Post # 58 - Flows that Glow like Phosphorous

A few weeks ago, the beloved Weaver family dog, Bartok Humpaleg Weaver, wandered away from home late at night. It was the coldest night of the Fall season (around 28 degrees). I saw on my facebook status feed that my mom had posted a “Missing Dog Alert”. This was around 7:00 AM, and the first thing I did was drive over to my parents’ house to see if there was anything I could do to help. Moments after my arrival, my mom called the SPCA. I had never seen such calm and such succinctness in such a desperate situation from her. She was able to exponentially narrow the search area for Bartok by providing vital information to the SPCA like “He likes to eat nummies” and “Sometimes I call him Bartholomew”. I would have never even thought to pass that information along, which is why I was not the head of the search and rescue mission. Alas, he had meandered a block away from the house, and after realizing he was lost hopped up to someone’s porch and started whining. They let him in and let him sleep there for the night. They called the SPCA and Josiah walked down with Tamr to pick him up. Apparently he has never been so happy to see anyone as he was to see Josiah that morning.

Understandably I fell pretty far behind in school as a result of the passing of Bob. Looking through photos, old facebook messages, and even seeing him on my friends list on XBOX live makes it all still seem too surreal. I don’t know if the finality and reality of it all will actually ever set in. Anyway, I have since caught up, and am now only two weeks of classes + exam week from graduating college. Sometimes it is weird how time passes. On one hand it seems as though college has been a long and extended period of my life, with countless life-shaping experiences. It has mostly been a very happy time of my life, and I have met many many friends. On the other hand it seems like only a few weeks ago that I was moving into Gifford Hall as a spindly and eager freshman. I am currently still in the application process of law school, and still looking for internships for next semester. There is a chance I stay in Harrisonburg, at least until I hear back from places where I applied. There are also a few things that I would like to accomplish in between graduation and law school:

A road trip to somewhere awesome

Learning to play the guitar

Writing something substantive, like a sweet essay or a short story

Halloween was a few weekends ago, and I specifically asked off of work for that night. I had not had a Halloween night off from work since I was 14 years old. Needless to say, I was long overdue. I wanted to be someone nobody else was going to be, so I decided to be a character from my favorite show, LOST (A special shout out goes here to Erin Mahoney, who free-handed the sweet tattoo on my arm). Ladies and gentleman, meet Jack Shepherd (pictured alongside my sister, Joy):

That was probably one of the most fun weekends I have had this semester. Three of my roommates were glow-stick robots, and my other roommate was Richard Simmons…and wow. His outfit, in a word, was stunning.

Speaking of my roommates, they are all really awesome. It sucks that I will be moving out in a little over a month…To honor them, I will describe each of them with one word, a task so daring and daunting no one has ever tried to do it before. And so, in no particular order of preference or height, meet the roommates:

Adam Miller – PieceofMeat

Ernie Golan – HatchetWoundoftheBeardedVariety

Joe Barnes – NePhotogenicPas

Jason Krech – Ambiguously…Happy

Mike (he may not have a last name) – HawtNekkidBawdee

Obviously many of you faithful readers may not understand these descriptions, and it’s probably for the best that you do not. What happens in this house stays in this house…unless it is a Thursday…what?

A few weeks ago Cole came down from Maryland to visit, and I would like to share with everyone an excerpt from his blog that I found hilarious:

“My memory becomes spotty at this point. I remember drinking part of a cocktail talking a little and walking upstairs because I was tired. Then I woke up the next morning on the couch with three text messages from James: (1) “where are you?” , (2)“you are at Westport. I’ve arranged a ride for you via grace in the morning. I gave you a blanket and I took your shoes off so you wouldn’t get written on.” (3) “I wish you the best of luck. Godspeed.”

Person of the Weekend: James”

You can keep up with Cole and his blog by following this link:

http://teachingcatholics.wordpress.com/2009/10/

(That's Cole and I)

Last night about 9-10 of my friends and I went to hang out at the mansion. It was a very chill night, and I finally got to be a bartender and made people Long-Island Ice Teas. They were strong. They were tasty. They will be written about as legend many years from now. I think one of the things I enjoy most is spending time with good friends and/or family. Add in a few good drinks and some sort of entertainment (like music or a game of some sort), and the night is perfect. Speaking of games, some of my friends/roommates and I have been going to trivia night at Clementines every Tuesday night. We have a solid core squadron of trivia buffs and we did really well this past Tuesday. We answered the first 8 questions correctly and were in first place heading into Round 3. One of the questions was “What is the only state capital that was named after a biblical figure?” I stared at the table for 3 minutes with my index fingers on my temples (partly for thinking emphasis and partly for showing off to the ladies how hard I was thinking). I went through every state (instead of alphabetically which makes sense to do, I was an idiot and did it geographically which probably took me twice as long) and came up with “St. Paul, Minnesota”. BOOM! We were in 3^rd place heading into final jeopardy, where we wagered everything and got the question wrong. BLAST IT ALL!

