leaping faith

Because in Texas we hate Gays!

2005-04-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

We don't care for child welfare, child healthcare, or child education but we don't want them around "those gays". CHIPs can take a huge hit, we can be in danger of closing schools, and the CPS and Childwelfare system is in a major crisis, but according to Talton and other Texas Representatives the biggest problem with our children is that they are being in raised in Gay foster homes. So, we'll just pull 'em all out of "those gay" homes and put them in orphanages, because according to Talton orphanges are awesome. Because in Texas we hate gays more than we love children.

On the Lege: Foster care ban blogged

That's my Senator

2005-04-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

Yeah not only did the state Senator from my district make a real classy statement, "I've already yielded more than a high school cheerleader at a drive in," when asked to yield to another question. But what really seems to me as the good part is that he blamed the statement on Tourette's Syndrome, which he doesn't have. Their is the new political strategy, if you screw up just blame it on a medical condition you don't really have. Yeah that'll do it.

Flub flummoxes Senate into rare silence

An election that isn't political ...

2005-04-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

I wish everyone would lay off the talk of the potential new Pope. This isn't a political election where campaigns and stump speeches occur. This is an election where thier is really only one elector, the Holy Spirit working through 118 possible new Popes. No Cardinal is anymore or less "palpible" except in the eyes of the Lord. This isn't a political campaign, even though we in America like to turn everything in to polls, and focus groups, and predictions. This is an election by one elector, the Holy Spirit, casting 118 ballots through the Cardinals.

The Minuteman Project ... not the "good type" of revolution

2005-04-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Does this sound like a good idea to anyone? Both President Fox (Mexico) and Presient Bush have both condemed the project and rightly so. This is a group of volunteers that will travel the border and "inform" Border Patrol of illegal acts. Yes, some the of the volunteers will be carrying concealed weapons and some of the volunteers are from known white supremacist groups and thier in a predominantly minority area. This all sounds like a great plan huh.

The Minuteman Project

Unititled

2005-03-25T22:07:00.000-08:00

Quote of the Week

"The case is full of great ironies. A large part of Terri's hospice costs are paid by Medicaid, a program that the administration and conservatives in Congress would sharply reduce. Some of her other expenses have been covered by the million-dollar proceeds of a malpractice suit - the kind of suit that President Bush has fought to scale back." - NPR commentator Daniel Schorr (thanks to Witherspoon and Stuart Robertson)

Honestly, right now I have no words to describe how i feel. I want to send a heart felt prayer to the Schindlers, Terri, Michael, and all those involved at the Hospice, in the courts and government, and around the nation.

Witherspoon Society

Gorillas, Iraq, Mao Ze Dong, and Victory

2005-03-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

Prior to the Vietnam war the Viet Minh were traing under Mao Ze Dong in China learning how to tweak Communist uprising model, to better suit it for Asia. Mao taught Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh that there are three stages to a sucesful uprising (among other things).

In guerilla warfare there are three stages:
1. small groups with little traing and little to no proper weapons no real military hierarchy and a very "hit and run - live to fight another day" strategy used on small, vulnerable targets
2. larger groups (think 7-12 people) makeing more planned attacks but still on small, vulnerable targets (never getting to big for thier britches) ranks are now growing from the public support that comes from the uprising and traingin also follows still not an army though
3. this stage looks the most like an army and works like a small army the ranks have grown with every success in the previous stages and with it come supplies, weapons, traing, and a military hierarhy that can control and make educated decisions this stage could meet an established army face to to face but always keeps that original outlook that small culnerable targets are wothwhile too

The fact of the matter is, this outline has no timeline and can be used over months, years and decades. Starting over at level one is always a possibility and the resistance will o one at some level as long as someone will carry the flag. Actual defeat is very hard to accomplish. Mao Ze Dong won using this technique and so did Ho Chi Minh.

So where is Iraq in all this historical mess. Well think Fallujah or any of the other Bathe Party strong holds wehere insurgents are, daily, attacking American and coaltion forces. We, as Americans are not ready to "lose" this war but there is no clear cut, acceptable victory fo us either. Iraq is a lose, lose situation that unless we are willing to spend 50-100 years there in occupation , continually puting down uprisings. Not only that, but our presence actually provokes moer uprising as has been reported in the media. We are making a catasrophic mistake by staying there (and yes we are staying there in our "enduring" bases.) There is no victory for us ...

... only more death and bloodshed on both sides.

The Long and Misplaced Arm of Congress

2005-03-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

The Schiavo "right to life" case is an emotionally charged issue that hits at our basic instincts and values. But there are a couple of key issues to consider.

Mrs Schiavo at one time had chosen to not live in this vegetative state. This has been heard in about 15 court cases and by numerous judges and most (if not all, I'm not totally sure) have ruled in favor of Schiavo's husband to romve her feeding tube. As is now the tube has been removed. I believe that Terri's wishes should be followed through quickly and graciuosly.

