Questions of God Special: Why, God? Why?

Last weekend I went out on the road with a friend  for our monthly trip across Colorado ministering to people and encouraging them in their journey with God on planet Earth. It's usually a busy time, and we don't get much time to watch the news or check the internet. So imagine my shock late Sunday night to find out that a terrible national tragedy had occurred while I was out of town. I am still numb over it, really.


There is a part of all of the dialog in the aftermath that is bugging me, and I want to share about it. Of course, there was the natural desire by all kinds of people to try to understand what happened. It's hard to get a grasp on evil that is so purely acted out. So there was blaming and finger pointing going on, all of which misses the main point. And believe it or not, the only guy that has said much to directly deal with this was one Barack H. Obama, the President of the United States. I'd like to thank him for bravely making this point, namely that evil is real and that it rears it's hideous head once in a while to remind us all of the terrible darkness lurking almost everywhere. An evil man did an evil thing to his good and innocent neighbors. Period. End of story.


I know,  that's not a satisfactory answer to most of us. Call it a sense of fair play or justice, or call it conscience. Whatever you call it, most of us have it when things like this happen. A clear sense of injustice and a need to see a satisfaction to it all. It is, in fact, a clear and ever present sense of right and wrong. This is a time when we feel it so strongly. Even in the "enlightened" age we live in, men go around doing terrible things to one another. 


It is natural for most of us to look to the Heavens and ask "Why?" Pain and sorrow lead us to ask deeper questions and to seek deeper answers. But, if I may, let me put forth this question: Who on Earth has the right to ask such an absurd question as this? Who hears the question, anyway? Does the Universe care about your pain? Let me quote a little Stephen Crane poem:




A Man Said to the Universe
 A man said to the universe:
 "Sir I exist!"
 "However," replied the universe,
 "The fact has not created in me
 A sense of obligation."




This, of course, is the secular answer to the absurd sense of meaning and purpose that people seem to have. The answer to their question "why?" is simply, "So what?" Peter Singer and others who have things like "Phd." after their names say that human life is no more valuable than animal or even vegetable life. I for once would like to see Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens deliver a compelling speech of consolation at one of these tragic events with six coffins stretched in a row that did not at all borrow from the Christian world and life view for all of it's real strength, emotion and compassion. Sure, let's go there:


"Thank you all for coming to this event. Of course, I am British, and therefore with my accent I sound much more intelligent than you brash Yanks.  So believe me when I say that I would rather be drinking a pint of whiskey right now than wasting my time with you lot of sniveling whiners. Well, let's see. I guess you want me to say something about the difference these people made, but, in fact, I don't believe in the concept at all in the first place. They were alive, that's a fact for sure I suppose. And they died, which is another fact made obvious by our situation. A random act of chance over time created them and another took them out. The end. Now I will be signing copies of my latest book in the reception room. Oh, and uhh...cheer up and stiff upper lip and all that. Good day! Or rather Have a Day. You see, I don't really believe in the concept of good, or evil for that matter, because it makes me think of that ridiculous God those idiots all say they believe in. And now for that whiskey!"


I would ask all the atheists to forgive me for that last bit, but they would spew on about how stupid and weak the idea of forgiveness actually was. So, never mind.


I thank God for the pain and sorrow we all feel over the terrible tragedy that occurred last weekend. It encourages me to see us all respond to real evil with real grief and disgust. This seems to me to point out the greatest proof of God there is, which is the existence of a Moral Law that is universal in its scope and points directly by implication to a Moral Lawgiver. 


It's like this: 
If there is true Evil, then there must be true Good. 
If there is true Good there must be Right and Wrong. 
If there is Right and Wrong then there must be Absolutes. 
And if there are Absolutes, there must be an Absolute, from which all the other Absolutes derive their authority. 
And this absolute Absolute is God. 


Now let's ask the question again. "Why? Why God? Why?"
God: (Interestingly, also in a British accent):  
"One of the greatest gifts I have given you, next to life itself, is the ability to question. I acknowledge that when you ask this question through the pain and confusion you live in, that you are not questioning me so much as you are inviting me into a conversation. You ask for an answer, but your first need is for comfort.  Could it be that the best thing I could do for you is just listen? As a mother comforts a child first before telling why the child is crying, I am here to comfort you first. For as was said in the Psalms, "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul. (Psalm 94:19)
As for answers, I come to you in the way that I have always come to those that went before. So I say that I am the God of your fathers and did mighty things for them, and I am here for you to do the same on your behalf. (See Genesis 26:24; Exodus 3:6; Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:26; Acts 7:32) Even if you could understand the reason for a death or tragedy, would it help to live it out, or take away the pain of the situation? My promise to you is that I watch over those that I love to deliver them and that I cause all things to work out for good in the end.(See Psalm 91 and Romans 8:28) Ultimately I give Myself as the answer to all questions.(Exodus 3:14) I will answer all questions. I will wipe away every tear.(Rev.21:4) I will be with you always until the very end.(Matthew 28:20)"


The Grief Temptation


When we are in a period of grief, we can be tempted to take the anger and depression and frustration and focus it outwards onto others, and especially to God. This is a temptation many have fallen into throughout the ages. Not only has this been a common problem with individuals, but even whole groups of people have fallen together into this type of transference of anger and frustration. In Ezekiel the prophet's day people felt this same way. They had been in lots of scrapes and been through a lot of troubles, and they gave in to this grief temptation.


Which leads us to our question of God(finally!):
Ezekiel 18:25  “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?


No one is in a better position to ask this question than God. But there is a way that we can come into a little better understanding of God's dilemma, God's pain really. Yes, I said His pain. I'll tell a little story to relate this. 