Finally, I’d like to officially announce that I am making a push to start a new political blog with a few friends of mine. It would be a blog with two conservative writers and two liberal writers writing opinions on issues or current events from a respective conservative or liberal viewpoint. If this comes to fruition I will keep everyone informed. Otherwise, I think Cole and I might just start a political blog together.

Person of the Week: Aaron Kelchner, for having the sweetest Halloween costume of Tinkerbell, complementing his girlfriend Jackie’s costume of Peter Pan.

Post # 57 - Farewell old Friend

On Monday, October 5th 2009 my best friend, Bob Stieber, passed away.

I had written an entire post describing the days with Bob leading up to that terrible Monday morning, and will keep that post down. I have never experienced loss by any means of this magnitude. A piece of me died with him that morning. I, along with many other people, loved Bob, and there hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t wished that I could call him and speak to him again. I have also not spent a night of sleep where he has not been a part of my dreams. I miss you so much, Bob. There is no way that time can completely heal the wounds in the hearts of Bob’s family, Cole, his close friends, and myself. He was a part of our lives. He was a part of ourselves. I do thank God for gracing me and allowing me the blessing of having Bob in my life the last 17 years. More than anyone else he helped shape how I think. He was always my biggest critic, and always offered his thoughts on my blog posts and theories privately. There are little things like that which will come to mind seemingly at random for a long while.

If there has ever been a time in my life where I have been completely confused as to whether God has a plan, it would be during this time period. The feeling of helplessness, loss, and confusion has never been more overwhelming. I can assure everyone, even while I was in my darkest hours, that God does have a plan. I cannot tell you what that is, because honestly I have no idea. I know that Bob believed in God and in his divine providence. Sometimes I wish I could pull a “Job” and stand on a mountain and yell directly at God, but I guess it’s a good thing the results of such a foolish endeavor have already been recorded.

It has been more than a month since he passed, and I guess one could say that I am slowly getting ‘used’ to him not being around. It is a very disconcerting thought, one that I am not comfortable with having.

If anyone wishes to write fond or funny memories of Bob, please write them to me, or simply leave them in the comments section on my blog. Because this is on my blog, I thought it appropriate to show everyone the times that Bob won person of the week. They are as follows:

“Person of the week: Yes, I realize that this is my second post this week, and therefore have had a person of the week already. I justify this partially because I'm averaging 1 post every 2 weeks for the past year, and therefore there is time to be made up. Mostly though I justify it by reminding everyone that this blog is a monarchy! I make the laws here! Anyway, the honor thusly goes to .......... Bob Stieber, for successfully telling EVERYONE about his surprise visit to Harrisonburg this weekend. Congratulations Bob, you have earned it.”

“Person of the day - Bob Stieber, after almost killing someone with what could possibly be dubbed "the worst drive" or "the drive that got away, far away" or "it looked good until I hit it" or "it just kept going towards the wrong hole" yesterday while golfing.”

Bob, you would know this already, but I will never forget you. I will only have fond memories, even of the times where you really pissed me off or the times I pissed you off. I really wish I could spend the rest of my life with more than just memories of you, but that is no longer an option. When you were really happy, there were few people who could match such a genuine laugh. That is what I will remember most, when you were happy. My family misses you. Your family misses you. May we meet again someday. Godspeed my friend.

Post # 55 - Obama is not the Antichrist.

Barack Obama is not the Antichrist.

It has surprised me that over the course of the last few weeks, several people have either genuinely or half-jokingly asked me “So, do you think that Obama is the Antichrist?” Well, to that I immediately respond “No, absolutely not”. Every time a new president is elected this question always arises. I can say with a great amount of certainty that if there ever is a human Antichrist, that he will not be a President of the United States. Many people get absolutely ridiculous when speaking about the end of the world or potential Antichrist candidates. I guess it could be helpful to keep a somewhat watchful/cautious eye out, but as far as the Bible is concerned, no one is going to know for sure when the rapture/tribulation is going to happen. There are also many other specific worldwide events that need to occur before the rapture/tribulation occurs (and even then I am not entirely sure that one can know exactly what the rapture/tribulation is/will be). I feel as though dwelling on this issue for any significant amount of time is both mentally taxing and fruitless. Discussion about the end of the world should not be ignored or abandoned all together because we should always keep ourselves informed and prepared for any potential situations/crises, but to keep oneself absorbed in it is, put simply and bluntly, stupid. In conclusion, have no worries my friend, because Barack Obama is not the Antichrist. If he were, I guarantee the world would look much different.