Am I th only one who thought that Republicans were for limited government? Wouldn't the actions of the Republican majority in Congress go against the "limited government" belief? And, once again, I could be wrong but I thought the Republican Party was also for individual rights and choices. Wouldn't that mean that the Republicans in Congress would stay out of the way and allow Schiavo and/or her guardian (husband) to make the appropriate decision.

This is a dangerous precedent for the government to go through. At any time the government may intervene when they don't agree (no matter the legality) or when families are in contention about a plan of action. This is a very thin rope to walk and I don't look forward to what else Congress may do to intervene in families and individuals.

Finally, Congress is not the place to decide personal life and death issues. This is for individuals and families. This again sets a dangerous precedent for the "right to life/death" that has been in place for many years now.

Text of Congressional bill relating to Terri Schiavo

CNN.com - Emergency vote puts Schiavo case in federal court

Release from Duke Divinity School's Director of Institute on Care at the End of Life

Budgeting and Animal Farm

2005-03-20T22:29:00.000-08:00

Anyone out there ever have to read Animal Farm as a senior high school? Well what is going on right now is a great bit of politics that would make Napoleon proud. If you shake your hand over here (make tax cuts at one time) then you can't connect that with what the other hand is doing (cuts in basic services at another time of year). It's almost magic.

But whats really amazing is that cutting income would mean that you have to cut output also, but politicians don't want to have to connect the econimic principles infront of the public. We are, obvisouly, just smart enough to figure out what is going on at the same time, but just dumb enough that if you spread out what your doing over a couple of months we can't figure it out. Oh well.

Destined for Deficits (washingtonpost.com)

And I don't want to leave out the blurb that lead me to the article above (give credit where credit is due).

MoJo Blog#26

Those dang professors ... they're radical!

2005-03-19T01:14:00.000-08:00

Left-Wing wacko college profs shove thier liberal politics down our unsuspceting throats. I can't believe that they would be biased, I mean how dare they have thier own thoughts and opinions. But, right wingger profs are perfect and have no overt opinions and quietly say nothing, they don't think for themselves and don't expect thier students to challenged or think either.

Whatever!

Both sides have thier outspoken professors, thank goodness that college is a time when we get to start thinking for ourselves. People just need to understand that at this point in time college (atleast for me) is a time to learn, not only about how I feel and tink and but also about how others feel and think ... So I hope those outspoken Crazy Left and Wacko Right professors keep doing thier thing.

Permission to Speak Freely

Congress passes bill to allow Boston play in the World Series.

2005-03-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

This is just beyond me. The governemnt getting involved with people who have been doing things that were, as of the time they did them, legal and a business that ca and does have its own policy on the legal items were talking about. Really everyone has heard about Congress calling major leaguers to testify on steriods. Why? So that Congress can take over the policy end of MLB? Are we going to start playing the Congressional World Series, maybe at some point in the future we'll see the congress men and women from Massachusetts upset because the Red Socks got jipped and thier calling a committee because thier team didn't make it. I can se it from where we're standing now.

Honestly, shouldn't congress be meeting to discuss poverty, childrens health care, heck I think it would even be more appropriate for the government to discuss nuclear weapons (even though nukes are dumb). But we're talking about steriods and Major League Baseball ... what an excellent use of time and money by our government.

But I'm still waiting for the legislation that puts the new DC team and Detroit in the Congressional White House.

Yahoo! News - Selig Defends Baseball's Steroid Policy

Do Something Else

2005-03-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

Ok I have one of my favorite sites here so that you can do more. True Majority is a "group" founded my Jerry Cohen (or Ben and Jerry Ice Cream) where citizens can take action together for a better America and world. The first link is the main page or True Majority and is also a page to join th True Majority and the second has a couple of interesting little movies tha give a different look at govt spending and other things. Check this one out. Honestly this is a great group and site.

Also, there are a umber of vigils, rallies, events coming up to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the Iraqi war. If you would like to not only speak up but stand I encourage you to do so and also check out this site for an event near you. And if you're like me and don't have an event near to your own home get a couple friends together and hold your own prayer group for 30 minutes or so. Maybe you could also just talk to people about how you feel and think, sit down in a coffee shop and see what happens. The 4th link will take you to United for Peace and Justice, a group that is as the name says, united for peace and justice for ALL PEOPLE. the last link will take you to a calendar of events (the most compreensive calendar I can find.

Join TrueMajority.org - TrueMajority

True Majority Serious Fun

United for Peace and Justice

United For Peace Calendar - 2yr Iraq War Anniversary

Do Something

2005-03-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

Ok yesterday I told you to do something and I gave you a hint as to how .... here's another hint.

PeaceNotPoverty.Org is hosting an online get together to declare that the United States people do not want the war in Iraq. The meeting and declaration are set to be a historic, prophetic voice to commenorate the MLK Jr speech against Vietnam and declare in one voice that we will not stand for violence and there is a better way. You know I would be a whole heck of a lot more helpful if more people read my blog.