Suppose you had a friend who was in a difficult struggle personally, and they shared this struggle with you. You, being a caring person, offer to help in any way you can. You then say that you have a book that can help this person understand their struggle and help them along their way. The next day you give this person this helpful book as a free gift with no strings attached whatsoever. Your friend accepts this gift happily and thanks you fondly. And so imagine your confusion and frustration when you find the book you gave them in the trash can outside their office the next day. Now let me say that I have been that person who did not appreciate a gift given to me. Many times, I'm afraid. I am in fact a serial unappreciator. (Is that a word?) I have also been in the place of the giver in this situation as well. 


Now let's suppose you are an author of a book, and you give a copy to a friend who then throws it away. This time it is even more personal, isn't it? Now suppose that your favorite writer wrote a book just for you to read, and you trashed it. The emotions are even more personal. Now let's really go out there and imagine that the Creator of the entire Universe not only wrote a book for you,(which He did) but let's rather imagine He sent a representative who actually was a personal Message to you. In history God sent, not just a book, but a Person to you as a message of His love for you. Don't believe it? Check this out, then:


John 1:1-14 from The Message


 1-2 The Word was first,
      the Word present to God,
      God present to the Word.
   The Word was God,
      in readiness for God from day one.
 3-5 Everything was created through him;
      nothing—not one thing!—
      came into being without him.
   What came into existence was Life,
      and the Life was Light to live by.
   The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
      the darkness couldn't put it out.


 6-8 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.


 9-13 The Life-Light was the real thing:
      Every person entering Life
      he brings into Light.
   He was in the world,
      the world was there through him,
      and yet the world didn't even notice.
   He came to his own people,
      but they didn't want him.
   But whoever did want him,
      who believed he was who he claimed
      and would do what he said,
   He made to be their true selves,
      their child-of-God selves.
   These are the God-begotten,
      not blood-begotten,
      not flesh-begotten,
      not sex-begotten.


 14 The Word became flesh and blood,
      and moved into the neighborhood.
   We saw the glory with our own eyes,
      the one-of-a-kind glory,
      like Father, like Son,
   Generous inside and out,
      true from start to finish. 


So what? God sent HIs Son to me. Why? Why God? Why?


John 3:16-21 The Message
16-18"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.


 19-21"This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is."


And then what? Well, just like me and the book my friend tried to give me to help me, we took the very living Word of God and took Him to a trash heap, tortured Him, and killed Him. (See John 19 for details) And thus, you see the pain of God. Not just the suffering of the Son in the Crucifixion, but the real, deep and currently ongoing pain of God, who gave the best gift He had, which was a part of Himself, His own Son. God's pain is His ongoing rejection by those He loves but do not acknowledge Him. They answer back, "The way of the Lord is not fair."  And so the choice is still there. Today you can pull that thing out of the recycle bin and read His message for you, no strings attached. Why? Why not.

The dangers of texting and walking

"Non-violent transition of power"

via Primordial Slack, who probably thinks I am an "idiot" for the title of this post.

Meanwhile, in other universes...

If you are interested in what is going on in space, the Space Station Shuttle Mission blog is an excellent resource. A visit there today produced photo and story of the Earth weather patterns taken on December 30, 2010, a picture of two galaxies who had a close encounter a few hundred million years ago, a photo and story of unexpected energy changes in Crab Nebulla, story and picture of this year's La Nina, which has been the strongest La Nina in over fifty years, photo and story of where on Mars Rover will be spending its 7th birthday, a photo of snow-covered Ireland, and much, much more.

Test your knowledge of civics

Want to take a civics test? Go here.

Some truth about Ethanol

The Burning Platform produces here another of its comprehensively documented blog posts. It asks, "How many Senators does it take to screw a taxpayer?" It is referring to the costs of government-mandated ethanol. Here is how the cartoonist arrived at the above-six dollars per gallon of gasoline cost of Ethanol.

Real Cost For A Gallon Of Corn Ethanol
Corn Ethanol Futures Market quote for January 2011 Delivery $2.46
Add cost of transporting, storing and blending corn ethanol $0.28
Added cost of making gasoline that can be blended with corn ethanol $0.09
Add cost of subsidies paid to blender $0.45
Total Direct Costs per Gallon $3.28

Added cost from waste $0.40
Added cost from damage to infrastructure and user’s engine $0.06
Total Indirect Costs per Gallon $0.46

Added cost of lost energy $1.27
Added cost of food (American family of four) $1.79
Total Social Costs $3.06

Total Cost of Corn Ethanol @ 85% Blend $6.80

None of these figures take into account the effect on the world's poor of the high cost of corn.

A hero who knows what country he is living in

Ed Schultz interviews one of the heroes who subdued the Tucson killer. The interview starts more than halfway in, if you want to skip Schultz. The young man has some good things to say; in fact he is awesome!
Via Moonbattery

Is a duck really worth all that?

I used to crack up every time Buddy Hackett appeared on the Johnny Carson show. This clip, via Woodsterman, reminds me of those days, sitting in the living room with my Dad, eating his bowl of cut-up bread with milk, and Mom, snoring away in her chair. Also, wasn't Johnny a class act? Always willing to give the guest the spotlight and the laughs. I wonder if I watched this one with my Dad, who was an avid duck hunter.

Governing with the consent of the governed? No Way!

Frank J. thinks he knows why liberals hate the Constitution.

Hariri 'caretaker PM' as Lebanon seeks new government

Lebanon's president has asked Saad al-Hariri to stay on as a caretaker prime minister after his government was toppled by Hezbollah and its allies.

The crisis was sparked by a dispute over the UN tribunal investigating ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's murder.

President Michel Suleiman has started consultations over the choice of a new premier, with Mr Hariri due to return to Beirut from a visit to France.


