.

HOWEVER, I am beginning to see an advantage to long campaigns and long primary seasons, just as there is an advantage to a long courtship. The longer they go on, the more you find out. Good, bad, and ugly, the more you find out.

That was certainly true of the democratic primary race. I'm sure John McCain just sat back watching Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama slug it out.

He needed to do no campaigning whatsoever while they dragged each other through the mud and the muck.

Barack Obama - The Anti-Christ?

2008-07-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

I have seen comments around the internet that insist Barack Obama is a Muslim in sheep's clothing. Only the Lord knows Mr. Obama's heart for certain, but the commentators seem to think that once a Muslim, always a Muslim.

In that case, why are there missionaries to Muslim peoples?

I don't know how "Muslim" Mr. Obama's upbringing was, and I don't know how genuine his "Christianity" is, although I kind of can guess from his stance on many volatile social issues, but those who denounce every news story with a parrot-like "But he's a Muslim" only make themselves look foolish.

Not The Kind Of Change Our Nation Needs

2008-06-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to Barak Obama's Father's Day Speech.

Some of what he said was OK. Some of it was scary.

These are quotes. QUOTES.

"We should reward fathers who pay that child support with job training and job opportunities and a larger Earned Income Tax Credit that can help them pay the bills."
"We should expand programs where registered nurses visit expectant and new mothers and help them learn how to care for themselves before the baby is born and what to do after."
"We should help these new families care for their children by expanding maternity and paternity leave, and we should guarantee every worker more paid sick leave so they can stay home to take care of their child without losing their income."

These are all out of the same paragraph, near the end of the speech. So what's wrong with these statements? Who the heck is this "we" he starts out with. Even though he doesn't identify who "we" might be, I strongly suspect "we" is you and me, the sorry sucker U.S. tax payer.

So fathers who stay at home with the mother of their children and raise them as a family unit get a tax deduction but fathers who move out, father from a distance, but pay child support would get a tax credit. In case you didn't realize it, a tax credit is a whole lot more valuable than a tax deduction. Somehow I don't see that as encouraging responsible fatherhood.
Excuse me, but that is why God provided mothers. That is NOT the government's job. The mothers and aunts and grandmothers of these new mothers are supposed to have already taught the new mom, and should continue to do so. Do you really want the government telling you how to raise your child?
While every parent would like time off to bond with the new family member, somebody has to pick up the tab. These new parents are going to need the income to keep coming in and it has to come from somewhere. Employers are not going to want to pay for it. Small mom and pop businesses can't pay for it. So that leaves you and me, the sorry sucker U.S. tax payer to pay for it.

You think you pay too much in taxes now? If you vote this change into office, you ain't seen nuthin' yet when it comes to new taxes.

This Is Not The Kind Of Change Our Nation Needs.

A Better Way To Reduce The Cost Of Education

2008-05-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

In California, public school teachers, administrators, and staff are being laid off in droves. Programs are being cut and class size will increase. This is all being done in the name of a budget crunch.

I have a better idea. Lets keep the teachers but only have them teach students who are in this state (country) legally. If we were not spending so much money educating people who are not even supposed to be here, and are breaking the law every day that they are here, perhaps there would be enough money to educate those who were born here and those who came here the right way - legally.

Send the others back where they came from.

Global Warming on Jupiter?

2008-05-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

According to the information under this photo of the planet Jupiter's red spots, Jupiter is under-going a bit of global warming of its own near its equator.

I wonder who Al Gore is going to blame *that* on!

We Get It

2008-05-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

It's about time the Christian Community took a stand on this issue. Watch the YouTube Video here.

I never thought I would see the day . .

2008-05-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

. . that I would stick up for Hillary Clinton, but here it is and here I am.

She recently was defending her decision to stick it out to the end with her campaign in spite of the mass exodus of her supporters and the news media to Barack Obama. She mentioned that taking the Democratic nomination process into June was not without precedent, and she mentioned two such cases.

The most recent was her own husband Bill.

The earlier one was Bobby Kennedy. She referenced his assassination. Which was in June. While he was campaigning for the nomination.

Apparently referencing a historical fact is taboo when it comes to the Kennedys. She has been literally shredded for bringing the subject up.

While I disagree with Hillary Clinton on almost everything I have to take her side here. I don't see that she did anything wrong.

Incredibly Selfishly Sad

2008-05-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Deborah Jeane Palfrey, dubbed "The D.C.Madam" recently committed suicide rather than go to prison. She hung herself in a shed near her mother's home, and her body was found by her mother. CNN played the 911 tape, airing for all the world to hear the anguish in the mother's voice at the horror she saw.

I realize that people who commit suicide are suffering their own mental and emotional hell, but it is the ultimate act of cold-hearted, unfeeling selfishness to force someone who loves you so much to find you like that.

Supposedly she left behind notes of apology to her mother and her sister.

Like that would make it OK?

HOW TO REALLY LOWER THE PRICE OF GASOLINE

2008-04-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

HOW TO REALLY LOWER THE PRICE OF GASOLINE

Every once in a while, someone starts a campaign to lower gasoline prices by urging everyone not to purchase any gas on a certain date. The chosen date is far enough in the future to allow for a massive e-mail and newscast campaign to spread the news far and wide throughout the land and get everyone geared up for the big day. The idea is that the resulting surplus of unsold gas would force distributors to lower the prices in order to be able to unload the stuff. There are two problems with that idea: 1) almost no one participates and 2) those who do participate buy their gas either the day before or the day after the target date, so the net result is the same amount of gas is sold and the price stays too high.

I have noticed that most drivers completely ignore the speed limit on the freeway. Where I live, the freeway speed limit in the city is 65 mph. It is quite possible to drive that fast in the right hand (“slow”) lane and have people come up on your bumper and give you an annoyed look as they go around you because they think you are driving too slowly! 80 mph in the left hand (“fast” or “passing”) lane is normal, as are people in hurry braiding in and out of lanes because they think their time is more important than yours and you are in their way. You might not want to hear this, but such driving wastes gas! The same gas you complain and moan about every time you fill out at the pump gets wasted out on the freeway by such drivers. Maybe even YOU??? (Nah………..)

According to the website Howstuffworks, the best mileage can be achieved by driving between 40-60 mph. Now I’m here to tell you that driving 40 mph on the freeway will get you one of three things: 1) a ticket for impeding the flow of traffic 2) into - or becoming the cause of - and accident 3) killed. However, driving at 60 mph won’t cause any more dirty looks than driving at 65, as long as you stay in the right hand lane. You won’t cause any accidents, and you won’t get a ticket for impeding traffic. Again, according to Howstuffworks, gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. So you are wasting gas and wasting money by driving faster than 60 mph.

Now I can hear you already: “But, I’m late!” Plan ahead, and leave a couple of minutes earlier. Think about it for a minute. If you drive 65 mph for one whole hour, you will only be 5 miles farther down the road that if you drove 60 mph for that same hour. Those of you who spend a whole hour commuting are usually not driving 65 miles. You are driving more like 10 miles, crawling along at jogging speeds. This won’t work for that sort of commute. However, if your drive is such that you have the option of driving faster than 60 mph, DON’T! Set your cruise control at 60 mph, slow down and save.

The beauty of this system is that you benefit from it even if no one else participates! There is a very real possibility that you could fill up your tank one less time per month. That would save you $50-$100 per month, which is $600-$1200 per year. Spend it on Christmas presents. Splurge a little on your vacation. There are lots of ways you could enjoy the extra money. And if other people participate, because more and more people would be buying one less tank of gas per month, the supply really would go up because the demand really would be down, and that would mean lower prices which would benefit everybody (except maybe OPEC, and they don‘t need the money.) Try it!

To save even more of your money by using less gasoline, click on the banner below.

Amazing Grace

2008-03-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

A young man in our church - I believe he is 21 - fell into a pool as a small boy and nearly died. After it was determined that he would survive, doctors said he would never be able to do much of anything.