Home - fvcommunity.org

Take Action ... aka DO SOMETHING

2005-03-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

I only have a couple minutes before I go to work but I want to let everyone in on a little secret. No where does the Bible say sit back, relax, if it isn't your problem then don't worry about it. Jesus talks about helping others, and everyone around asks Jeus why? His simple response is because when you help others you have helped him. See Jesus in others and do little bit of something. On that note thier are several politicaly minded groups out there you can get in touch with and do little to help a lot. MoveOn.Org is just sucha place. You can join with millons others in letting politicians know what we think. They have an excellent site and also a PAC that is doing some great work. Answer the call and do something.

MoveOn.org: Democracy In Action

The morality of budgets

2005-03-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

There has bee a lot of talk lately about the morality of the proposed Bush budget. I'm not going to claim that Jesus would have voted blue or considered himself a porgressive but I just can't see where tax cuts for the rischest 1% and saddeling the poorest of Americans with the brunt of a massive government expenditure list which seems to forget about them. Our budget speaks directly to what we as nationhold most important ... this budget leaves out the most important, the least of theses among us.

An unjust budget

Politics, Religion, and HOPE

2005-03-11T23:46:00.000-08:00

I just found a great new site where you can let your progressive faith and progressive politics speak for a brighter tommorrow. You can buy these nifty blue bracelets that remind us that we have to look to the future and not sit and sulk about our current political "situation." Anyways, it's late so go and surf on over and buy a blue bracelet and be progressive.

think BLUE 2008 - Home of the think BLUE band

The power of the President

2005-03-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

If I could share any power with the presidet it would be the power of the "thank you." The president at any time can walk anywhere and talk to anyone and at any point say thank you and the person has to be quiet. I'm not sure that it is a law but I think it is really close to law. Just like on the West Wing.

I want to be able to walk into my Criminology class and just say, "thank you" and my prof has to be quiet. I could be on the phone with a pushy AOL "customer service" agent and say thank you and they would have to shut up. (By the way, if you ever go to cancel your AOL service, don't try and be polite just start out being really rude and tell them you hate AOl and that you never wan AOL again and I bet you get better service than I did with the pushy guy on the phone. Hey customer service dude, here's a hint, I'm cancelling your service why would I want to buy another type of AOL service?)

Yeah so anyways, the power of the thank you would be great, say it once and then everyone has to be quiet. Yeah, that wouldbe awesome.

Thank you.

Chalk up another win for poverty

2005-03-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

Let's all celebrate, we can now work 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year and still fall below the poverty level. What an awesome country we live, we should all be so lucky to live in poverty. Unfortunately this is true, a worker can slave everyday of the year at minimm wage and still live in poverty. What moral talking point does allowing companies to pay a substandard wage support. I just don't get it ... it frustrates me and I'm tired.

Yahoo! News - Senate Defeats Minimum Wage Increase

Well atleast we recognize that it's wrong to kill children ...

2005-03-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

But we're still all about killing adults. I just don't understand how we can say that it's wrong for an individual to kill another person, but if the state is the one killing people it's all ok. It just doesn't make sense to me. I guess I'm a couple days behind the whole story, but it still screams at my basic senses.

The State | 03/07/2005 | Opponents encouraged by death penalty ruling

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music

2005-03-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

WOW --- this took someone a whole hell of a lot of time to put together this "guide" to electronic music. My hat is off to Ishkur. And to those of you that say this isn't faith and life intersecting I say to you YES it is ... music is someones faith ... and I think music enhances faith ... so there.

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music

2005-03-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

Parenting and Suicide

2005-03-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

So the other day while I'm at work one my friends, John, asks if I could talk with him for a sec. (Just some back groud info ... John is about 40 and has one son, John Jr.) I was like sure whats going on. He tells me that a friend of his, Susan, just committed suicide and he really isnt sure how to deal with it. I'm thinking this is fairly normal for this situation. He goes on to tell about he she didn't leave a note, how she left her husband and a son that was good friends with John Jr, and how she had everything going for her.

John just didnt understand how this could happen and why she Susan would do this. Well I don't understand how this could happen either but it really bugged him. But what was so important to him wasn't the fact that she is now gone but how to explain all this to his son. I think thats understandable. But what blew me away after we had talked for a time was that he was more worried that explaining to his son that suicide was wrong, and wrong on so many levels. He wasn't concerned with helping John Jr cope with the loss of his friends mother. He was oncerned with helping John Jr understand that suicide didn't need to be his answer that he had people around him to love, care, and support him. John didn't even tell his son to just go give Susans son a hug and love him.

It just din't make sense that John was so worried about the fact that suicide was wrong and not about showing love to Susans family and thinking of a way to help ... but he wanted to condem his friend.

***No, I didn't use any real names. I was asked to speak with "John" on the basis that I'm on my way to the clergy. Obvisouly there are some confidentiallity issues.

The first, the opening, it's not that great

2005-02-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

What anticipation and build up ... what a let down.