The Arab League appealed for calm over Lebanon's "tense" security situation.

Hezbollah - the powerful Shia social, political and militant group - opposes the UN-backed tribunal, which is expected to indict several of its members over the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri in a massive truck bomb in central Beirut.

The first sealed indictments are expected as early as next week, although their release has been delayed several times already.

Many Lebanese want to know who killed Rafik Hariri, but fear the quest for justice could lead to conflict on the streets, says the BBC's Owen Bennett Jones in Beirut.

Caught off guard
Lebanon's political parties are now trying to form a new governing coalition, after the resignation on Wednesday of 11 ministers from Hezbollah and its allies, which brought down the Hariri-led administration.


They said the prime minister had rejected their demands for an urgent cabinet session to discuss withdrawing all co-operation with the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and denouncing any indictments.

Mr Hariri was in Washington for a meeting with President Barack Obama when his ministers made their move.

He then moved on to Paris for a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but has not publicly commented on developments.

He is expected back in Beirut later on Thursday to complete the formalities that will end his government and see him ushered in as caretaker prime minister, our correspondent says.

If past practice is anything to go by, it is a position he may hold for some time as the politicians try to come up with another workable coalition, he adds.


Prime suspects

President Obama said the latest moves demonstrated Hezbollah's determination to block the government's work.

On Tuesday, Lebanese officials said that efforts by the Syrian and Saudi Arabian governments to reach a political compromise had failed. The opposition claimed that a potential deal was blocked by the US.

Rafik Hariri and 22 others were killed in February 2005 when a huge bomb exploded next to his motorcade in Beirut.

Syria was initially blamed for the assassination, and eventually forced in its wake to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after 29 years. In the past year, however, members of Hezbollah have emerged as prime suspects.

Hezbollah has rejected any suggestion of involvement in the assassination. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has called the tribunal an "Israeli project" and warned of dire consequences if it indicts his followers.

There are widespread fears that a collapse of the government could spark an outbreak of sectarian violence, last seen in Beirut in 2008

from: BBC News

Tunisia: President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali forced out

Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has stepped down after 23 years in power, amid widespread protests on the streets of the capital Tunis.

In a televised address, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said he would be taking over.

A state of emergency was declared earlier, as rumbling nationwide protests over economic woes snowballed into anti-government demonstrations.

Unconfirmed reports say Mr Ben Ali has left the country.

Earlier, police fired tear gas as thousands of protesters gathered outside the interior ministry.


Doctors say that 13 people were killed in overnight clashes in Tunis, and there are unconfirmed reports that five people have been killed in protests on Friday outside the capital.

Troops have surrounded the country's main international airport, Tunis Carthage, and the country's air space has been closed.

A state of emergency decree bans gatherings of more than three people and imposes a night-time curfew. Security forces have been authorised to open fire on people not obeying their orders.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he stood side-by-side with the citizens of Tunisia, his country's former protectorate.

"Only dialogue can bring a democratic and lasting solution to the current crisis," said Mr Sarkozy in a statement.


The US, a staunch ally of Tunisia, said all people "had the right to choose their own leaders".

Mr Ghannouchi, 69, a former finance minister who has been prime minister since 1999, will serve as interim president.

In an address on state television, he promised to "respect the law and to carry out the political, economic and social reforms that have been announced".

from: BBC News

Hey, Baby, what's your sign? I'm An Ophiucus, how 'bout you?

Your Star Sign Just Got Rumbled
By Ian O'Neill | Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:22 AM ET


What was that I heard? Countless people throwing their morning newspapers' horoscopes in the bin? Or was it the cries of disbelief by thousands of "head-strong" Leos complaining that they'd been reassigned to "home-making" duties as a Cancerian?

There's been a lot of noise today about the realization that astrology had lost its (non-existent) foundations in reality and that it might actually be a load of rubbish. Why? Well, with the help of Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy, he managed to find the source of the controversy.


In an unassuming Jan. 9 StarTribune.com article, an astronomer and an astronomy teacher from the Minneapolis area were interviewed. Their opinions on astrology were printed and the general consensus was that astrology doesn't work. No surprises there.

This isn't news (in fact, it's really old news), but for some reason people paid attention to this particular article. The media went wild, astrologers felt compelled to write newsletters and science bloggers went for the jugular.

Back on Oct. 29, 2010, our very own astronomy contributor (and BBC astronomy presenter) Mark Thompson pointed out the reasons why the very basis of astrology is out of whack:

But according to astrologers there are 12 signs of the zodiac. Wrong! There are 13 signs of the zodiac; Ophiuchus is the 'new' one yet for some curious reason I have never come across an Ophiuchian!

Taking the concept of the signs of the zodiac, I was born in July which means that when I was born the sun was in Cancer. Wrong again. Originally yes, the sun would have been in Cancer when the star/sun charts were produced about 2000 years ago. But in reality, the wobble of the Earth on its axis -- which we call "precession" -- has led to them being all out of sync.

In fact, when I was born, way back in July 1973, the Sun was in Gemini. News Flash: you're all reading the wrong star signs! All those astrology columns you've read that seemed spot-on were a fluke. Surprising eh?

As you may have guessed, this isn't a new development. The Earth's precession is always steadily skewing the position of the sun through the constellations in a cycle lasting 26,000 years. You may have been born under a certain sign, as it was 2,000 years ago, but since then the sun has shifted and you were really born under a different constellation. Yet, astrologers haven't worried about synchronizing their signs with the actual constellations.

And now -- hold onto your hats! -- there's a 13th constellation that, due to the skewing effect caused by the Earth's precession, should have its own sign. That constellation is called Ophiuchus, between Scorpio and Sagittarius.