Here is a potential lifeguard-scenario (the lifeguard scenario was used by many as justification for going to war in Iraq). There is a fatally flawed justice system that exists today in supposedly-democratic Iraq. The court system allows for torture-induced confessions of suspects and criminals, and in my eyes an unfair over-prosecution of women. CNN ran a story recently discussing one such case where a 27-year old woman is currently on death row (and has been for over 2 years) for the killings of three relatives. She was forced to sign a blank piece of paper after (or perhaps during) torture and the authorities then filled in writing creating a confession. Therefore they had a “signed confession” and the prosecution/sentencing all took place in one day. The facts of the case, in my opinion, offer very compelling evidence that this woman is actually completely innocent. She does not even have a date of execution, and lives every day wondering if it is her last. I am sure that this is in and of itself emotionally and mentally exhausting. The following is a quote from the article I read on CNN.com:

"I wish there was some kind of response. But the response is totally passive. We've reached a degree of despair," said Yanar Mohammed, founder of the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq. "As a human rights organization in Iraq, we find that we need some backup from abroad to put pressure on our government as a first step to stop the executions of these women, some of whom we know are innocent."

In other words, there is a certain injustice occurring in a foreign country where many innocent civilians are being killed. Is it the responsibility of a foreign-power, a country who claims to have “liberty and justice for all”, to intervene in another country’s personal affairs? Does "liberty and justice for all" only pertain to the lucky few who happen to be citizens of the United States? This is a lifeguard-scenario because we are currently watching an injustice happening, AND we have the ability to stop it. The question is, however, should we? My initial answer is absolutely. But, when answering this question one must understand the following facts:

Injustices like these are occurring all over the world, such as in North Korea, China, pretty much the entire continent of Africa etc…

The United States has limited resources (both monetary, political, and with, sadly, domestic interest in the subject). As a result, it is impossible to address every injustice at every corner of the earth.

So, what do we do? First, if we were to intervene somewhere in the world where there is an injustice, especially militarily, there is a great possibility that innocent lives will be lost as a direct result of our intervention (see US invasion/war with Iraq circa 2003). That alone should call an attention to caution on the part of the potential actor (in this case the United States). Second, is there an attainable objective that ends with justice and peace? In other words, is our objective even possible (In many cases, I believe the answer is yes, the only problem would be the cost of reaching that objective).Third, is there an outcry for foreign from the oppressed or from reasonable/reliable sources in the country? Fourth, and I could probably argue that this is the most important issue, will the US be better off as a whole as a result of intervention? In other words are we better off economically/morally/ethically/politically/militarily, or is the general welfare of the union preserved or bettered? These are the questions that should be asked in cases like these.

In the particular case of the death-row prisoners in Iraq, I think it is within our right and reason to send immense diplomatic pressure on the Iraqi government to seriously reevaluate all potential executions. I would personally advocate a permanent moratorium on all executions until the issue with the flawed judicial system is resolved. We could also use a tactic that has recently proven useful for American prisoners abroad, and that is to send an individually powerful/influential politician over to whatever respective country and get a release or response that way (see Bill Clinton in North Korea and Senator Jim Webb in Myanmar).

Person of the Week: Jim Dye, for taking some friends and me out for lunch, being awesome, and providing his mega-sweet house (complete with a piano, hot tub, coffee maker, and sweet beeping noises when doors are opened) on a consistent basis to hang out in.

Post # 54 - Paris, je t'aime

After having received countless petitions and demands for a new post over the course of the last few months, I have decided to make my first out-of-country blog post. Yes, I am currently in the city of Paris, enjoying a rooftop panoramic view of the Western half of the city, including a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower. This tower is absolutely stunning at night when it is lit up, sticking out of the dark landscape like a burning ember. However, during the day it is brown, metallic, and overall a huge sore to the eyes. It seriously sticks out like a sore thumb.