God proved them wrong.

At first he needed to be propped up in a chair, fed through a tube, and have drool wiped from his face. Ever so very s-l-o-w-l-y he re-acquired skills he once had, and then moved on.

Today, he walks not gracefully, but he walks, and he goes up and down stairs without falling. He cannot talk verbally, but he communicates with sign language and on a computer. He plays a mean air guitar and even writes poetry! He goes to school and does very well.

This Easter Sunday morning he nearly brought tears to my eyes. As we sang Todd Agnew's Grace Like Rain this young man stood in the front row and repeatedly lifted his hands in praise to the Lord.

He has come so very far from that day long ago.

Hallelujah.

Happy Easter

2008-03-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

He is not here, for He is risen, as He said.

Matthew 28:6a

Have a Blessed Resurrection Sunday!

Toilet To Tap Has Been Taking The Scenic Route All Along!

2008-03-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

Now and then the Toilet To Tap water reclamation concept raises its yucky head again. In case you are not familiar with it, the idea is to recycle treated sewage right back into the drinking water supply. Yup - eeuuuwww, GROSS. Not to mention unsafe and unhealthy.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for water conservation and efficient use of the limited resources God has provided for us. Personally I think channeling laundry water and shower water into a big holding tank to be used for toilet flushing is a great idea, even if I did think of it myself!

But people harbor a lot of organisms and pathogens and there is just NO WAY that the treatment center can guarantee to zap and destroy each and every one, 100%, no errors. Systems break down, "bleep" happens, and the potential for disaster is not acceptable. Period. If you think Toilet To Tap is a good idea, remember that the waste treatment center handles sewage for all of the people living in the entire area ~ young, old, healthy, and with all sorts of diseases.

A recent Associated Press investigation revealed that the drinking water of at least 41 million Americans contains traces of prescription drugs, OTC medications, veterinary medications, even caffeine! We are talking antibiotics, pain killers, steroids, hormones, anti-psychotics, you name it. All that stuff advertised on TV and more! If it can be prescribed or purchased off the shelf (or maybe even on the street) "it's in there." The amounts were tiny, but the exposure is constant and long term.

The phenomenon is world-wide, so if you do not live in the USA, you are not off the hook. It might even be worse where you are. Bottled water is no safety net, either as most bottled water is just filtered and tweaked tap water. Besides, no one cooks with or bathes in bottled water, anyway.

And how did all this stuff get into the water system? People and animals swallow it or absorb it topically but don't completely metabolize it. What is "eliminated" by people is flushed into the sewer system, goes to the sewage treatment plant and after treatment is discharged into a lake, river, reservoir or ocean near you.

Animals skip the sewage treatment plant step. What they "eliminate" just seeps its way into the water "the old fashioned way."

Don't forget that you are instructed to flush any expired medications rather than put them in the trash!

Neither the sewage treatment plants nor the ground filter out the drugs completely, and they eventually make their way into our drinking water.

So it seems we have had Toilet To Tap all along, only now we can document that water has been taking the scenic route from the toilet over the river and through the woods before it gets back to the tap at Grandma's house ~ and yours.

A Parent's Dreams Dashed - God's Gift Wasted

2008-03-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

My daughter ran into a high school friend the other day. The friend had dropped out of college ~ again ~ and was living with her boyfriend, obviously no longer walking with God.

I said to my daughter, "You mean she threw away another scholarship?!" (She has had 2 that a lot of kids would drool over.) My daughter just said, "Mom, I didn't even know what to say."

What this girl doesn't realize is that God lets you screw up big time. And He will let you wallow in the mess you've made. If you come to your senses, confess and repent of the sin of wasting the gift He lavished on you, you will be restored to righteousness, but you will never get back what you threw away.

Life may get good again, but never as good as it would have been if you had walked in the will of God all along the way.

Pray the she does not do serious damage to her health. Pray for her parents, who poured so much love into her, and must be agonizing over the poor choices she is now making.

I thank the Lord once again for the daughter He chose for me. I cannot express in words how grateful I am.

Obama the Biblical Scholar? Say It Ain't So!

2008-03-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

You probably did not see it on the evening news or read it in your local newspaper, but apparently on Sunday, March 2, 2008, Barak Obama claimed that homosexual unions could be justified by The Sermon On The Mount. You can read about it in this excerpt from OneNewsNow.

Huh?

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with The Sermon On The Mount, it is found in the Biblical Book of Matthew, Chapters 5-7, and was preached by none other than the Lord Jesus himself. I have read it, and you are probably familiar with bits and pieces of it even if you did not know the source.

If you don't have a Bible handy, here are 3 links (thanks to Crosswalk.com) to the passage in three translations: NIV, NKJ, and NASB. If you want to read it in other translations, there is a drop down menu from which you can choose.

There is just nothing in there that even hints at the topic. I have no idea what part Barak Obama might be thinking of.

He also made reference to "an obscure passage in Romans." I didn't realize any part of Romans was "obscure" but apparently Barak Obama thinks so. Here, again thanks to Crosswalk.com are links to Romans Chapter 1 in the same three translations: NIV, NKJ, and NASB.

There is no ambiguity there.

The thought of such a skilled orator who is totally unable to read and interpret something as plain as Romans 1, and who reads into something concepts that just ain't there as in Matthew 5-7 actually leading our nation is just frightening.

Slavery Has NOT Ended

2008-02-22T14:50:00.000-08:00

February is Black History Month here in the USA. We have speeches, assemblies, specials on TV, any number of community events, an annually-issued commemorative postage stamp, proclamations, etc., etc,. etc., all to inform or remind us of the valuable contributions African Americans have made to our culture and society.

Just about everybody knows that the first African Americans did not come here by their own choice. They were brought here as slaves and suffered all sorts of unimaginable atrocities. Fewer people stop to realize that this form of slavery was halted because Christian men like William Wilberforce and Abraham Lincoln were able to use their influence and political power to bring such a halt about.

Far fewer people realize that slavery did not end there. I read in the July-August 2007 issue of Mission Frontiers, a publication of the United States Center for World Mission, that there are MORE slaves today - today - than were brought over here from Africa over a four century period. These people are either held against their will for forced labor or forced sex. Or both. It is a world wide tragedy.

Please click on the above link and then see the archives to read more. Visit the web site of an orgainzation called the International Justice Mission where you can find out more information on how to stop slavery, one perpetrator at a time.

TV Commercial Review: Geico

2008-02-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

I guess some people like the Geico commercials, but to me there are among the worst collections of ads I can remember.

The cavemen are rude and surly. Definitely not behavior you would want your children to follow as they mature into hopefully responsible, productive adults. It started when the "agent" apologized in the restaurant and was treated to a sneer, and has deteriorated from there.

Yuck.

The gecko is just stupid.

And hiring desperate entertainers to makes fools of themselves beside perfectly competent customers is an idea I still haven't figured out.

Whatever - I just grab the remote and change channels as fast as I can before I get a stomach ache.

What Is Wrong With This Picture?

2008-02-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

One common reason elderly people give for not wanting to move to a retirement facility is because all the other elderly people do is talk about their surgeries and complain about their aches and pains.

And the difference between that and the commercials on television is ???

I am so tired of commercials for dysfunctional body parts (one in particular) and dysfunctional body systems. If a commercial is required to say any variation of "ask your doctor" or "tell your doctor" then please do it in the privacy of the doctor's office and NOT in my living room. I do NOT care and it is NONE of my business and I do NOT want to know.

It gets even worse.

The major drug companies pay megabucks to the networks for commercial time to shove this info in our faces over and over ad nauseum.

People flock to the doctors and like good little robots, they do as they are told and "ask their doctor" about whatever drug has caught their attention.

The doctor, burdened with samples, gives some to the patient and prescribes more.