Technically, the Sun passes through Ophiuchus, and in fact is in the constellation longer than it’s in Scorpius! But we don't include it in the zodiac for a couple of reasons; one is that the stars in it are pretty faint, while those of Scorpius are brighter and easier to recognize, and another is that we can’t have 13 constellations, can we? So poor Ophiuchus is sent off to hold his serpent by himself.
--Phil Plait, Bad Astronomy
If star signs are no longer in sync with the actual constellations, and technically there should be 13 signs of the zodiac and not the current 12, how can astrologers justify the validity of their practice?

They don't have to justify anything, after all, astrology isn't a science. It is a trust in some kind of higher power (i.e. magic) that we have to believe is there. So long as astrologers make vague predictions about people's lives, and there are believers who will pay for these predictions, modern astrology is going nowhere.

But as this little kerfuffle has shown, the zodiac has absolutely zero physical effect on our lives and it never has.

Just in case you want to know the "real" dates of astrological signs according to astronomers, here they are (courtesy of Live Science):

Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
Pisces: March 11-April 18.
Aries: April 18-May 13.
Taurus: May 13-June 21.
Gemini: June 21-July 20.
Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17.
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

Image: The Prague astronomical clock, including 12 signs of the zodiac (Reed Kaestner/Corbis)

from: Discovery News

More on Ophiuchus from Wikipedia:

There are multiple versions of the story in Greek mythology. One states that Ophiuchus is identified with the healer Asclepius, son of Apollo, who became so skilled that he brought the dead back to life.[4] Then Hades became so angry that he convinced Zeus to kill Asclepius with a lightning bolt.[5] After his death, he was placed in the stars as a constellation.
Another version states that Asclepius witnessed a snake reviving a dead snake with herbs. Zeus then killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt to prevent the knowledge from spreading, but out of honor for his life works, turned him into the constellation Ophiuchus (The Snake Holder).

An Exchange

An Exchange
The fool says in his heart, "God does not exist." They are corrupt; their actions are revolting. There is no one who does good. — Psalm 14:1


For God has imprisoned all in disobedience that He may have mercy on all — Romans 11:32

Atheist: I don't believe in god. There is no god. God does not exist.

Theist: I don't believe in atheists. There are no atheists. Atheists do not exist.

Atheist: Wait a minute. Don't try playing this game with me. You're going to try to get me to prove I exist, and, of course, you'll deny all my proofs just as I deny your proofs about God.

Theist: [Shrugs]

Atheist: I'm on to you. It won't work. Your approach is simply childish and absurd.

Theist: [Sips coffee]

Atheist: Oh, I see, now you're making the argument that my argument is childish and absurd since existence without (airquotes) god is itself absurd. Is that it?

Theist: [Yawns]

Atheist: I get it. Now you're suggesting that I'm the one who is obsessing over something I claim doesn't exist. But the fact is that billions of people around the world are drawn in and deluded by this whole god thing, to their detriment. They are controlled by baseless guilt and shame and meaningless moral absolutes. They live with a false hope of being rescued at the end of life by an old man in the sky. They can be set free from —-

Theist: [Passes a loud and malodorous fart]

Atheist: So now you're challenging my belief in restraints on society. I've heard this argument. 'If everything is relative...' or 'if we can all just do what we want ...'. My response, of course, is reason. Humans are capable of reason and can derive reasonable limits and recognize the rights of others so that we can maximize happiness as a society because we evolved as social animals. That's where how our intelligence evolved, through consensus and objective agreement about how to interpret the world.

Mind you, I'm not saying that religion, which was part of that evolutionary process, didn't serve a purpose at one time. You need to face the fact that we now understand how the world works. We know there is no old man in the sky. We've gone beyond the need for the boundaries that belief in gods imposed, and we live much happier, fuller lives without it.

Theist: [Glances at his watch]

Atheist: Oh, please! Death is simply the cessation of life. There is no eternal happy heaven, and, conversely, there is no eternal punishment in hell. We are animals who live, pass on our DNA, and, now, our knowledge and our discoveries and our understanding. We may not be evolved enough mentally — and we won't be until all you deluded believers wake up — we may not be there yet, but we will do what we can to make the world a better place, to increase knowledge, to give succeeding generations the power to fully understand and fully inhabit the universe ...

Theist: [Smiles]

Atheist: You think you've got me with the word 'better'? I've already explained that reason is the basis for a positively evolving ...

Theist: [Laughs]

Atheist: It's just a limitation of the language. Everybody knows —

Theist: - that atheists don't exist.

(by Mushroom of funglejungle)

This post really made me think. What happened at the end? Did the Atheist disappear in a puff of logic?  - Cliff

My ears are warm...because of my hat.

I have a warm hat that I think is made of rabbit fur. I like it very much. It has been wonderful to have on my head in the below zero weather we experienced this past week. However, on one of those days, I had to enter a building where there was security check. The guy operating the security check point did not like the fact that I did not take off my hat immediately upon entering the building.

My hat covers my ears and has clips that click together under my chin. My custom is to take off my gloves in order to undo the clasps. However, when it is eleven below zero, I might still have my hat and gloves on for a few moments, even after entering a building. That's what I did on the day I met the 5-foot-three-direct-ancestor-of-Napoleon security guard. Mr. Security Guard sternly lectured me on the importance of rapid removal of hats when entering his precious building, and warned me not to try to put it back on while still inside the building.

Guess what? Yesterday I had to go back in that building, and it was still below zero at 8 a.m. when I entered the building. I completely forgot to take off my hat. Mr. Security Guard went ballistic. Colleen was with me. He asked if we were together, and I said we were, so he was immediately rude to her, too. Colleen whispered to me that he probably thinks I have a gun in my hat, and was probably going to toss the gun to her so she could stick up the place, ala Bonnie and Clyde.

