Be a hooker or lose your unemployment benefits. That is pretty bad, tasteless, tacky, rude, and disgusting. Let's see, you are on unemployment, you are under 55 years old and you cannot find a job, so get offered a job in the sex industry. If you do not take it, you lose your unemployment benefits. Crazy Germans.

Has a nice ring to it, huh? Speaking of rings, did you see this story? The name of the company pushing this is "Wicked Wireless". Need they say more?

It is not hard to see the downward spiral we are in as a Christian community. Pornography is not even taboo enough to keep out of the mainstream. Jenna Jameson has a book out and it can most likely be found in your local library, where any hormone charged teen can see it.

BTW, I have not dropped off the face of the planet. Work has kept me very busy with a new project and by the time I get home and do the husband/father/pet owner tasks, do my nightly projects (care groups at church, volleyball, 1 on 1 Descipling, and a pet project I have started), it is soon time for bed. I feel every bit of my 39 years of age.

Oh, today I have a great cold, but I am at work....always the trooper.

Anyhooo.. these should keep you ocuppied for a while. It will at least give you some info to help you out with you kids.

You Call That Clothing?

I try to read Michelle Malkin's Blog every day (although I do miss it once in a while with my schedule) and today she has covered a story I have been aware of for quite some time. The story is about the appalling styles of dresses being marketed to girls for prom. I won't repost all the links. I want to give Michelle all the props for her hard work in researching this subject. All I want to do is add my opinions to the mix. The prom dresses she has linked scare me. Proms are for high school and college kids. I could not in good faith let my daughter (if I had one) wear one of those designs.

I have a son who is a Junior in high school. We are a Christian (mostly conservative) family and our son has been raised that way for the past 10 years. He has values that make him stand out in a crowd, but those values are tested every day as he attends public school. Parent's, I would like to challenge you. Go to a high school football game (especially if you have pre-teen daughters) and look very closely at the outfits they wear. First off, it seems the outfits get tighter and smaller every year. The shorts (if you can call them that), typically have the school name or team function printed right across the bum like a billboard. It screams "LOOK AT MY BUTT!". You have to...that is where the print is.

I cannot imagine the temptation that my 17 year old son has to deal with on a daily basis at school. The girls are allowed to wear very tight-fitting clothes, midriff baring tops, short skirts and shorts. What is it with middle school and high school girls wearing thong underwear? I chaperoned a week-long retreat for a church I USED to attend and one of the female chaperones had commented to the rest of us that she had never seen so many thongs in her life? WHY? My understanding (after talking with my wife) is that women like to feel desirable and they sometimes wear sexy underclothes to achieve this. I can buy that, but why would a GIRL who should not be sexually active need to wear them? As parents, what kind of message are we sending to our kids if we buy this stuff for them and or wash it? If you see it, get rid of it and have a talk with your teen.

I used to thing Hollyweird was making our girls trashy, but I can see that the enemy is alive and well in our neighborhood. Girls are very much destroying their image with this type of behavior.

This is Why We Need to Watch Our Teens

I read this and almost spit out my food:

Investigators said Johnson told them she wasn't popular in high school, but recently felt like "one of the group."

Duh. I bet she did. She was catering to a non-Christian teenage male fantasy. I know that I had those (I was not raised in a very Christian home) and even had the opportunity to go down that route. Being with an older woman is something that has always portrayed as the "cool thing" to do as a teenage male. Alcohol is usually involved.This woman has problems and needs to see a psychiatrist ASAP.

Parents, where are your teens hanging out? Go hug your teen, right now. If you do not know where your teen is going and spending time away from home, find out today.

Weather Forecasting and Racism

I just read this on Michelle Malkin's Blog, which is linked to Ben Maller's web site:

Las Vegas' KTNV-TV, Channel 13, fired weekend weather anchor Rob Blair on Sunday, a day after he made an on-air racial slur about Martin Luther King Jr. Jim Prather, vice president and general manager of KTNV, said Blair "stumbled" during a weather update at 7:55 a.m. Saturday but added that "this kind of incident is not acceptable under any circumstances, and I'm truly sorry that this event occurred." Blair was delivering the extended forecast when he said, "For tomorrow, 60 degrees, Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Day, gonna see some temperatures in the mid-60s." About 20 minutes later, Blair told viewers at the ABC affiliate, "Apparently I accidentally said Martin Luther Kong Jr., which I apologize about -- slip of the tongue."