Fast forward a few years and - ACK - now we have commercials from law firms trolling for customers who were victims of these same advertised drugs that turned out to have some rather nasty unforeseen side effects.

Am I the only one who sees anything wrong with this picture?

UPDATE: Aparently I am NOT the only one who sees something wring with this picture. Read this.

From Bad To Worse

2008-02-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

More and more governments are making plans - or laws - to ban the good old fashioned incandescent light bulb, and replace it with the fluorescent bulb which does use less energy. Unfortunately, the fluorescent bulb cannot function without mercury, a known hazmat substance.

Most likely the last time you broke an incandescent light bulb, you swept it up, threw it in the trash, and went on with your day. Take a look at what the EPA recommends you do when you break a fluorescent bulb.

Replacing one problem with a worse one is asinine.

Another reason not to ban incandescent bulbs is because tens - maybe hundreds - of thousands of people are adversely affected by fluorescent light. They are subject to brain fog, seizures and other ills when exposed to fluorescent light. Even now these people cannot go shopping for clothes or groceries or anything else, nor can they go into any other public building because they all use fluorescent lighting.

If the incandescent bulb is totally banned, these people will essentially be confined to their homes, and if they run out of bulbs because they didn't stockpile enough, they will sit at home in the dark for the rest of their lives.

You probably are not even aware of these people unless you know one personally. Because they cannot get out into public places, you don't see them. Most of them cannot work because offices have converted to fluorescent lighting.

The Western world must curb its energy use, but the outright banning of the incandescent bulb is NOT the way to do it.

Super Tuesday Blindness

2008-02-05T05:39:00.000-08:00

Today is "Super Tuesday." Twenty four states hold presidential primaries today.

I have seen a couple of commercials showing Hillary Clinton prancing around, obviously pleased with herself, as she champions the cause of "those who cannot speak for themselves."

She seems to have forgotten that in her zeal for "choice" more than 47 MILLION preborn children have literally been thrown in the trash by their mothers.

There is no one more helpless and vulnerable than a baby still in the womb. Rather than champion the cause of these 47 million who could not speak for themselves and will never be able to speak for themselves, Hillary prides herself on making sure their mothers are able to behave irresponsibly and butcher the consequences at taxpayer expense.

(taxpayer = you and me)

Hillary Clinton's rhetoric is enough to gag a maggot.

Diversity among the political candidates

2008-01-26T17:53:00.001-08:00

I recently received an e-mail from David Barton's WallBuilders containing a voters guide. There were 8 questions spanning moral, economic and homeland security issues.

On the Republican side there were 6 candidates, all of whom could probably be described as middle-aged white guys. Not a single one of them matched the full set of answers with any of the others. Each one had his own unique combination of issues he supported or opposed.

On the Democratic side there were 3 candidates; a white guy, a black guy and a white woman. You could make the argument that they were a more diverse group than the 6 white Republican guys.

Or could you?

On the Democratic side there were 3 people, 8 questions, and ONE ANSWER! They ALL agreed with each other on EVERYTHING!!!

This is diversity? Some choice!

Another inconvenient truth.

2008-01-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

Hillary Clinton recently ran an ad campaign about health care for everyone. She neglected to mention that "everyone" does not include the unborn. Mrs. Clinton comes down solidly on the side of would-be mothers who prefer the option of terminating their pregnancies by slaughtering the baby before it ever has a chance to experience life.

Millions of people will never be given the choices Mrs. Clinton brags about.

Talk about an inconvenient truth.

The Power Of Prayer

2007-12-31T06:59:00.000-08:00

Just in case you ever doubted The Power Of Prayer, read this blog.

Reach TJ

Situational Ethics Raises Its Ugly Head Again

2007-12-30T17:57:00.000-08:00

Last night my daughter was watching a program called "Made" where a high school student is made over from how they are into how they want to be.

This particular girl wanted to be pretty and popular and have the dream prom date and all that.

Making her "pretty" wasn't that hard because she had the basic genetics. A boost of self confidence also boosted her popularity.

But the prom date. Sigh.

As her self confidence grew, she talked to more and more other students, including one particular boy, who asked her to the dance. She accepted.

Then along came another boy.

To make a long story shorter, she wanted to go with Boy #2, even though she had already accepted the date with Boy #1.

Her "coach" (supplied by the TV show) encouraged her to take chances. Ask Boy #2. Go ahead and break her date with Boy #1 Her new friends did the same.

So she did. She asked Boy #2 to the prom. And he accepted.

Here is where is gets really ugly. The show gave the impression that because she called Boy #1 and apologized, it was OK to do what she did. No one ever mentioned that she was breaking her word and should never be trusted again. No one ever mentioned that Boy #1 had probably already spend megabucks on clothes and reservations and all that. No one ever mentioned how hurt his feelings must have been. The show never gave his side of it. It was all about her and her dream date with Boy#2, and it didn't matter how much grief she caused to get her own way.

I don't know how she was before the show, but during the show, she was fickle , unreliable and untrustworthy. I sure as heck wouldn't want her as a friend. Nor would I ever want to depend on her for anything, because she has already demonstrated that she would dump a committment for something she thought was better.

Unfortunately too many people don't see anything wrong with this. No wonder people don't trust other people anymore.

Just because she said she was sorry does NOT make it OK.

Shame on her and shame on MTV.

What I like about Wal-Mart

2007-12-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of Wal-Mart bashing both on and off the internet. Most of it seems to center around 2 issues:

Cheap goods made in China
and
Shoddy treatment of employees

As far as the cheap stuff from China goes, it is unfair to single out Wal-Mart. They are far and away not the only merchant who profits by selling cheap stuff from China. How America got to this place is far too complicated for a mere blog post, and it won't be an easy fix.

As far as how the employees are treated, I have seen reports on TV and read articles in the newspaper, but that does not seem to fit what I actually observe. According to reliable sources, newly-hired non-union Wal-Mart employees are far better off than newly-hired union-represented grocery store workers.

My personal observations are that the turn-over in the major grocery stores is just a revolving door. No one stays around very long. My local Wal-Mart has been open for about 2 years and most of the people who work there have been there all along. If Wal-Mart were such a crummy place to work, there certainly are plenty of openings at the union-represented grocery stores!

Anyway, what do I like about Wal-Mart?

I appreciate that my local Wal-Mart is open 24 hours. It really came in handy when my daughter needed Zantac at 2:00AM! The check-out clerk was totally empathetic - and I was far and away not the only customer in the store.
There is a service where you can order an item off the internet and have it shipped to your local store for you to pick up on your next trip. Totally FREE shipping!
When it rains, the greeters will have a wiped-down cart ready for you at the door, and a plastic bag for your umbrella. Both come in handy of you don't want to get your merchandise wet.
Yes, I like the prices!
They carry a lot of gluten-free items, many of them their own house brand.
They play REAL CHRISTMAS CAROLS and let their employees wear "Jesus is the reason for the season" buttons.

I'm sure I'll think of more, and may add them later.

Mount Santa Claus in Kyrgyzstan

2007-12-20T06:41:00.000-08:00

There is an Associated Press story from Central Asia this morning that the tourist authorities in Kyrgyzstan, in spite of being a very Muslim nation, are planning to name a mountain "Mount Santa Claus."

And why would they do that, you might well ask?

TOURISM!

The plan is to hold annual "games" in which Santas from far and wide will compete in appropriate events such as chimney climbing, tree decorating, sled racing, etc. Of course people will love the novelty and come to watch. They will stay in hotels, eat food, buy souvenirs, take side trips and spend money.

This is a brilliant idea. Most people have never even heard of Kyrgyzstan and certainly can't spell it. Now they will have a reason to go there!

TV Commercial Review: Garmin.com

2007-12-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

This year we are again "treated" to a series of totally unintelligible commercials for Garmin.com sung to the tune of "Carol of the Bells."

