The best gift I could give you..
watch this one and rejoice in the New Year!
..and remember what Clarence said..
No man is a failure who has friends!
Happy New Year
The best gift I could give you..
watch this one and rejoice in the New Year!
..and remember what Clarence said..
No man is a failure who has friends!
GMAB: Actress is West Virginian of the Year
Give Me A Break!! Jennifer Garner, one of my favorite TV series (Alias) actresses, has been honored as the 2007 West Virginian of the Year by her hometown newspaper. The Sunday Gazette-Mail says it chose Garner for her dedication, hard work and service as an ambassador and role model for West Virginia.
Can you believe that.. in all of West Virgina.. a more worthy candidate couldn't be found? Don't they have people who work at homeless shelters? Or how about public servants like fire fighters or policemen? Was there no other person nominated? Is this the role model that we want to tell our kids about? An actress? Give Me A Break!!
Can you believe that.. in all of West Virgina.. a more worthy candidate couldn't be found? Don't they have people who work at homeless shelters? Or how about public servants like fire fighters or policemen? Was there no other person nominated? Is this the role model that we want to tell our kids about? An actress? Give Me A Break!!
Seeing Gray
This video showcases Adam Hamilton, the pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the USA.. a church just a few miles from my home. I like the idea of seeing the nuanced grays of life.. guess that is why I posted the video here and have subscribed to Adam's blog.
GMAB: Co-Chairman Bilawal Bhutto
Here is my gift to you for 2008.. a new category that I am calling Give Me A Break. From today's news I submit to you my first entry in this category:
Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son, Bilawal, has been appointed co-chairman, with his father, of the former Prime Minister's Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The first year history student at Christ Church, Oxford, will return to his studies with his father and Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, effectively running the party.Give me a break!! Is this England? Is his name William or Harry? Will he be "co-chairing" with a crown on his head? Why do we humans feel a need to appoint untested and unqualified children of leaders to leadership positions? What is this.. church?
The Twilight Zone
Add to My Profile | More Videos
Growing up in the late 1950s and 1960s the Twilight Zone was one the highlights of my TV watching life. It was usually broadcast on Friday nights in New York. This is one of my favorite episodes. Burgess Merideth plays a great character and the ending of this particular episode was one of the best ever. If you have never watched this great show do yourself favor and watch this one.. and if you remember it let us know what you thought about the Zone.. any of the episodes.
Evangelicals on Israel
An excerpt from the CT article titled:
Evangelical Leaders Reiterate Call for
Two-State Solution for Israel and Palestine
Over 80 educators and ministry heads affirm efforts to negotiate lasting peace, and warn of consequences of failure. --David Neff, 12/28/2007
As evangelical Christians, we believe our faith compels us to speak a word together at this crucial moment.
The Bible clearly teaches that God longs for justice and peace for all people. We believe that the principles about justice taught so powerfully by the Hebrew prophets apply to all nations, including the United States, Israel, and the Palestinians. Therefore we are compelled to work for a fair, negotiated solution for both Israelis and Palestinians. We resolve to work diligently for a secure, enduring peace and a flourishing economy for the democratic State of Israel. We also resolve to work for a viable permanent, democratic Palestinian State with a flourishing economy that offers economic opportunity to all its people. We believe that the way forward is for the Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a fair, two-state solution.
We are encouraged that the Israeli and Palestinian governments have officially endorsed a two-state solution and that polls demonstrate that solid majorities in both Israel and Palestine embrace this path.
We call on all evangelicals, all Christians, and everyone of good will to join us to work and pray faithfully in the coming months for a just, lasting two-state solution in the Holy Land. We call on all involved governments to work diligently toward this goal. And we covenant to pray for the leaders of all the nations engaged in this effort, hoping for them the blessing of our Lord, who said, "Blessed are the peacemakers."