Enough about Paris, though. What have my fellow Americans been doing with my COUNTRY?! As soon as I stepped off the plane in the wee hours of June 26th, the VERY first thing I heard was “Hey, Michael Jackson died.” I could not believe it, and that is all I could think about for the next few days of my life. My first ever favorite song was written by him. I know this is going to sound lame, but it was “Heal the World”. I was 4 or 5 years old and believe it or not I was CUTE, so cut me some slack. Since then, we have had several nights at the bar dedicated to Michael Jackson. Also, everyone over here, aka Europeans, loved the guy, so everyone has been paying him his due tribute. Michael Jackson has not been the only serious casualty since I left. Billy Mays. Steve McNair. Walter Cronkite. This tragic list needs to stop before I have to come back and stop it myself.

Before I came here I had to move out of my apartment at 25 B in The Mill. That was pretty tough because I met a lot of cool people there, and my roommates were incredible. I only have one semester left of college (I’m graduating in December, which means I am still part of the class of ’09!), so I do not need a lease for the entire year. I plan on doing a 5 month reunion tour with Joe Barnes in a new place. For those of you who do not know Joe, he has a large cache of movies, is a stud at fantasy football, and has large hands. He is considered a giant amongst children to say the least. After I graduate I plan on going to law school. ‘Where’ I go is the biggest question right now, so there will be more on that after I apply/receive acceptance /rejection letters. Since I will not be able to go to school until Fall of 2010, there is a noticeably large gap between December 2009 and August 2010. Whatever shall I do? Well, I have come up with a list of a few lucrative and tempting options:

1) Move in with Jeremiah out in Oklahoma. Out there I would find a temporary job and do a lot of reading/writing. Since there really isn’t much else to do out there, I might start brewing some moonshine and building up my stash of awesome pickup lines.
2) Stay in Harrisonburg and work. Again, there is not a whole lot to do here once I graduate.
3) Move to Alaska and fish for crabs. I am not sure if you can ‘fish’ for crabs, but as I am unsure of which verb is correct to use here (perhaps it is simply ‘crab’), I will stick with ‘fish’. Obviously I have prepared myself well for this sojourn.
4) Become a Michael Jackson imitator for a living. I have been told by many friends and acquaintances that I have a unique dancing talent, and that I can go far with it.
I am also willing to take suggestions as to what I should do. I will thoughtfully consider any and all recommendations or solutions, and may even publish some that may be possibilities.

Let’s see, how about a list of awesome babe-attracting things I have done/accomplished since my last post:
- Attended a National Halo event in New York City
- Set a new personal record in both text-twist (92,290 points) and free cell (currently on a 251 game win streak)
- Finished 3rd place in my fantasy football league
- Began and am still maintaining a streak of not losing “never-have-i-ever” games (currently at 19)
- Have had 29 new and now extinguished crushes on various women and babes
- Attended a National Halo event in Columbus, Ohio
- Won 45 dollars from my boss for doing 100 pushups in 2 minutes
- Defeated a field of 16 competitors to win the First Annual Outback Father’s Day Rock-Scissors-Paper double elimination Tournament, in which I never dropped a series.
- I am undefeated on the continent of Europe in Beer Pong

Now, if those things do not land me a babe, then something has changed in the world since I left America. Those are some quality attributes, and I cannot always just lean on my witty and unmatched sense of humor as a crutch all the time.

As predicted, John McCain got absolutely demolished by Barack Obama last election. Republicans in general got beat pretty badly. Even Virginia voted Obama AND now has two Democratic senators. It is weird to see Virginia as blue on an electoral map. The day is not lost though. If the Democrats can bounce back after the 2004 election (might I chime in and mention, yet again, that in that election they lost to George W. Bush for the second time), so can the Republicans in 2012. Here is how I see it. The honeymoon with Barack Obama is now over. America has now had a black president, and that is wonderful. Soon enough we will all realize, as many of us have already done so, that the economy and foreign policy pay no attention to race. Obviously, President Obama was not only voted because he was an inspiration to a continually-progressive nation. He has other admirable qualities. For instance, he is a smoker, and Virginians love a man who loves tobacco. That being said, immediately following the election I was thinking to myself “Wow, this guy is probably going to be President for the next 8 years…he is unbeatable”. Although if I had to put money on it now I would say Obama would win in 2012 no matter the opponent, his aura of invincibility is slowly waning. One of his biggest supporters, the media, is even running the occasional negative story, a day I never saw coming. The economy is still sucking wind, and the Unconstitutional Appropriation of Hard-Earned Taxpayer Funds to Irresponsible People or UAHETF (more commonly known as the federal bailout), which was began by President Bush and the 2006 elected congress and continued by President Obama and the 2008-elected congress, is not doing what was anticipated.