After feeling that he had been sufficiently rude to us, he allowed us to retrieve the items from the large plastic bowl, even my belt, which he had demanded be removed. Over the last several months, my weight has gone from 218 pounds to 173 pounds, so I was worried that without my belt, my pants would start to fall down. Can you imagine how Mr. Security Guard would have reacted to that scenario?

I love my rabbit fur warm hat. My ears don't get cold, even when the temperature is below zero. And, like Andy over at Andy's Place, I look good in it.

A visit to the children's classrooms

I had a day off today, so I decided to visit the classrooms of my three children. First on the docket was Greg's fourth grade class. This was a teacher who believes in freedom. Kids were talking all around the room and walking back and forth. When I was introduced as Greg's father, kids shouted out from all corners of the room that "Greg is hilarious." One boy even walked over to Greg and raised Greg's hand in the air like a referee would raise the hand of the winner of a prizefight, and announced, "Greg is hilarious!" Greg did say something funny when the kid raised his hand: "You are overdoing your pride in my achievements!"

Okay, I thought, the kids like him, but is he the class clown? The kids were working on graphs for a math assignment. Greg got up and went over to the teacher, who was sitting on her fanny taking a break, I guess. Greg said, "This doesn't make any sense!" She re-read the instructions to him, but I don't think Greg was convinced that it made any sense. I spoke briefly with the teacher, who, as far as I could see, was not doing any teaching. She said, "If Greg put half as much energy into just doing his work as he does in trying to avoid his work, he would accomplish amazing things." Sigh.

But wait, there is hope. My next stop was Jon's classroom, which will be Greg's next year. Can you say NO NONSENSE? Jon's teacher was intense, passionate, terrific. Those kids are going to learn every subject she teaches; I have not a shadow of a doubt! And guess what? Like me, she is a huge fan of the writer Pat Conroy. She had amazing control of that classroom. Does a child have poor posture? She will remark about it and the child will immediately straighten up. All of the children were completely involved in learning the multiplication and division problems. The teacher would make a presentation at the front of the room, then circle throughout the room checking everyone's work, while still holding the attention of the entire class. She used humor, but was entirely focused on teaching the subject matter, and so were the children. No clowns allowed in this class.

I sat next to Jon, and noticed that he was just as fidgety as he is when I am reading to him and Greg at night. He was tapping lightly with a magnet, wiggling his feet, eating his pencil, but he was staying up with the teacher even if it was math, which is not Jon's best subject (writing and p.e. are).

Lastly, I went to Sara's class. She seemed very, very glad to see me. I sat down next to her. One of the first things she told me was that she can lift off the ground every single kid in the class. If you could see her and the rest of the class, you would immediately believe Sara, who is at least a head taller than any other child (we think her biological father must have been a NBA player). Not to my surprise, Sara was working way ahead of her teacher and the other kids. That is the way she is with me, too. She whispered to me that the next time I come she wants me to teach the class along with her teacher, and she will speak to the teacher about that.

Michael Ramiriez cartoon

via Looking Spoon

CNN: Snow on the ground in 49 of the 50 States

After big snow and ice events in the Southeast, Plains, and Midwest this week, 49 out of the 50 states currently have snow on the ground –  yes, even Hawaii, where snow falls in Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea all winter.

The only state that has avoided this icy blast is Florida.  Does that make you want to go on a nice, warm vacation to the Sunshine State?  You're not alone.

Put another way, that means snow is present in 69.4 percent of the lower 48, which is more than double than December.  This is extremely unusual, though it's hard to put a date on when this last happened because records aren't kept on this kind of event.

The 39-second Space Painting

Kids try to figure out 80's technology

Dennis Prager: Nothing sacred

For the Left, every text is ‘living’

A number of well-known spokesmen on the left have voiced reservations, not only about the Republican decision to have members of Congress — both Republicans and Democrats — read the Constitution aloud at the opening of the latest session of Congress, but also about Americans’ veneration of the Constitution.

Three examples:

In a recent appearance on MSNBC, Washington Post staff writer Ezra Klein said: “The issue with the Constitution is that the text is confusing because it was written more than a hundred years ago and what people believe it says differs from person to person.”

Joy Behar asked her guests on CNN’s Headline News, “Do you think this Constitution-loving is getting out of hand?”

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.) complained that “they are reading it [the Constitution] like a sacred text.”

What troubles Mr. Klein, Ms. Behar, and Congressman Nadler?

The answer is that for leftism — though not necessarily for every individual who considers himself a leftist — there are no sacred texts. The two major examples are the Constitution and the Bible.

One cannot understand the Left without understanding this. The demotion of the sacred in general and of sacred texts specifically is at the center of leftist thinking.

The reason is that elevating any standard, any religion, any text to the level of the sacred means that it is above any individual. Therefore, what any one individual or even society believes is of secondary importance to that which is deemed sacred. If, to cite the most obvious example, the Bible is sacred, then I have to revere it more than I revere my own feelings in assessing what is right and wrong.

But for the Left, what is right and wrong is determined by every individual’s feelings, not by anything above the individual.

This is a major reason why the Left, since Karl Marx, has been so opposed to Judeo-Christian religion. For Judaism and Christianity, God and the Bible are above the self. Indeed, Western civilization was built on the idea that the individual and society are morally accountable to God and to the moral demands of that book. That was the view, incidentally, of every one of the Founders, including deists such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

This is entirely unacceptable to the Left. As Marx and Engels said, “Man is God and God is man.” Therefore, society must rid itself of the sacred, i.e., God and the Bible. Then each of us (or the society or the party or the judiciary) takes the place of God and the Bible.