I think he was going for "ML King Kong" but he really screwed up. Not that "King Kong" was any better...

Weather is not supposed to be funny. I may not celibrate the holiday, but many in America do, and I respect that.

Abu Grahaib II

When the US does it, it is front page news, when the UK does it, the Communist News Network will probably give it very little press. Now to be honest, it does not deserve that much press just as the US version should not have caused so much commotion. This is war and these terrorists are trying to kill you and your way of life. Defend yourself.

Holiday Today

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr day in the United States. It is a day that commemorates one of the greatest Civil Rights leaders the US has ever had. It is also a company holiday where I work for the US locations. I can only assume that this is a company holiday for all US employees at my company because someone would cry "RACISM!" if only blacks were allowed to take the day off (seeing how blacks in America would appreciate this holiday more than most whites, this makes some degree of sense). Now since I get 11 company holidays and MLK day is one of them, and we just came off of a week long holiday at the end of December / first of January, this almost feels like a wasted holiday on someone who is white, middle class and not old enough to really remember the Civil Rights marches of the 60's. I do not celebrate it (however I do recognise and respect it), so taking this day off feels like I am cheating. If I do not take it off, I lose it, sort of a catch 22 so to speak.

As a Christian who is growing more in my faith everyday, I would much rather have "Good Friday" (Crucifixion Friday) as a day off than MLK day or even my next company holiday on February 21st, President's Day. I guess I cannot complain, since this is the first I time I have ever been able to utilize so many holidays in my life. Mostly, I have been able to enjoy Thanksgiving, Ressurection Sunday (Easter to all you churched folks), Independance Day, and Christmas. The idea of having MLK Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day is still rather new to me.

I guess that this holiday politically correct stuff is to be expected. Constantine did it 1700 years ago to make all the holidays coincide with each other and you can see how much fun that is now. I could give all the examples but that is for another time.

Fellowship, Materialism, and Stuff.

Saturday night, several members (about 30 or so...maybe more) met at the home of my wife's boss and his wife (also members of our church) for some Christian fellowship, snacks, music, and fun. Our goal is to do this once month to help bring together church members outside the church to get to know each other a bit better. My family and I had a wonderful time. He boss is a very humble host. Success has not gone to his head.

That is one of the things I enjoy about our church. Most of its members are not caught up in the "looky at what I have" materialism that many Christian's are caught up in today. I am not saying we do not have our share of well-off members, but they are very giving of their time and resources. My wife's boss owns his own commerical roofing business and does very well. He just bought a new home and had a new pool / rock garden / patio put in his back yard. It is very nice, but he does not brag about it. He is a very humble man. That is just one example. I could give many more, but I do not want to dwell.

I used to be a materialistic type of person, which is ironic because I have been lower income most of my life. I grew out of it when God showed me that it is just "stuff". It is not valuable in the grand scheme of things. I have family members who struggle with two low paying jobs, kids and a mortgage but still fight to get that big screen TV, new vehicle, and other "stuff" because they think they need it. Me? I have been humbled to realize that the 7-8 year old, 27 inch TV is plenty for me and my family now, my two vehicles (my wife's van and my truck) are enough for us (and I will be scaling back the truck when the van is paid for...we keep one car payment at a time here...) and while we do have 2 cell phones, we do not have a home phone, so that is actually cheaper for us. We have learned what we need and what we don't. Yes, I have a broadband cable connection, but we use the internet a great deal. We shop, investigate, entertain ourselves, communicate, and educate ourselves with it, so we think that it is a wise choice to spend some of our money. A big house would be nice, but we do not need it. Ours is small (1650 sq ft), newer (6-7 years old), and brick with a garage. Not too much, but it is enough for us.

It Begins...

Christians are now being prosecuted ... in the United States. Had the situation been reversed, no one would have been arrested. How long will it take before it is illegal to worship God?

Even Snopes has a page on it. Things are getting scary, folks.

I know this story is old, but I just heard about it. I am now offically scared, but that will not stop me from using my <>< in my sig files at home an work.

Depression and Suicide

I want to start of by saying my heart aches for the loss of our neighbor, Diane, Her husband and step son are hurting and mourning the loss of one who, from what I know, was a very tender-hearted person.