These continued struggles with the economy, supposedly Obama’s area of expertise, although I am still unsure why he was ever considered an expert in this area, he had no prior experience in the area, combined with a failure to succeed in his foreign policy campaign of making-nice (which I hope, in all honesty, works and our image is repaired internationally), could make for a very interesting election in 2012. The loss in 2008 could be much like 1976, when Ronald Reagan lost the Republican Primary to the expected candidate Gerald Ford, a man no one could get excited for. Reagan went on to win the Primary in 1980, and soundly defeat the incumbent Jimmy Carter in the national election. I feel the story could be much the same with Mitt Romney. He is a face the party can rally behind, and actually has tangible experience with economics. He is intelligent, savvy, good looking, young, and quick on his feet in a debate. As my friend, Bob, also mentioned to me, he also has an uncanny ability of temperament. This is a good quality to have in a candidate (such as during a long campaign season and in televised debates), as well as in a president. He also already has the grassroots in place (see my blog), and has a lot of money and support from the last go around. A Romney-Obama election in 2012 could be quite the spectacle. I found a SWEET clip online of a guy who shares pretty much all of my political beliefs and spells them out in an entertaining yet clear manner. And yes, he is serious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxhYampIl7A&feature=related

The less the government is involved, the more efficient things run. The less government is involved, the more money the people can save and spend their own money how they see fit. The less government is involved, the less chance of continued failure of government agencies (such as FEMA). Thought of the day: imagine a national healthcare system run by the same institution that ran FEMA. And no, it doesn’t matter that George Bush was at the helm. The fault was in the American people for failing to realize once again that government-run agencies simply cannot work as effectively or efficiently as a privatized agency. I can tell you one thing, I am glad I had heart surgery before any of this socialized health care fiasco began.

On an entirely different note, I wrote a paper during Fall Semester involving the Church, Science, and Creation. Cole graciously gave me a few pointers on it, and I will have the edited version of it soon. If anyone wants to read it let me know. Perhaps when I get back to the States I will publish it in a blog post as an attachment or something.

A few quick notes before I leave you:

My mom’s side of the family is awesome, and I cannot wait to go back out to California to visit them.

My oldest brother, Josh, and his wife Erica, are expecting their FIRST child in late December! That announcement in California has easily been the highlight of my year. And, somehow, Mom managed to find out before anyone else. She is wily.

I was voted “Most likely to not graduate in May” by my classmates in college. They are all very thoughtful.

Person of the week: Joy Weaver – her senior piano recital was AMAZING and she let me sing in it. I am glad some of my friends came too so they could see how awesome my sister is.

Post # 53 - Remember Remember the 4th of November

"And thus I shall always do, whenever You leave me to myself" - Brother Lawrence

Today, November 4, 2008, will be one of the most important days not only in our lifetime, but in the history of our nation. Today our nation celebrates one of its oldest traditions and privileges, where all able-bodied and eligible persons vote in order to elect the next leader of the free world. Tonight we will know who the 44th President of the United States will be. Today, I personally have been in a terrific mood because I love the fact that we get to see democracy in action. A few weeks ago (and yes, I spent that long deciding) I threw my support behind John McCain. That being said, I would like to make a few comments regarding today and the days to follow.

In all likelihood, Senator Barack Obama (D - Illinois) will be elected the next President of the United States. I was humbly reminded the other night by a friend very dear to me, that we must understand that neither candidate is the Messiah. By the grace of God, that has already happened. In the same manner, neither candidate will bring about the apocolypse*. And, if he does, we can still be blessedly assured that the Messiah has already come and guaranteed our salvation. If your man does not win today, I beg you, to not "give up" on America. That is absolutely foolish. Every four years emotions run high and friend will fight friend, brother will fight brother etc... However, we as a nation must have the ability and the courage to rally behind whoever is elected. We do not have to agree with everything this man says or does, but we must understand that the President represents America to the rest of the world. Both candidates have stated that America must be a "beacon of light" to the international community. It is our duty as Americans to participate not only in the election, but in the debate, scrutiny, and checks/balances to keep our government in line. When there are causes that we believe in passionately, and there is a man elected that disagrees with them, we must work to achieve compromise so that what we stand for is not lost. This is what is great about America, we can do that. Now, when I say support the President, this does not by any means mean to blindly and obediently follow him like a dog to a master. It simply means that the people have spoken, and as respectable citizens of this great country, we must honor those elected to represent us as best we can. Prudence, indeed, compelled me to note that.