Morality is then no longer a God-given objective fact; it becomes a human-created subjective opinion. And one no longer needs to consult an external source to know right and wrong, only one’s heart. We are then no longer accountable to God for transgressions, only to ourselves.

That is why, when there is God-talk on the Left, it is usually about “the God that is within each of us,” not a God external to, let alone above, us, as Judaism and Christianity have always taught.

This explains the belief that is universally held on the Left that the Constitution is an “evolving text,” meaning that it says what anyone (on the Left) wants it to say. Conservatives, on the other hand, do not share this view. They do not believe the Constitution has something to say about everything they believe in. While the Left sees the right to abortion in the Constitution (because the Left believes in the right to abortion), those who oppose abortion do not believe that the Constitution prohibits abortion. They believe that the Constitution is silent on the issue. Precisely because the Right does believe the Constitution is to be treated as sacred, it does not claim that whatever it supports is in the Constitution or that whatever it opposes is unconstitutional.

There are humble individuals and arrogant individuals on the right and on the left. But there is no arrogance like leftist arrogance. If you hold a leftist position, you know that you are smarter, wiser, and more moral not only than conservatives, but more so than the Bible, more so than the Constitution, indeed often more so than everyone who lived before you.

Same-sex marriage is a perfect example. The fact that neither Moses nor the Hebrew Prophets, nor Jesus nor the Buddha nor any great secular humanist thinker, ever advocated defining marriage as between members of the same sex does not cause the Left to rethink its advocacy of same-sex marriage; it only proves to them how morally superior they are to Moses, Jesus, the Prophets, and everyone else who lived before them.

That is why we must to treat the Constitution as a sacred text. Because the bottom line is this: If it is not regarded as sacred, it is nothing more than what anyone believes about any social issue. Which is precisely what the Left wants it to be — providing, of course, that the “anyone” is a liberal.

For the Left, there are no sacred texts. There are only sacred (liberal) feelings.

— Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist. He may be contacted through his website, dennisprager.com.

Hallowed Be thy Name

Julie Cork blogs about a wonderful gift her family received. Please go here to watch and listen to a beautiful CD.

Sara on the importance of Family and School

Seven-year-old Sara said to me this morning, "I'm glad I have a family. I'd be bored without a parent around. Children who are left alone might trash the place, and maybe even light things on fire and burn the house down! My advice to other kids is, "without a family, you are going to be bored, so GET A FAMILY!"

"If you have a family, you have somebody to talk to. I'm very talkative, and I love to get attention. People get annoyed if I talk too much. If you talk too much, you might get out of breath or fall asleep. My advice to other kids is "Find someone to talk to, but don't interrupt them if they are talking to someone else."

"Oh, and one more thing, Dad. It's the law that children have to go to school. School is what you need to learn. You need to pay attention in school, and not just mess around."

Not giving in to self-pity

I wish I would have mastered the art of anger control earlier in my life. If I would have, I am convinced that my life today would be a million times better in all phases. In recent years I have learned that the biggest trap of all is self-pity. Once you give in to self-pity, you feel justified to unleash anger. Realizing this is a self-defeating activity, I pray daily for the Holy Spirit's power to overcome the temptation to give in to self-pity. I especially pray when the temptation is right on me. As Steve Martin said in his book The Pleasure of My Company, "There are many takers for the quiet heart."

One of the best gifts a parent can give his or her children is the gift of learning the importance of avoiding the temptation to give in to self-pity. This morning seven-year-old Sara was rude to ten-year-old Jon for several minutes. Finally, Jon had had enough, and came charging after Sara. Nine-year-old Greg grabbed Jon from behind, and held him back, telling Jon that if he did something to Sara, it would only make matters worse. I was so proud of Greg, and told him so clearly and emphatically.

I certainly don't claim to have mastered the ability to avoid self-pity. Anger is easier to control than self-pity, because self-pity is a thought, and anger is an action. Thoughts precede actions. It is the thoughts that we need to give priority to. If we can train ourselves to avoid the thoughts associated with self-pity, we can avoid the actions that produce results that are less than beneficial to ourselves and others.

How do we get motivated to learn to control thoughts of self-pity? There has to be some motivating factor. Impending loss of someone(s) near and dear can be a strong motivator. Job loss? Loss seems to loom large as a motivator. What has been your experience with this subject?

Live to Die

Live to Die (for virgins in the sky) BANNED by Youtube from Joe Dan on Vimeo.

Via Moonbattery

1/12/2011
UPDATE: This video was also banned by Vimeo on 1/11/2011. It is now on the Joe Dan Media site with another host. Go check it out at http://www.joedanmedia.com/ and see what all the hype is about!

Don't Quit! by ten-year-old Jon Agard

Don't quit! Go out and stand for what you believe in. If you get knocked down, get back up. There are a bunch of things that can knock you down, and one of them is life itself. Life isn't smooth sailing or driving on a paved road. It's sailing through a raging hurricane or driving on a country backroad that hasn't been groomed. Do what you think you can do. Don't let the limits of other people's imagination stop yours from growing. Take risks. They might help you excel. You might achieve your goal, and you might not, but you definitely won't if you don't take risks and try your hardest.

All I needed to know, I learned in...first grade?

"How was your day, Sara?"

"Great! Dalton was playing Ninja. He needed a girl. He trained me how to be a Ninja. You sneak up on people, flip over on the monkey bars, then run really fast."

"I also made friends with MacKenzie, after she tattled on me and tried to get me in trouble with the teacher, so I would miss out on recess. I told the teacher the real truth: that I put my pencil in Kendall's desk by accident." (I think something is missing from this story, but I'm not sure exactly what, and, anyway, Sara is already on to the next story about her school day).