The only way I know they are for Garmin.com is because that comes up on the screen at the end. I found out from another source that Garmin makes GPS devices. I never would have figured that out from the commercial.

I have absolutely no idea what the singer is saying (except for the Oriental guy's "ding, dong, ding, dong") and cannot imagine why the advertising company - or Garmin.com - would think I would be inspired to have confidence in their product.

World AIDS Day

2007-12-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

Today is World AIDS Day.

As an STD, it carries a stigma with it, even though there are plenty of totally innocent victims such as children born to an infected mother. Perhaps this at least partially explains the following, although it shouldn't.

I am reading a book called "Children of Hope" by Vernon Brewer. On pages 40-41, he writes the following:

Studies show that evangelical Christians are the least likely group to help AIDS victims in Africa. World Vision commissioned a Barna Research Group study to determine the willingness of the Christian community to get involved in fighting AIDS. Less than 3 percent of evangelical Christians said they would help a Christian organization minister to an AIDS orphan. Less than 3 percent!
Can these be the same people who profess to follow God, who according to Psalm 68:5 is "a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows"? Are these the believers who model their lives after Christ?

AIDS orphans are certainly the most innocent of victims in this tragedy. That less than 3 percent of those who claim to profess the love of Christ would help an innocent child is an embarrassment. These believers are NOT modeling their lives after Christ!

What would Jesus do? He would help the widows and the orphans. He commands us to do likewise. If you cannot sponsor an orphan, please make a contribution. These people are among the 3 percent. They are helping.

World Vision
Samaritan's Purse
World Help

"Merry Christmas" vs "Happy Holidays"

2007-11-26T20:46:00.000-08:00

Some will disagree with me, but I don't see anything wrong with "Happy Holidays." In a few short weeks we have Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Years. If those are not holidays, what are they?

What I do have a BIG problem with is blending the whole season into one indistinguishable undefinable meaningless mush.

Each holiday is celebrated for a specific reason - commemorating a specific event.

Thanksgiving has its roots back in 1621 when the surviving Pilgrims celebrated with the Native Americans and gave thanks to God for the bountiful harvest.

Christmas celebrates when God became one of us for a short time. Hard to imagine why He thought we rated that, but I for one am grateful that He did.

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 BC after the Temple had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes.

New Years is self-explanatory.

Some businesses seem to have no problem capitalizing on the gift-giving aspect of Christmas while doing everything the can to eliminate acknowledging the Reason for the Season in the first place.

Pretty sad, when you think about it.

The Natalee Halloway Case

2007-11-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

It seems Natalee Halloway is back in the news again. The three original suspects have been re-arrested and will soon appear in court.

Way back when this all happened, I couldn't help but wonder about the people who were supposed to be on the trip as chaperones. What were they thinking letting her go off with hormone-drenched local young men - strangers - who had been drinking? Isn't keeping teenagers - not always known for making mature decisions - from doing what Natalee did the supposed reason chaparones went on the trip?

No doubt they have been asking themselves that ssame question. They will agonize over their momentary lack of judgement for the rest of their lives. What a terrible price to pay.

2007 San Diego Wild Fires - Part 2

2007-11-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

The fires started almost 3 weeks ago and they are finally contained. Not out, but contained. Area churches and the aforementioned charities are still working to help the fire victims cope. It will be a long process. I personally know of at least one family who has still not been able to cut through all the bureaucratic red tape and rebuild the home that burned in 2003!

Some of the insurance companies are advertising how helpful they will be to the families who lost everything. Maybe I'm jaded after the 2003 fires and Katrina, but that advertising comes across like a Pollyanna smoke screen. It really is not believable at all. There are in business to make money, not to help people. They will only pay what they cannot get away with not paying.

File your claims, because you paid your premiums and you are entitled to be reimbursed for your loss. Then visit one of the churches who have set up assistance programs for fire victims.

2007 San Diego Wild Fires - Part 1

2007-10-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

This past week Southern California has had a repeat of our own version of "Hell Week" as more than half a million people were evacuated out of the way of totally out of control brush fires.

If you couple that with the earthquakes that happen now and then, you can see why at least some wags have termed our share of worldly natural disasters as "shake and bake."

But I digress . . . .

Watching local and national news coverage gives the impression that the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are the only 2 relief agencies that ever show up anywhere. The Red Cross probably gets at least 75% of the coverage, and the Salvation Army gets the rest.

You would think no one else came to help. You would be wrong. Here is a small, partial list of organizations who are working with local churches to bring relief to those who need it:

Samaritan's Purse

San Diego Rescue Mission

Heart to Heart International

Convoy of Hope

These people do everything from providing masks and water and kits containing personal hygiene items, to bringing skip loaders to help clear debris off a burned lot so the owner can begin to rebuild.

They do it all in the name of Christ. (As does the Salvation Army, BTW . . . )

Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave . . . .

2007-10-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you will recognize the incident, so I won't be naming any names here.

It seems a popular talk show host recently adopted a dog from a local shelter. After bringing the dog home, it turns out the dog and her cat could not get along. I suspect that is not uncommon.

Apparently this talk show host forgot that a paper had been signed agreeing that if the adoption did not work out, the dog would be returned to the shelter. In her forgetfulness, silly her, she must have thought that the dog actually belonged to her. Your typical average dog owner doesn't think twice about finding another home for a dog they can no longer keep. They just do it. It happens every day.

But this forgotten signed paper seems to have meant that the dog never really belonged to this talk show host at all. The dog seems to have been on permanent loan as long as the dog shall live - and small dogs live a long time! Any time the adoption did not work out, the dog was to go back to the shelter! Sheesh!

So the talk show host gave away a dog that wasn't hers to give, and the shelter - under false pretenses - took the dog from the new family. How the shelter people found out where the dog was I don't know. Apparently the police were called and, because of this forgotten signed paper, the police allowed the people from the shelter to remove the dog from the home of the new family.

Now everyone is in tears. The talk show host. The children in the new family. Even the shelter owner, who reportedly has been the recipient of, if you can believe this, death threats! To make matters worse, it seems that before anyone could be persuaded to take another look at the absurdity of this whole situation, the shelter put the dog into another home!

Now there can be no winners, only losers.

Life Goes On: Meerkat Manor - The Death of Flower Part 2

2007-10-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

My brother died more than 37 years ago, just before he was to graduate from high school. It was devastating to my family. The day after it happened I was walking through the living room, and the evening news was on the TV. Nobody was watching it, but it was on. The anchor people were chatting as evening news anchor people always have. My first thought was how can they sit there chatting and laughing as if nothing had happened? As if nothing had changed? As if nothing was different?

And then it hit me. For them, nothing had happened. Nothing had changed. Nothing was different.

That's when I fully realized the true meaning of "life goes on."

Since then, I have seen examples of that principle over and over. The most recent example was the 2 episodes of Meerkat Manor that Animal Planet has shown since they aired the episode about the death of Flower.

Flower was a born leader. She made what would be for us difficult decisions that were best for the group, not necessarily best for any one individual. She was tough - she ousted those who threatened the stability of the group. She was also merciful - she did not kill many of her grandchildren that others in her leadership position would have.

Even though there will never be another Flower, there were meerkats long before Flower and there will be meerkats long after Flower. One daughter has risen to the leadership role and shows potential.

Flower's mate has moved on.

Life goes on.

Double Standard By The Secular Media

2007-10-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

I am on the mailing list of the American Family Association, and below is a recent mailing I received.

Big Media Ignores San Francisco Homosexual Event

Recently, homosexuals in San Francisco celebrated an event called the Folsom Street Fair. The organizing group claimed that 400,000 people attended the event.
The purpose of the fair was to celebrate "leather pride", a euphemism for homosexuals who indulge in sadomasochism, often called S&M. These people enjoy bondage, whipping, spanking and other perverted sexual practices.