Evangelical Leaders Reiterate Call for
Two-State Solution for Israel and Palestine
Over 80 educators and ministry heads affirm efforts to negotiate lasting peace, and warn of consequences of failure. --David Neff, 12/28/2007
As evangelical Christians, we believe our faith compels us to speak a word together at this crucial moment.
The Bible clearly teaches that God longs for justice and peace for all people. We believe that the principles about justice taught so powerfully by the Hebrew prophets apply to all nations, including the United States, Israel, and the Palestinians. Therefore we are compelled to work for a fair, negotiated solution for both Israelis and Palestinians. We resolve to work diligently for a secure, enduring peace and a flourishing economy for the democratic State of Israel. We also resolve to work for a viable permanent, democratic Palestinian State with a flourishing economy that offers economic opportunity to all its people. We believe that the way forward is for the Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a fair, two-state solution.
We are encouraged that the Israeli and Palestinian governments have officially endorsed a two-state solution and that polls demonstrate that solid majorities in both Israel and Palestine embrace this path.
We call on all evangelicals, all Christians, and everyone of good will to join us to work and pray faithfully in the coming months for a just, lasting two-state solution in the Holy Land. We call on all involved governments to work diligently toward this goal. And we covenant to pray for the leaders of all the nations engaged in this effort, hoping for them the blessing of our Lord, who said, "Blessed are the peacemakers."
Plastic Surgery
Tallying the votes it appears that YES got 45%, NO got 42% and everyone else either didn't know or have an opinion. I think that.. generally speaking.. this question can only be asked in the West.. maybe I am wrong but I think that we in the West are overly narcissistic and preoccupied with appearance.. might be wrong though.. maybe you readers from the East can provide some perspective.
I think that I would probably answer yes with the condition that the surgery would not put undue stress on your budget.. how is that for a Western answer? Okay.. what do you think? And tell us if you have had plastic surgery.. even if you have to answer anonymously.
For the record I have not had plastic surgery.. not that I don't need it J
Grudem Supports Romney
If you are concerned about Mitt and Mormonism.. A few excerpts from
Why Evangelicals Should Support Mitt Romney
By Wayne Grudem
Thursday, October 18, 2007
As an evangelical professor of Bible and theology, I have decided to support Mitt Romney for President (even though he is a Mormon) for two old-fashioned reasons: First, he is the best-qualified candidate, and second, he holds moral and political values consistent with those in the Bible.
Best-qualified: The best predictor of future performance is a person’s past track record. ... He was in the top 5 percent of his class at Harvard Business School and simultaneously in the top 1/3 of his class at Harvard Law School. He is incredibly intelligent. ... He knows how to run businesses, and what makes them profitable. This indicates a deep and also practical understanding of what kind of policies will be helpful or harmful to an economy, and second, an outstanding management ability proven in both state government and in business, which is a good predictor of ability to be an excellent President. ... He also rescued the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. When he was brought in to run the Games he turned what was heading to a scandal-ridden financial and PR disaster into a widely-praised success. This involved massive skill in public relations, media management, diplomacy, morale building, and financial administration. This is Romney’s consistent track record: he solves large problems.
Conservative positions: Romney’s positions on social, economic, and international issues are all soundly conservative. On major issues such as protection of the unborn, a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, strong national defense and victory against radical Islamic terrorists, securing our border, a signed pledge of no tax increases, promoting school choice, and appointment of Supreme Court justices who will interpret law, not make new law, Romney holds solidly conservative positions.
What about his religion? Can evangelicals support a candidate who is politically conservative but not an evangelical Christian? Yes, certainly. In fact, it would demonstrate the falsehood of the liberal accusation that evangelicals are just trying to make this a “Christian nation” and only want evangelical Christians in office. For evangelicals to support a Mormon candidate would be similar to supporting a conservative Jewish candidate—someone we don’t consider a Christian but who comes from a religious tradition that believes in absolute moral values very similar to those that Christians learn from the Bible.