*The Declaration of Independence states that, in regards to inalienable rights such as "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...that whenever ANY form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the RIGHT of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness..." (Capitalized words my own for emphasis). Thank goodness for the 2nd amendment!

On the Iraq War - It is beyond naive to attempt to direct the happenings of war from a seat in congress. This is even beyond irresponsible. It is absolutely dangerous, especially when speaking about war in a country in the most volatile region in the world, to dictate who goes where, and who leaves when from a seat in congress. Any sory of timetable or withdrawal date, in my humble opinion, can only be established by a few select people. These people include, and are in fact limited to, the President of the United States (Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces), and the leading American Generals who are in Iraq. Also, this timetable must, under no circumstances otherwise, be constituted in collaberation with the new Iraqi government, notably the Prime Minister. Regardless of your beliefs about going into the war in the first place, your reservations about justification, or your dissatisfaction with the death and destruction associated with war, one thing must be emphasized. We ARE at war. We cannot, while being discouraged by depressing stories given by the media, just pack up and leave because we are tired. We made a mess, and we need to clean it up. We are under the false impression that all Iraqis hate us. One thing you did not see on nationally syndicated news programs was the largest re-enlistment ceremony in United States military history. Why would these young men CHOOSE, from their own will, to stay in an unjust war where all the citizens there hate them? Perhaps because they understand, through the hopes of the Iraqi people, that their job IS important, and establishing a stable democracy and a stable police force in Iraq is what the people there really desire. That would motivate any rational and warm-blooded human being to finish an increasingly difficult task. Letting Iraq devolve into anarchy, and eventually another dictatorship, and furthermore into a haven for Al-Qaeda and other like-minded terrorist organizations, is not right-wing scare tactics or propaganda. It is a very real possibility. We cannot in good conscience allow this to happen. The top Generals in Iraq, along with Prime Minister Al-Maliki are ALREADY discussing options for troop withdrawal. These are the people that are in Iraq, and who actually know what's going on. We cannot pretend to fathom, especially with distorted stories given by the media, what the war is like half a world away.

Anyway, I thought it important to note that Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Harry Reid voted FOR the Iraq war. Barack Obama was not in the U.S. Senate in 2003, but most likely would have voted "Present". So, after we, as a nation, have decided to go to war, we cannot give up halfway through. It would be ethically criminal to do so, and would send an even worse message to the international community about our ability to do ANYTHING right.

I had an incredible urge to write on "being respectful" during this political season, but not in the sense you would first expect. I wanted to write about those being "hypocritical" in attempting to call out those being "disrepectful". Instead, I will leave it to those who know intrinsically where they went too far to understand where they did so. Also, if you ever think about calling someone out on being disrespectful, try not being blatantly disrepectful in other areas of life. It really detracts any and all significance to your claim. Also, it is important to note, that just because someone takes a stance in opposition to you does not necessarily put you in the right, and does not necessarily give you a noble cause to continue whatever it was that your opposition is opposing.

I also wanted to give a short message to Christians. We cannot expect or impose Christian standards/beliefs/principles on those who are not Christian. For instance, we cannot justify our vote for redistribution of wealth because God calls us to give to the poor. God calls US to give from our own heart, and HE will take care of the rest. To assume that God is not powerful enough to do with 2 cents more than we can do with a million dollars is ridiculous. It is very easy to be generous with money that is not ours, and it is very easy to rationalize giving less from our own money when so much is being forcibly taken from others. I have been thinking a lot about the fusing of the Gospel with politics, and it is a very touchy issue. Perhaps sometime later I will write on it, but I wish to add one more thing. Do NOT confuse political doctrine and secular beliefs with what the bible actually says. Also, erroneously interpreting scripture to meet the ends of ones personal or selfish beliefs is a very, very dangerous thing. As you can see, this is a very touchy and sensitive issue, and hopefully one day I will have a clearer understanding of it.

I will end with a silly, but remarkably enlightening political cartoon :)



Person of the week - Don Poston - For pouring massive quantities of liquid butter on my phone, allowing me to get a sweeter touch-screen phone! P.S - I probably do not have your (anyone reading this post) number anymore because the butter caused a complete and irrevocable death of my last phone, and I thus lost all of my contacts. Feel free to call me and leave me your name, especially if you are a hot babe!