People who attended the event reported that police backed off while the party-goers practiced oral sex, nudity, masturbation, and orgies in public.
My purpose in writing is to let you know that not a single Big Media outlet reported the event. Can you imagine another event, of any kind, which draws 400,000 people not getting a single minute or a single mention from Big Media? Let Fred Phelps, who complains about homosexuals, show up somewhere and Big Media is all over him.
But let 400,000 people celebrate getting sexual kicks from inflicting physical pain on another person and Big Media can’t be found.
I encourage you to read the two articles so you can better understand the situation. Big Media, heavy promoters of the homosexual lifestyle, decided that any reporting on this event would hurt the homosexual agenda. Test Big Media not only by how they report the news, but also judge them by what they refuse to report.

Just for the heck of it I did a Google search for "Folsom Street Fair" + "San Francisco" and came up with 804,000 responses. Not any of them as far in as I dug were main stream media. In fact, the only coverage I saw was from the event's own web site and a bunch of blogs. No ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox. None of them.

Judging from the snippets that show up in a Google-search, AFA's assessment of the event was accurate. My sense of decency kept me from clicking on any of the links for more details.

I can't help but wonder: if the main stream media can take one old man from Idaho picking up a piece of toilet paper from the floor in an airport men's room and turn in into a weeks-long media circus feeding frenzy, how come they can't find anything worthy of even a passing mention is such a grandiose display of decadent debauchery?

Me thinks it might have something to do with who they want to discredit; the conservative Republican or the homosexual agenda.

I signed up for PPP!

2007-10-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

I am always looking for more legitimate ways to make money on the internet. I found this on the Self Starters Weekly Tips forum in the blog category.

I had heard of getting paid to blog, but I confess I had always thought it was for trendy younger people. It looks like it is for anyone who has an opinion, can compose a grammatically correct sentence, and spell the words right! That’s me!

I really hope my blog is approved. I have been a tad negligent and not posted regularly, but have been trying to do better. Hopefully they will cut me some slack!

I have seen posts where people have made hundreds of dollars a month just expressing an opinion about something. I can do that! Something tells me that this is a much better deal than those “Survey Sites” that claim you can make hundreds of dollars but you really don’t. You either don’t qualify or you get a sweepstakes entry. With that sweepstakes entry and $1.40, you can buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

So if I get approved, what will I do with the money? Sorry to be boring, but I am semi-retired and have a daughter in college. I am going to pay off some bills!

Meerkat Manor - The Death of Flower

2007-10-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

OK. I confess. I really like watching Meerkat Manor. I don't think I have missed a single episode. So I was saddened like everyone else was when Flower died.

Out of curiosity and just for the heck of it, I visited a message board on the Animal Planet website to see what had been posted. Boy, was I in for a shock!

People were in tears, people were angry, people were all over the map emotionally. I think some of them actually thought the researchers should have endangered their own lives to keep the cobra (COBRA for crying out loud!) from the meerkat burrow. Or dug down deeper than even the cameras had gone and messed up everything family-dynamics just to see "if" - even though there is no antivenom.

Researchers are there to record what happens in real life. The goal is to make the subjects (in this case meerkats) so comfortable around the researchers that the subjects behave as if the researchers were not there. Then the researchers watch and record and learn. They are not supposed to interfere, no matter what.

Apparently they did interfere in the past and "removed" a meerkat with TB to keep it from spreading all over the manor and even possibly to the researchers themselves. And yes that really messed up the dynamics of that meerkat family - as if everyone catching and dying from TB would not have. Some forum posters thought that once the "do not interfere" rule was broken, the researchers should have interfered on behalf of Flower.

Personally, I think it was a judgement call. Once Flower was bitten, there was no hope for her. There was no way the researchers should have endangered themselves by getting anywhere near the cobra. People sitting in their homes in the USA should not be telling scientific researchers half a world away what to do and how to do it.

Thank them for doing their jobs and for letting us learn about meerkats and life as it really is for them in their harsh environment.

Actually I kind of wonder about the safety of the researchers anyway. I see lion and hyena prey - that means there must be lions and hyenas.

Lions and hyenas and snakes! Oh my.

The Groom Wore An Earring - The Bride A Tatoo . . . .

2007-09-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

I recently went to a very traditional wedding.

It was in a church, officiated by a pastor with an advanced degree. There was soft piano music as a prelude. The processional was piano and flute. The flower girl was adorable - (complete with pacifier!) There were lots of tuxedos. The bride wore a beautiful white lace gown.

Etc.

But the times they are a-changin' - go back and read the title of this post.

The Little Boy And The Rattlesnake

2006-02-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

RE: The recent decision to turn the operation of several major U.S ports to the Arab nation if Dubai, I cannot help but think of this story:

***************************************

A little boy was walking down a path and he came across a rattlesnake. The rattlesnake was getting old. He asked, 'Please little boy, can you take me to the top of the mountain? I hope to see the sunset one last time before I die.' The little boy answered 'No Mr. Rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you'll bite me and I'll die.' The rattlesnake said, 'No, I promise. I won't bite you. Just please take me up to the mountain.'

The little boy thought about it and finally picked up that rattlesnake and took it close to his chest and carried it up to the top of the mountain. They sat there and watched the sunset together. It was so beautiful. Then after sunset the rattlesnake turned to the little boy and asked, 'Can I go home now? I am tired, and I am old.'

The little boy picked up the rattlesnake and again took it to his chest and held it tightly and safely. He came all the way down the mountain holding the snake carefully and took it to his home to give him some food and a place to sleep.

The next day the rattlesnake turned to the boy and asked, 'Please little boy, will you take me back to my home now? It is time for me to leave this world, and I would like to be at my home now.' The little boy felt he had been safe all this time and the snake had kept his word, so he would take it home as asked. He carefully picked up the snake, took it close to his chest, and carried him back to the woods, to his home to die.

Just before he laid the rattlesnake down, the rattlesnake turned and bit him in the chest. The little boy cried out and threw the snake upon the ground. 'Mr. Snake, why did you do that? Now I will surely die!' The rattlesnake looked up at him and grinned, 'You knew what I was when you picked me up.'

The Fox guarding The Henhouse

2006-02-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

I am for the most part a supporter of the policies of President Bush. However, this recent decision to allow the UAE to take over six American seaports appears to be a case of putting the fox in charge of guarding the henhouse. The Bush administration may have their reasons for trusting in whatever deal they have made, but I see it as a disaster waiting to happen. It may very well be the worst decision of his term of office. Pray for wisdom.

Christmas

2006-02-20T12:05:00.000-08:00

This is a bit late, but here goes anyway. This year Christmas fell on a Sunday. I thought it was really cool that we would get the chance to celebrate the Lord's birth on the Sabbath. I was beyond shocked to learn that many churches had decided to close their doors so people could spend time with their families. Like they can't all go to church together? And whatever happened to the 4th Commandment????? (For anyone wandering by who is not familiar with the 10 Commandments (which are, by the way, not suggestions) the 4th Commandment is "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8) "Holy" means separated unto God. I wonder how those who made such a decision are going to try to explain to God on Judgement Day why they thought that decision was OK. Personally, I am grateful to attend a church who never even considered doing such a thing. And I agree wholeheartedly with a local pastor who declared that he would never close his doors on a Sunday.

Thoughts On The Tragedy of Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

We've all heard it said that hindsight is 20-20. There was some 20-20 foresight in the last century regarding potential catastrophe in the New Orleans area, but it appears to have been ignored.

Building a city below sea level right next to the sea may not have been wise.

Unless you live in Orting, Washington, the evacuation plan your city has is inadequate. New Orleans is (was) not that big, and yet could not evacuate even with several days notice. Orting has experienced a growth spurt; even their well and often rehearsed plan to escape a lahar off of Mt. Rainier may no longer work.