Why Evangelicals Should Support Mitt Romney
By Wayne Grudem
Thursday, October 18, 2007
As an evangelical professor of Bible and theology, I have decided to support Mitt Romney for President (even though he is a Mormon) for two old-fashioned reasons: First, he is the best-qualified candidate, and second, he holds moral and political values consistent with those in the Bible.
Best-qualified: The best predictor of future performance is a person’s past track record. ... He was in the top 5 percent of his class at Harvard Business School and simultaneously in the top 1/3 of his class at Harvard Law School. He is incredibly intelligent. ... He knows how to run businesses, and what makes them profitable. This indicates a deep and also practical understanding of what kind of policies will be helpful or harmful to an economy, and second, an outstanding management ability proven in both state government and in business, which is a good predictor of ability to be an excellent President. ... He also rescued the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. When he was brought in to run the Games he turned what was heading to a scandal-ridden financial and PR disaster into a widely-praised success. This involved massive skill in public relations, media management, diplomacy, morale building, and financial administration. This is Romney’s consistent track record: he solves large problems.
Conservative positions: Romney’s positions on social, economic, and international issues are all soundly conservative. On major issues such as protection of the unborn, a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, strong national defense and victory against radical Islamic terrorists, securing our border, a signed pledge of no tax increases, promoting school choice, and appointment of Supreme Court justices who will interpret law, not make new law, Romney holds solidly conservative positions.
What about his religion? Can evangelicals support a candidate who is politically conservative but not an evangelical Christian? Yes, certainly. In fact, it would demonstrate the falsehood of the liberal accusation that evangelicals are just trying to make this a “Christian nation” and only want evangelical Christians in office. For evangelicals to support a Mormon candidate would be similar to supporting a conservative Jewish candidate—someone we don’t consider a Christian but who comes from a religious tradition that believes in absolute moral values very similar to those that Christians learn from the Bible.
My Favorite YouTube Videos
Following are my top three picks for 2007:
Nothing comes close to this video!
This one still makes me cry!
This one was just fun!
What were your favorites in 2007?
Nothing comes close to this video!
This one still makes me cry!
This one was just fun!
What were your favorites in 2007?
Matthews: Hillary is Evita
As I watch today's issue of Morning Joe on MSNBC I am reminded of Chris Matthews rant on that show last week.. he had my wife and I laughing out loud. They were talking about Hillary's Christmas ad and this is what Matthews had to say: I always thought the problem with Hillary was, her notion of government was, "I am Evita, I am the one who gives gifts to the little people and then they come and bring me flowers and they worship at me because I am the great Evita. And I give things to people. I give them universal health care; I give them an energy program. I give gifts to the little people. The little people come to me and I give them gifts, like universal pre-K. I am the gift-giver to the little people. Oh, I am the grand, grand woman, the grand Evita. And I give gifts to the little people and they're going to come to me in multitudes and worship at me!"You can catch the episode on YouTube where Chris also rants about the Huckabee Christmas ad. Might not be hard news but it is pretty funny. Hattip to Mark for the transcript and picture.
Give me a break! That's not the transaction. It's our country, it's our government. Public officials get to serve us! They serve us, they are our servants. They are not Evitas; they are not goddesses. We don't look up to them that way. We don't get gifts from them. By the way: we pay for every damn program we get. In fact we pay more for it than we're going to get. What are you kidding: you're going to give us stuff? From where? From your treasury? Where are you going to go? The palace? The palace? We're going to give them to you?
It's the Hillary, it's the Clinton notion of the political transaction: we are the well-educated, sophisticated, smarter-than-you, better-than-you people and we're going to give you little things for your little needs. We've got little things for you; here's a gift for you. Universal pre-K. It's an absurdity. And some ad writer around her, Mandy [Grunwald] or Mark [Penn] should say "Mrs. Clinton, this is the problem you have. You think you're better and bigger than the little people, and you're giving them these things.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)