"We colored our brain, heart and skeleton. I stayed in the lines, because that is exactly how our bodies are."

"Now, Daddy can we read How the Camel Got His Hump?"

Brushing My Teeth, by ten-year-old Jon Agard

I tumbled into the treacherous bathroom. I fell to the hard, cold floor. I stopped sobbing, and the snorts of laughter from the evil torturer who forced me to call her "Mom" pierced my ears. I scampered to my feet and picked up the slime-covered toothbrush. I slopped on the toothpaste, and then I started to brush. As I finished the top row, and the tedious slick-slosh was stopping, the torturing menace gave me a great snarl and with one bony finger pointed to my bedroom. I began to wimper sadly as I slid into the creeking and cracking bed, and SMASH, I fell into a deep sleep.

A creepy news story

Did you know that there is something called the National Bed Bug Forum? I am not making this up! This is not an article from The Onion. I am citing an article in today's Denver Post, which covered the "packed" forum in Broomfield, Colorado at a fancy hotel. Did you know that in any one 180 day period of time, one female bedbug produces 7,848 adults, 69,909 eggs, 121,449 nymphs, and 169,490 bites?

Our nation is facing an "unstoppable infestation" of bedbugs. The last time our nation had such a terrible infestation, it was stopped by vigilant parents, except not my Mom and Dad, in the late 1950s. The article does not say what those other parents did to stem the tide of bed bugs, but I know who caused the nationwide infestations in the 1950s. It was MY MOTHER! I would be sitting in my favorite chair, reading my favorite book, and MY MOTHER would move my chair out of the dark part of the living room over to the big window so I would read by "God's light." The bedbugs fled my house and infested our whole nation!

Guess what has been contributing to the new infestation? IMMIGRATION! Also, you have been shopping at the Goodwill and other thrift stores way too much during this recession! You bring home more and more stuff in which the bedbugs can hide in the "dark nooks and crannies" between your stuff! They hang out there until they want to get warm, and that's where YOU come in! Once "sated" with your blood, they mate with wild abandon! These bedbugs of 2011 have genetically modified themselves, so even DDT, which used to be effective, no longer would be, even if the Democrat bureaucrats would let you spray it all over your mattress.

By the way, those are not apple seeds in your bed. They are BEDBUGS! What is the best way to get rid of them? Throw everything in your house into your dryer for fifteen minutes. It might take more than one dryer load, since you have been buying all that stuff at the thrift stores. One noted expert said it is only a matter of time before infestations will have to be treated in "homes, hotels, schools, hospitals, movie theaters, offices, college dorms, ambulances and elsewhere."

This is one area that President Obama is not touching with federal funds. It is going to have be the pest control industry, which has more than 500 operations in the U.S. A survey of pest control operators indicated that 76% of them considered bedbugs the hardest pest to eradicate. 13% cited ants, 9% cited roaches, while only a few cited termites.

You're welcome.

Ace of Spades answers Democrats on the importance of the Constitution

Liberals (Democrats) are mocking Republicans for their "reverence" for the U.S. Constitution. Ace of Spades emphatically answers those critics. Here are just a few of Ace's ideas on the subject. Read the whole thing here.

"Let me tell you why I "worship" the Constitution. I do not believe it contains "all answers" within it. But I do believe it sets the ground-rules for how we shall conduct our democracy, what's in bounds, what's out of bounds, and (the biggest category) what is fair game for democratic debate; and more importantly, the precise method by which we will change these ground-rules (amendments). He who controls the rules controls the game, and it's critical in any society to have the rule-making not subject to an intellectual's whim and partisan's gamesmanship: Arguments about the rules often means the game stops being played, and as the game we are talking about is functioning, peaceful, remarkable democracy -- and an abandonment of that particular game could be catastrophic -- I'd strongly advise everyone to play by the rules as plainly specified in the rule-book and not attempt to make up new rules to advantage themselves for short-term gain.

Because this particular game is extremely important. We are blessed in America to have a politics with almost no political violence -- but that blessing isn't luck, and whether it comes from God or man, it is surely secured and maintained by the actions of man. And this constant agitation from the leftist side of things to go outside the rulebook (but only when it benefits them!) is a dangerous game.

So yeah, I think a little bit of worship is in order. To be honest, it matters less what the specific rules are than the rules, whatever they are, be scrupulously followed by all. To do otherwise is to treat a peaceful, stable democracy as if it's something we should take for granted, which can never devolve into blood and evil.

Look around the world; it's the peaceful, stable, respectful democracies which are the exception and the rule of blood and hate which is the rule. There's nothing that says it has to stay that way.

We all know what the rulebook says the rules are. The amendment process is not unclear. So yes, let's maybe be a little reverential about observing the rules that have kept this a functioning, peaceful democracy for 230 years."

How the Holy Spirit works

Right after I saw the man I wrote about in the post below, I found somebody's wallet on the floor. It was chocked full of stuff, and although I didn't open it, I saw that there was money in it. I took it to a manager in Customer Service. About an hour later the owner of the wallet came up to me and thanked me. You could tell he had been really worried. He offered to buy me dinner. I joked that he didn't need to do that, since I had already taken $25.00 out of it as a reward. He laughed right away and said he knew that wan't true, since he didn't have $25.00 in it (Whew). Sometimes my outrageous sense of humor almost gets me in trouble!

They do it for us.

Yesterday, where I work, I saw a man walking. He looked to be in excruciating pain. I asked him about it. He said he was trying to get used to a prosthesis. His entire leg had been blown off in Afghanistan. He told me he just came from the V.A. hospital, and he does not want to go back, because he has one bad experience after another with the bureaucrats there. He said he is a Marine stationed at Fort Carson near Colorado Springs.