Building retaining walls to withstand a category 3 storm in an area perfectly capable of taking a direct hit from a category 5 storm may have been penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Serious thought needs to be given to just how much should be re-built where it was and how much should be re-located.

Do you have a disaster preparedness kit at home? Stocked with water, tp, medication, first aid kit, blankets if you live where it gets cold, flashlights, battery-operated radio and batteries, personal hygiene items, granola bars or whatever won't spoil and does not need to be cooked, change of clothes, etc.? H-m-m-m-m-m-m????? Those people along the gulf coast probably never thought they would need one, either.

Concentrating necessities such as oil refining in a small area may be convenient but also makes it all to easy to wipe out the whole thing at once. Maybe it should be spread out where it isn't such a concentrated target. (Same thing can be said for rebuilding what came down on 9-11, but that's another topic.)

Many Christian charities and churches have been helping the displaced and the stranded since the day after the storm. You will not see their work reported in the "main-stream" secular media, but the number of people helped is great and will continue to rise.

This level of natural disaster occurs around the world every year several times in multiple places. We don't get the full story here, but nevertheless we do not ever read of the victims behaving as badly as the people in New Orleans. Even the people in Mississippi, who got hit as bad or worse, are appalled by what they have seen and heard about the people in New Orleans. There is no justification for the way some of those people have behaved.

Personal Musings on a Personally Known and Different Kind of Disgruntled Postal Employee

2005-08-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

The headline read: “Postal manager sentenced on fraud charges.” As I retired from the Postal Service a little over a year ago, I know or know of most of the local supervisors and managers. While many if not most are fine people, there are a few I don’t trust as far as I could throw them and some have ethical standards that are not exactly pristine. Therefore I kind of wondered whose name I might find as I clicked on the link.

I was not prepared for the name I saw. I actually gasped out loud as my hand flew to cover my mouth. I felt like I could throw up. Here was someone who, 25 years ago, trained me in postal accounting. I trusted his guidance all these years. His ethics were not questionable. There were times that I actually spent extra time to make sure that what I did was totally accurate and “by the book” because I did not want to have to explain to him why I didn’t think it was important to do so when we both knew that I knew better.

So how could this have happened? Let’s look at “Bob” the accused and admittedly guilty, and “Mike” the Postal Service spokesman. As I left before any of this became known, I am drawing my information about this incident strictly from what I read in the newspaper, which we all know can be notoriously incomplete and inaccurate. Nevertheless that’s what I have. Other comments are drawn from personal experience and knowledge. Details will be left out to protect whatever integrity is left in postal accounting. Also, I believe the accused and admittedly guilty party has suffered enough humiliation and I do not wish to make it any worse.

A few years ago, the Postal Service decided to centralize and consolidate its accounting procedures. Local accounting technicians had to find other positions or retire, which many opted to do. There was a very noticeable loss in local control. Mistakes that were once routinely caught and corrected went by unnoticed, lost forever. The work submitted by some people could best be described as “sloppy” or “slip-shod.“ After the prescribed paperwork retention period, documents were shredded. According to the newspaper account, “Bob” felt as if all the internal controls he had initiated to prevent fraud had been wiped out. Speaking from experience, he was not the only one who felt that way. The sentiment was virtually universal. One technician told me before she retired that she had believed for many years that what she had been doing mattered. That it was important. That it benefited the Postal Service. It didn’t feel very good to be told that she was no longer needed, and the meticulous work she had done so well for so long was no longer needed, either. Others echoed much the same sentiment.

According to the newspaper account, “Bob” stated that “ tolerance for financial mistakes, mismanagement by fellow managers and willful intent to falsify report data was now being accepted by top management and I could not condone this.” You might be asking why this behavior was accepted by top management. Pressure from above to look good on paper probably was the biggest reason. I really don’t know.

Again according to the newspaper account, “Bob” decided to test the system when he was given a money order that was not accounted for. Technically, he should have corrected the situation right then and there, but he did not. He decided to test the system by holding on to the money order to see how long it would take before anyone discovered the error. No one ever did. Not locally, and not in the Postal Data Center in St. Louis. Once that particular time frame has been reconciled, the chances of the error being discovered are almost “0.” Given the mind-set and the aura of resentment of the time, it is understandable (to me, anyway) that “Bob” chose this course of action up to this point.

However here is where “Bob” went down the wrong path. What he should have done was march down the hall (yes, literally down the hall) to the Office of the Postal Inspectors, close the door, and said, “There is a great big gaping hole in fraud prevention and accountability. Here is what happened. If it happened once, it will happen again and again. Work with me to fix it.”

What he actually did was embezzle over $430,000 using money orders. I won’t go into details. “Bob” will spend the next 2½ years in prison for his poor decision.

According to the newspaper account, postal officials say they have not relaxed accounting procedures. Are you kidding me? Once upon a time, what “Bob” did would not have been possible. When local involvement went away, it was all too easy for something like this to fall between the cracks. Those who have the power to do so would be wise to plug up this and any other holes ASAP.

According to the newspaper account, no one suspected anything until “Bob” got so bold that he took a sheet of stamps from the Postal Store without paying for it and someone reported that. Only then did an investigation begin. If “Bob” had not taken the stamps, his misdeeds may never have been uncovered.

What did “Bob” do with the money? I have no idea, but he apparently did not squander it. He paid it all back after pleading guilty. There is no way a postal employee had almost half a million dollars just laying around ready to pay back, so he must have stashed it away somewhere.

“Bob” said he figured nobody would miss it because there was nobody local left. He was partially right. Nobody realized it was missing. Even the judge asked “How can the Postal Service not miss $400,000?” I would like to interject here that just because nobody realized it was missing does not mean it wasn’t missed. We could have used it. Big time. I had employees under me who were not able to get database printouts because there was no money to fix the necessary machine, and no money to buy paper to print it on, anyway. Other printed information came on the back of already used and recycled paper. Would the $430,000 have been used for that? Who knows? I would like to think so!

“How can the Postal Service not miss $400,000?” According to the newspaper account, a postal spokesman, probably “Mike” stated that on paper the money did not appear to be missing. On paper, the money was accounted for. According to the newspaper account, postal officials say that layoffs have not relaxed accounting procedures. Changes in how the Postal service had nothing to do with what “Bob” did. Does anybody besides me see anything inconsistent here? I do not believe what “Bob” did would have been possible before the changes. According to “Mike” the internal controls were defeated by a trusted employee who know how the system works. My personal opinion is that the internal controls are no longer strong enough to prevent such behavior.

I'm having trouble accepting that "Bob" was hypocritical enough to actually councel me regarding procedures to follow when other employees were potentially being investigated for "being bad" along the same lines that "Bob" was, only a couple of orders of magnitude less!!! It is just so hard to believe. The Postal Inspectors always said that they never ruled anyone out when beginning an investigation because "you just never know." The premise was that anyone had the potential. I always know they were right, but I sort of blew it off. It has a much deeper meaning now.

I once heard someone convicted of an entirely different type of crime say that once you give yourself permission to do something that was once forbidden, you give your self permission to do it again and again. Once you cross over that once forbidden line, it is easier to cross it again and again. What made “Bob” give himself permission to do what he did? I probably will never know. But it has cost him his job and his self-respect and 2½ years of his life with his family. He has paid and will continue to pay a terrible price for his incredibly poor decision.

I will pray for “Bob.” May the Lord set him up with a prison chaplain, to explain the gospel of Christ and forgiveness and salvation.

Terri Schiavo Revisited

2005-07-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

I have kept a link to Terri'sFight.org on my website because I am so appalled by what happened to her. In fact I have kept it, in it’s original salmon color, front and center, right near the top. I visit it now and then, to keep up with what the dedicated volunteers are doing on behalf of Terri and her family.

I couldn’t help but wonder a couple of things while Terri was dying.