Post # 51 - Sense and Sensitivity

I have come to realize that not only has this country become desensitized, it has also become very sensitive. It has become desensitized, in the sense that kids at the age of 5 are introduced to guns, violence, drugs, sex, lewdness, drunkenness, and death, and are incredibly stoic toward those things as a result. It has become sensitive in the sense that anyone and everything can be potentially offended by anything and everyone. It's actually quite ridiculous. For instance, any joke pertaining to a particular race, gender, hair color, skin tone, age, or sexual preference, has become extremely taboo. This is only publicly of course. Privately, everyone has said a joke making fun at one of these groups of people at one time or another. Now, in my opinion, it's not that big of a deal. I grew up getting called a lot of names (people thought carrot-top was quite original). I thought the best name I was called was "Casper", most likely directed at the paleness of my skin tone. Now, in my defense, it was Wintertime, and I play Halo a lot... it's not really an outside activity. These are things that are beyond my control, things that I was born with (red hair, pale skin etc...). However, when I got called these things I didn't break down and cry and threaten to sue. No, instead, I grew a pair, and got on with my life, even saying some jokes of my own. Oh, and just so people are aware, stereotypes don't pop up out of no where. Stereotypes are stereotypes because at some point in time, a large portion of a particular group (say UFO's being creepy, so as not to 'offend' anyone) was known for doing a certain thing.

Anyway, moving on to my reason for bringing up the "being to sensitive" thing, I wanted to address a particular issue that has me absolutely baffled. My eldest brother, Josh, recently got his gamer tag banned from XBOX Live because they considered it "offensive". I was completely taken aback. He was forced to change it before he was allowed to do anything through XBOX Live. His former gamer tag was "Wenis DU". "ZOMG I CANNOT BELIEVE MY 8 YEAR OLD KID HAS TO SEE THAT!!!!!" Sorry, I'm quoting a hypothetical 40 year old mother in California being offended by that. Well I became more and more disgruntled as I took a closer look at some of the people I played against on XBOX LIVE, and kept a tab on whose names were absolutely ridiculous. Now, the following names were deemed less offensive than "Wenis DU" (less offensive because they are still playing and have not been banned for being offensive). " " HoOoTY iZ eREcT", "TaStE My Ju1c3", "zHiV Fury", "slipperynypples", "hotcooter" and my personal favorite "Chokeslam DatHo". There was also a pleasant gentleman who I played against, of whom I could not find the exact gamertag, whose name referred to one's rear end, and connected with a word referring to a human's sexual climax. Now, honestly, who in their right mind is not completely disgruntled by this oppression of a good man with a respectable gamertag (I am of course referring to Wenis).

Moving on, my team did not make it out to San Diego for reasons I do not wish to discuss at the moment. We are however leaving for the third event on the pro circuit this Thursday... get ready ORLANDO! We picked up a new team member after dropping MOHAWKAS. Our newest member to REACH is Flagside, or more commonly known outside of the Halo world as "Jim". He is the purest of all support players, and has complimented our team very nicely. Our team now has great balance, and we have been playing every day in order to have our performance in Orlando play out much better than Meadowlands. Look out hot Florida babes, I'm coming, controller in hand as my sword, and my over-packed Hyundai pickle jar as my noble steed.

I've been frequenting UREC this summer with two goals in mind to achieve by the end of the summer. I wanted to bench 200 pounds and weigh 180 pounds (as in gain). I have already achieved one of them (I'll let your imaginations run wild as to which one). I did however show my Mom how to use some of the machines there, and my sister Ellie has also been recently coming. I think it's good for my gym-image to show that behind my hard body and stolid attitude, I do in fact have a soft side, and take care of the women in my life.

James' latest VP predictions for the Presidential candidates:

McCain/Jindal

photo courtesy of ibabuzz.com

Obama/Webb

photo courtesy of nycscenequeen.com

Person of the Week: Tamr, for having a high percentage of theories turn out to be correct while watching LOST. He must be an expert television watcher

Post # 50 - I would've been your daddy...

I get an email alert every week or so telling me my current superlative rankings on Facebook. I wouldn't normally write about it, but my recent rankings have me concerned. Currently my "strengths" are: best singer, best father (potential), and smartest. Now, I can understand the best singer part. My ranking was probably boosted because of my excellence in song choice and volume while singing in the shower. I can thank my roommates for that. The whole "best father (potential)" has me worried. Does that mean people think I'm potentially going to be a father soon? I don't know what kind of promiscuous vibe I give off in my daily life, but I assure you, I have no children...that I know of at least. And even then, it would only be because they were immaculately conceived, which is highly unlikely because it's only happened once ever. Instead of "smartest" I would rather my last "strength" to be, "most likely to date a Hollywood actress whose character name is 'Claire'". But no, my Facebook colleagues have it in for me. Moving on to "weaknesses", they are: "hardest worker", and "best to hang out with for a day". Well, I don't know what more I can do to work harder. Apparently working full time and being a full time student isn't working hard enough. I'd like to know what everyone else is doing to be such hard workers so that "hardest worker" can be taken off my weakness list. I can understand the "best to hang out with for a day", because usually my jokes are so sophisticated that no one understands them... I can see how that would get old.