I never got to know Diane, although she and her husband lived just a few doors down from us and attended the same church as we did (at one time). She rarely spoke as I passed her as we were both walking our dogs. Her husband always did. He is very friendly and outgoing. I guess her quietness should have given me a clue something was amiss.

My wife attended the memorial (I was at work) and she was informed that Diane "lost her battle with depression". I am sure that means that she decided she could not deal with the depression any longer and committed suicide. The program from church stated she was in God's hands now and this statement bothers me.

I have always understood that suicide is a sin. I know that sins can be forgiven if the forgiveness is asked with a sincere heart, but how does one ask for forgiveness for suicide? Now I have researched this and it seems that most theologians agree that even though it is a sin, the person who is a saved member of Christ's body will go to Heaven. While that is comforting, the logic behind it is also scary. If I am saved, live a "good" life, do all the things proper Christian's do and I kill someone, do I still go to Heaven?

Here is one site that supports Christian's who commit suicide will go to Heaven. Here is another, although this one is a bit more critical of it. Here is one that is very interesting in Christianity Today .

24

I am a huge fan of Fox TV show, "24". It is one of 4 shows I do not miss (the others being Law and Order, Law and Order - SVU, and Law and Order - Criminal Intent). TV is not my favorite thing to do but 24 and Law and Order grabs me. I would rather be online.

The other night on the season premiere of "24", The Sec of Def Heller was visiting his son, a slacker who wants to give his dad a world of grief, and delivered one of the best lines I have heard on TV in a long time.

"Don't give me any of your Michael Moore, sixth grade logic, kid!". I was a bit upset at Fox for doing this, because it IS an insult to sixth graders everywhere :/

If you do not watch "24" you are missing a great show.

Fun Year for Weather

Snow, Tsunami's, floods, and earthquakes have made 2004/2005 an interesting time for weather. It really is not worse than any other time in history that I can tell, but after reading the "Left Behind" series last fall (and finishing up on New Year's...Thanx Terri!) everything I have been seeing in the news about weather makes me stop and think. Are we being sent a message?

Sorry that there have been so few posts lately. 1) I have been very busy at work, 2) I have a bit of a cold wearing me down. I seem to get more colds the older I get. I turn 40 this year, and I am not in as good of shape as I would like. I still play volleyball, walk, do yardwork, but that is probably not enough.

False testimony or not...she should not be released.

"HOUSTON (AP) - Andrea Yates' capital murder convictions for drowning her children were overturned Thursday by an appeals court, which ruled a prosecution expert witness gave false testimony at her trial."

The info that was false was data collected while supposedly watching a "Law and Order" episode...that has never existed. Dind't she admit to killing the kids? Isn't admission of guilt GOOD ENOUGH?

The woman has problems. She should never be allowed near children again.

This makes me a little nervous

Not that we are anywhere near Asimov's "I Robot" yet, but this worries me a little. How smart do we want these things to be? Are we eventually heading for a pre "Matrix" style world where we live side by side with machines and they eventually take over? When you bundle this with a robot that can power itself off of flies...we have a learning, self sufficient machine that can learn from a central network. Eventually this will be used for military purposes (legitimate) and then the real terror begins as we have "killer" robots.

I am now very creeped out.

Not Pregnant

No, not me, but her. She is not pregant with twins. This story initially made me go "Hmmmm...is 59 too old to have children?". Not that think that she could not do it, but what about the life of the child. a 59 year old would give birth at 60, and she would be 78 (if she lived) when the child turned 18. Should she take the chance with her child's welfare to have that child? Does it matter?

Personally, I think once you reach 45-ish, your baby making days are over with. You have done enough, take it easy. My wife, well her sights are lower. She has never had any kids.

Sickening

This is horrible. After all the tragedy in Asia due to the tsunami, how can people do this? Grandparents and parents molesting their own children? I am glad the the Child Protective Services are working to stop this. Even as a Christian, I have trouble finding compassion for the perps. Prison would be too good for them. But on the other hand, people who go to prison that molest children are usually singled out in the prison population and are picked on the most by the other prisoners.

Public Domain

Not a rant, but something I thought I would share. Go to www.archive.org and check out a bunch of public domain print, audio and video.

Fun! I am downloading the original "Night of the Living Dead" as I type this. I downloaded "Reefer Madness" a few months ago and I am looking into "Sex Madness" as well. All 3 films were made in 1938. It was a form of propaganda but it makes for an interesting look at what morals were like back then. Not much has really changed.