Michael stated that she had said she would not want to live “that way.” Supposedly she said it while they were watching something on TV. I’m thinking maybe she did say such a thing. Somewhere in our youth many of us, maybe even me, may have said such a thing. It’s probably a safe bet the we would all have a real hard time finding anyone who would choose to live “that way.” But that does NOT mean that we would want to be denied treatment if “something happened” to us! And it does NOT mean that we would prefer to be starved and dehydrated to death rather than live to the best of our newly defined abilities in the loving care of friends and family! And it certainly does NOT mean that she gave her husband permission to get a court order to murder in full view of the public!

It has been said that there is no such thing as the “perfect crime.” The jury is still out, of course, but Michael Schiavo may have come close. He was able to get a court order to kill his mentally disabled but otherwise healthy wife in full view of the world, and nobody, from the local police to a group of protesters to hospital staff to her birth family to the President of the United States was able to stop him.

Reality Check: A Harsh Look At Common Internet Hype

2005-07-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

In the world of business, there are a few things to watch out for before you get involved as an owner, affiliate, or investor. These are important everywhere, but nowhere more important than for the so-called “internet newbie” who is looking for additional income and/or a better lifestyle. Hype and unrealistic promises that sound oh, so good are everywhere. Let’s pick a few of them apart. Learning to step back and think logically can be a financial lifesaver. It might even help to look at each offer and ask if you would want your kid or your grandparent or your best friend to get involved. If the answer is “NO!” then you shouldn’t, either!
The following is a list of hype and unrealistic promises that should make you think about just what is being offered. Always remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

1) Join for FREE! This is, I believe, a legal mandate. They can’t charge somebody to join. And if they could, they shouldn’t! This is about as meaningful as advertising that a certain brand of corn oil has no cholesterol, as if that made it better than other brands of corn oil. Corn oil is a vegetable product and cholesterol is an animal product. No matter how appealing the claim sounds, NO corn oil has cholesterol, ALL corn oil is cholesterol-free, so the claim is meaningless. “Join for FREE” is just as meaningless.

2) Make $12,000 your first week, or make $30,000 a month every month or even . . . Unlimited Monthly Income! Pick whatever dollar value and time frame you want here. It may be theoretically possible, it may be mathematically possible, (that’s how the ads avoid getting into trouble with truth-in-advertising laws) but not at all realistic. It is also theoretically possible for every child born in the United States to grow up to be President, but the likely-hood of that happening for any given kid is miniscule. The same line of logic applies to these wild promises of vast income.

3) No Sales! No calls! No inventory! No work! Spend nothing, do nothing, sit back, and watch the massive residual profits roll in! Earn Money Just Sitting At Your Computer!! GET REAL! If nobody does anything or spends anything or sells anything, where the heck is the money supposed to come from? Remember, everybody joined for free, just like you did! And no matter what they tell you and want you to think, there are no crazed drooling people running around “out there” with fists full of cash begging you to let them spend that wad of money on your latest “business venture.” It just ain’t gonna happen. Do you know anybody like that? Neither does anyone else.

4) Make $5 stuffing envelopes. Businesses have machinery that folds the paper and stuffs it into the envelope faster than your eyes can follow. Why the heck would they pay people $5 to stuff each envelope when they are mailing out hundreds or thousands of them every day? They are in business to make a profit, not keep you off of welfare, and all of this mindless, mechanical stuff is done by machinery. This is an out-right scam. You pay somebody $5 to find out that in order to get your money back you have to con some other sucker into paying you $5 so you can tell them to con yet another sucker out of $5, and so it goes. I see these on Google AdWords and AdSense often. Google should have enough integrity to refuse such ads.

5) Double your money every few hours or days. Money doublers are Ponzi schemes and illegal. The first people in might make their money back, but it comes only out of the pockets of the later arrivals. It is not mathematically possible for the last people to even break even. These scams always collapse on themselves, leaving most of the participants as losers. People who start them up are thieves, taking advantage of the financially desperate, knowing full well they will fleece the pockets of people who have little or nothing and skipping off to another internet address to do it all over again. People of integrity should avoid them because they always leave a trail of victims. If the perpetrators are tracked down and caught, they go to jail.

6) Promising to share “secrets” with you. What kind of secrets? How the “big dogs” or “gurus” make a gazillion bucks, and you can, too. Secret Strategies, Insider Secrets, Secrets of how ordinary people (like you) made megabucks and now live the lifestyle you want (usually accompanied by photos of models - singles, couples, families - at the beach, in front of a mansion, with an expensive car, etc.) Many of these “offers” are hyped in extremely l-o-n-g sales pages, which include a lot of verbiage designed to make you believe you are really losing out if you don’t take advantage of whatever they have to offer. At the bottom of the page, after telling you how much more it is worth than this, you will see a price of $97 or $x97 or even $xx97! Sometimes you have to click on a link before you find out how much of your money they want. Either they are embarrassed to admit they are charging so much, or it’s a case of “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” Neither is good. The sad truth is; there are no “secrets.”

7) Beware of “lead capture pages” that entice you with benefits but don’t tell you a darn thing about who they are or what they do. You know; remind you of how much you hate your boss, hate your commute, hate missing out on your kids’ activities, hate being unfulfilled, hate being broke etc. They offer you the moon in exchange for your name and email address. Gotcha! If they are not willing to tell you anything about them, don’t tell them anything about you. Find something else. Many affiliates will post such pages on traffic exchanges, because they only have 15-20 seconds to get your attention, but if you do a Google search for the business you can often find out more about the company either from their own website or from posts on various forums. Find out all you can before you sign up for anything.

8) Guarantees. Some places will guarantee to get you traffic to your website. Are all those visitors surfing for credits just to get traffic to their site? Some will guarantee to get you sign-ups. Do they speak your language? Can they send money from their country to yours? If not, how will you communicate with them and how will they pay you? Some guarantee to get your website listed at the top of the search engines. Think about it. Only one site is at the top of the search engine listing for any given term. These people are promising something they cannot possibly deliver to thousands of potential customers. How are they going to get thousands of new customers into the same #1 spot????? Don’t fall for it. Some almost guarantee a certain level of income. None of them have the power to guarantee any of that or almost anything else. Some will guarantee to do something for you such as create a website, and the implication is that the money will start flowing in. They will create the website, but they cannot cause money to flow into your bank account. You will have to learn how to market whatever is on the site before you start making any money.

This is a long article but a short list. Please spend your money wisely. Don’t be in a hurry. Genuine business opportunities will still be there in 6 months and six years. Some of the garbage will be gone (with your money) in six weeks or even six days.

Sandi Moses has been involved in internet marketing since November, 2003. Visit her site at 123 I Work From Home 4 Me

Log-in problems

2005-07-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

I just spent a couple of hours trying to get logged in. What a major hassle.

The Guilty Set Free To Drive Drunk Yet Again

2005-06-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

I recently saw a flyer put out by a law firm which apparently specializes in d.u.i. cases. The flyer listed quite a number of cases they had recently represented, and seemed to be bragging about the results.

I was appalled. None of these people were presented as having been falsely accused of driving under the influence. All of them had their blood alcohol percentages listed, and they were 2 or 3 or even 4 times over the legal limit. One was driving down the wrong side of the road. Some were driving with children in the car, and one child was not in a car seat. For almost all of them this arrest was not their first offense.

Every single one of these people is back out on the roads with you and me. Not a single one of them lost their license. (I have heard that doesn’t stop them from driving anyway, but that’s another issue.) Not a single one of them went to jail. Only two were supposed to take any kind of rehab or counseling.

As these people have already demonstrated that they will continue to drive drunk, even after having been arrested, that this law firm got them off the hook again means they will drive drunk again. They haven’t suffered any negative consequences, so why not? They obviously don’t care about you or me or their passengers or anybody else.