I recently listened to John Lennon's song "Imagine" while driving back from New York City (more on that later), and was stunned by the lyrics. I wasn't sure if I heard them correctly, so when I got home I looked them up online. Sure enough, my concerns over John Lennon being ignorant and a lunatic were confirmed. John Lennon was a good man in many respects, and even preached one of Jesus' primary messages, love. However, the following lyrics may shock you:

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

Wow. OK, so, I'll point out a few of the obvious flaws with this ideology, and I'll let you guys do the rest. "Imagine there's no heaven". Well, if there is no heaven, there is no God. If there is no God, there is no such thing as morality. If there is no God, there is no hope. And in the words of Sayeed from LOST, "Hope is a very dangerous thing to lose". "no religion too". We tried that Mr. Lennon, it was called the SOVIET UNION. Yeah! That turned out great! Millions of people dead later, Reagan made them "tear down that wall". "Imagine no possesions". We have also tried that, it's called COMMUNISM! Wow, this is sounding better and better. Ok, well, you get my point, and I don't want to dwell on such a popular figure for too long. However, we must be wary of all our political and celebrity heroes, because of messages they might be sending.

The Democratic primary season is finally over, with Barack Obama being the nominee. So, this means that we will have a McCain - Obama election in November 2008. The biggest question now is, who the heck will be their running mates?!?! Since the Democrats got the candidate from their side most likely to win, and since the Republicans got the candidate from their side who was 3rd most likely to win, the Republicans are already at a disadvantage. Now, this means that McCain's VP pick is all the more important. McCain is a senator from Arizona with no private job experience (he's been in the military and the government, that's it). So, there are three things we can assume about his VP pick. He/she will be east of the Mississippi, will have experience outside of the government/military (hopefully executive experience), and will have more conservative credentials than "moderate McCain" does. Now, the most obvious choice would be Mitt Romney - governor of Massachusetts and fits the mold of a true conservative. Something tells me that McCain just won't do Romney though. My two picks would be Romney, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and as a darkhorse, Olympia Snowe of Maine. For Obama, he will not pick Hillary Clinton, mostly because of her political baggage. Obama wants to win Virginia really badly this upcoming election, and there is a high chance he chooses one of the three guys from here: Jim Webb (US senator), Tim Kaine (governor), and Mark Warner (about to be US senator). Now, the candidate that will essentially hand Obama the election would be Warner, because everyone here has a man crush on him. Mark Warner will also be president one day, you heard it here first.

To briefly address Jeremy Sheppard's response to my last post. We can't immediately blame US oil companies for ethical irresponsibility in the recent trend of rising gas prices. We also have to understand the basic laws of supply and demand, and the knowledge that oil is a limited resource. In the past 10 years, the price of a barrel of oil has risen about 100 dollars. That is a loooooot of money. There was a time when I filled up my tank for 13 dollars. It now costs me 50. We must also understand that our economy is dependent on pretty much one thing - oil. Now, who produces oil? Saudi Arabia... Iran... Venezuela... countries that do not like us. So if they know we are dependent on their oil, and they don't like us, what's to keep them from limiting their supply. When there is less supply, there is a greater demand, and therefore a higher price. When the price of oil per barrel goes up, the price at the pump goes up too. We could lower the prices and ease the hit on our economy by drilling more here in the United States. But, environmentalists will have none of it. Gas prices will not be low again, assuming we don't drill. There is another solution, alternative energy. I think our future rests in nuclear energy. It's the cleanest energy, and the possibilities with that energy are endless. What many people don't know, is that President Bush has put a lot of money and emphasis on alternative energy research and development. What? A Republican being smart and environmentally friendly? Unheard of... Well, unheard of because the media does not want to hear of Bush doing things that people actually like, only things that will sell more newspapers.

Person of the Week - Cole Simmons, for valiantly coming over to my house last night at 3:30 to watch an episode of LOST season 1 with myself, Tamr, and Josiah