The law firm and others like it are a significant part of the problem. Because of how our legal system has evolved, they are not doing their job of defending their clients if they don’t move heaven and earth to get the clients off the hook. It does not seem to matter that the client is guilty as charged, or that the client will go right back out and endanger the community again.

Do you see anything wrong with this picture? I sure as heck do. Justice is not served when the guilty are turned loose without consequence to endanger the community over and over.

Three Faces of SPAM (and then some . . . )

2005-05-31T09:18:00.000-07:00

Like everybody who will ever read this, I get spam in my e-mail. Mine seems to fall into one of three categories. The first is the Nigerian scam about helping some poor, pathetic soul collect megabucks, supposedly from someone who has died and left a fortune. I’m not sure what is worse: that there are people desperate enough to believe those messages, or that there are people despicable enough to prey on the desperate. The net result is the despicable con the desperate into sending money which the desperate will never see again.

The second type comes from people who sound innocent enough. They have a product or a business or a service or something else that is perfectly legitimate. They surf the web, find one of my sites, find the “contact us” link, and send me information about whatever they have to offer. I suppose, in their minds, it isn’t any different than walking down the street or going through the telephone book writing down addresses, and then sending out bulk business mail with the same offer. They could get the same information for more money and less time by buying a mailing list. THAT is perfectly legitimate. Harvesting e-mail addresses off of web sites is NOT. Spam is officially defined as “unsolicited commercial electronic mail.” The key word is “unsolicited.” If I didn’t ask for it and you send it anyway, it is unsolicited. When people harvest e-mail addresses off of web sites and then send commercial messages, that, by definition, is spam. I report them to my ISP and you should, too.

The third type isn’t so innocent. These people, like the second type of people already discussed, surf the web, find sites, and harvest the e-mail addresses from the “contact us” link. Instead of starting out by sending you what they have to offer, they get devious, sneaky, and just plain under-handed. They send you a message asking for more information about whatever you have to offer on your site. When you graciously respond, it turns out they couldn’t care less about what you have to offer. The ONLY thing they want is to confirm your e-mail address so they can start to dump offers on you, hoping you will buy something from them. Nasty trick.

Let me give you an example from one that once came across my screen. It seemed to be from a nice lady with homey graphics and nice colors in her e-mail. If my memory serves me well, she even stated that she was disabled and looking for ways to earn a living off the internet. In my mind, that’s a hard combination to resist. A great deal of effort was put into this to make it sound as if she had built an internet community around her site and services. Maybe she did; I don’t know. Anyway, I was naïve enough to respond with the information she had requested. Soon solicitations for this, that, and whatever business offer, etc. began arriving in my inbox. I finally put two and two together and realized that they were from her, but I was still reluctant to report it as spam, so her messages went quietly into the trash. I mean, she seemed SO NICE! Then I got this huffy message, apparently broadcast to her entire mailing list, about how if people didn’t want to receive her messages, why didn’t they just unsubscribe, etc. It seems quite a few people had reported her as a spammer and she was getting into trouble. It was time for me to respond, so I told her, bluntly, that what she was sending out WAS spam. It was unsolicited. I never signed up to be on her mailing list, and no doubt the people who had reported her never signed up to be on her mailing list, either. I only responded to a request FROM HER for information and that in no way implied that I wanted to be on her mailing list or that I wanted to receive her offers. She must have gotten the message because I have received nothing else from her.

Here’s another twist. I recently received an offer from a marketing company to join them in sending out - get this - Ten Million Spam-Free Messages! Are you kidding me? Remember that the definition of spam is “unsolicited commercial e-mail.” The key word is “unsolicited.” There is no possible way that ten million people agreed to receive messages from me (HA!) or them or even whoever they bought the list from! They had the most incredible response:

“That's why we've designed the mailing to protect us from spam complaints. The mailing will go out through the server of the company that is providing the leads. People that respond will be sent to a lead capture page on server other than ours, the auto-responder is on a separate server and ONLY THEN is the (this marketing company) URL disclosed to the respondent.”

That tells me they think it’s OK to spam if you place enough layers between you and whoever actually sends it out so there is little likelihood of you being identified as the originator, and those who send it out know how to keep themselves from being identified. As if it doesn’t matter that you offend, it only matters that you don’t get caught offending. As if it’s OK as long as you don’t get caught. God help us all. It is WRONG to send out spam. Period.

So how about you? Are guilty of sending out e-mail to people who did not specifically request to receive offers from you or about a business that you represent? If you go around looking for e-mail addresses to harvest for your own purposes, you are guilty of sending SPAM. Instead, post your offers on your web site and market them legitimately. It’s the right thing to do. When people fill out your form, they are giving you permission to send them information. Keep a record so you can defend yourself if they ever forget what they did.

If you are on the receiving end of unsolicited offers, go ahead and report them as spam. Don’t feel guilty; you are not the guilty party. Just make sure you really didn’t sign up for a newsletter or something and then forgot! It is sooooooooooooooo not cool to report spam that really isn’t!

Sandi Moses has been involved in internet marketing since November, 2003. Visit her website at http://www.123iwork4me.com

Memorial Day 2005

2005-05-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

As I was researching some of my Civil War ancestors, I stumbled across information that I should have been taught in history class, but wasn’t. The Memorial Day Holiday in America has its roots all the way back in the post-Civil War days. It seems that the same idea sprung up in various places; honoring those who died for “the cause.” Of course what “the cause” was depended on which side you were on, but in any case, fallen soldiers were remembered.

I found several web sites with lots of useful information. One of the best is U.S. Memorial Day , not only because of the information given but also because of the many links to other sites it provides.

For instance, the link to The Origins of Memorial Day leads you to a page where you find (in part) the following:

“Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans - the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) - established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared it should be May 30. It is believed the date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

The ceremonies centered on the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant and other Washington officials presided. After speeches, children from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.

Local springtime tributes to the Civil War dead already had been held in various places. One of the first occurred in Columbus, Miss., April 25, 1866, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves, as well.”

I find the 3rd paragraph particularly touching as it shows the beginning of healing and forgiveness on the part of these Southern women, who no doubt had lost sons and husbands who were buried where ever they fell.

My direct ancestors were not killed in battle. They went home and resumed their lives as best they could with their battered bodies, and died 30-40 years later from their wounds and injuries. One from New York had a brother who died in battle in Texas. I have not yet located his grave. Another had a son who starved to death in the Andersonville Prison Camp. I have a photo of that grave.

They gave much for their country. If you are near the grave of a friend or relative who died in battle or served their country in the military, go put flowers on the grave. Teach your children and grandchildren about sacrifice and appreciation and respect. And go celebrate the freedom others died so you could have.

A Very Important Letter From Dr. Dobson

2005-04-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

Please visit http://www.family.org/ and listen to the broadcasts of April 4 and April 5.

Finally some correct info in the secular main stream media

2005-04-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050403/news_mz1e3hentoff.html

Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends

2005-04-02T18:05:00.000-08:00

Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends
By Phil Ochs

Look outside the window, there's a woman being grabbed
They've dragged her to the bushes and now she's being stabbed
Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain
But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.

The above lines were written by Phil Ochs as a commentary about the murder of Kitty Genovese which happened on March 13-14, 1964, in New York City. She was attacked 3 times in an alley and finally died from her stab wounds. What made this murder stand out from all the others is that 38 people heard her screams for help and witnessed the attacks yet no one came to her aid. No one even called the cops. I remember thinking when this happened that America had sunk to a new low. After all these years, I still remember the song and I still remember her name.

It took awhile, but America has sunk to a new and even more abysmal low. On March 31,2005, Terri Schiavo died of starvation and dehydration, ordered by her husband and sanctioned by the courts of this land. She was murdered in plain site and anyone who attempted to stop the atrocity was promptly arrested. Asinine lies were regularly fed to a mind-bogglingly stupid public ("she looks so peaceful . . ") It has been enough to gag a maggot.