But he did not want to talk about his problems. He wanted to tell the store manager how helpful one of our employees had been to him. I wrote down the name and number of our store manager and gave it to him. I thanked him humbly for his service, choking back tears, and wished him help from God in his recovery process. He left with a smile and his head up.

News of the day

Always carry your camera with you. You just never know when you might get to take a pic like this one.
Via iOwnTheWorld

Another under the bus

Apparently Robert Gibbs resigned as White House Press Secretary today. Innominatus has the inside scoop here.

This is a day to celebrate!

For those of us who have been waiting for this day, I say, CONGRATULATIONS!
We did it!
WooooHoooo!
We are the Champions!
Hi ho, the wicked witch is...GONE!
Yes!
Yes!
Take that! A great big gavel in your liberal punk face!
Speaker Boehner, in da House!!
Taxed Enough Already has become Taken Everything Away from Pelosi!
How do you like this party, Nancy?!
Lame-stream media won't let Conservatives celebrate,
but they don't control the Blogosphere, be-otches!
And here's a huge WOOOHOOO to all those Governors and state legislators being sworn in around these times!! Whole lotta RED on that map! Yeah!
Tax and spend has seen it's END!!!
OK, I feel a LOT better!
Did I mention that Queen Rahm Emmanuel and Prince Robert Gibbs are gone!
Oh yeah, a good day, a good day.
Now back to work, you pajama wearin' slackers, we've got a world to change!

Boehner Elected House Speaker, Takes Gavel From Pelosi

In an emotionally charged moment during the opening act of the 112th Congress, a teary-eyed John Boehner of Ohio, took the gavel from Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, officially becoming the 61st House speaker.

In his speech to fellow lawmakers, Boehner vowed to give the government back to the people, renew focus on the Constitution and provide transparency, honest and accountability.

"Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the 112th Congress," he said. "No longer can we fall short. No longer can we kick the can down the road. The people voted to end business as usual and today we begin to carry out their instructions."

Lawmakers voted for Boehner as House speaker with 241 of 242 Republican votes. However, outgoing Pelosi faced a minor revolt from several of the 193 Democrats now in the minority.

While it's traditional for the minority to vote its leader as speaker, even on the assumption the leader will lose, Pelosi was not the choice of 19 lawmakers. It was the largest number of defections for any formal candidate for speaker since January 1997 when nine Republicans voted against House Speaker Newt Gingrich. At that time, four voted for another member and five members voted present.
via; Fox News

Gibbs to Step Down as Obama Spokesman Amid White House Shakeup

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is stepping down as the chief spokesman for the White House to become an outside adviser to the president and his re-election campaign, Fox News has confirmed.

No successor has been immediately named. But Gibbs told The New York Times, which first reported the departure, that a replacement will likely be announced within the next two weeks.

Gibbs' departure from the briefing room podium is part of a broader shakeup in President Obama's senior leadership team as the White House pivots to deal with a new era of divided power in Washington.

Gibbs will leave after Obama delivers his State of the Union address at the end of this month, a senior administration official told Fox News. While Gibbs will no longer be the face of the administration, he will still be giving speeches on behalf of the president and making TV appearances.

Via: Fox News

Don't believe the spin here, folks. This is a melt down.  - Cliff

New ads aimed at teens

Warning: I apologize if anyone finds this video offensive. I salute The Onion, though, for satire that is cutting edge and fearless. Find it here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82x9pzHkHK4

What if our Founding Fathers were able to use Word 2010 to draft the Declaration of Independence?

Via ADFREAK

Barack getting advice from Michael Vick?

Not to be outdone by Frank J., Basil at IMAO has a sccop on Barack Obama getting advice from Michael Vick.

Another candidate for Michael Steele's job

Poor Michael Steele. It seems that every week someone is wanting to oust him from his chairmanship of the Republican Party. Even Frank J. of IMAO is getting into the act. He actually has a pretty good platform. Check it out here.

Joe Biden saves the day!

Have you heard about the traumatic brain injury suffered by President Obama? Man, that guy is in a stressful situation, even in his own cabinet meetings!

Applying words of songs to our own lives

Trinka posted these thoughts on her blog A little accountability.

* Silent Night: Has God brought special direction or answers in the silence of a long, sleepless night?
* Joy to the World: Has your heart ever been so full of joy that you felt like shouting it to the world?
* O Come, All Ye Faithful: Have God's "faithful ones" been there for you in a time of great need?
* God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: When has God brought a supernatural peace into your life?
* Go Tell it on the Mountain: Tell about a time when you felt led to share the good news.
* Winter Wonderland: Share a time when you were overwhelmed by the beauty of a winter scene.
* Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas: Relate a Christmas that was meager with little resources, but became a blessing.
* Let it Snow: Describe a meaningful "snowed in" experience
* O Come Emmanuel: When did God's presence shine through after desperate cries for help? inka at A little accountability posted these thoughts on her blog:

Dennis Prager: From Yale to the NFL

From Yale to the NFL
Are we still the home of the brave?

Last week, the National Football League called off a game because it was going to snow in Philadelphia. This has not happened before. American football is played under all weather conditions. That is part of its appeal. Snow, rain, freezing temperatures — nothing stops an NFL game.

But last Sunday, the NFL and Philadelphia city officials called off the Eagles–Vikings game because of an imminent snowstorm — in order to protect fans from having to drive at that time.

Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, wrote a scathing column for the Washington Times indicting those who called off the game. He described it as an example of the “wussification” of America.

He was right.

Sadly, this risk-averse/avoid-pain mindset is overtaking America. Anything that entails risk is to be avoided and, when possible, banned. The breast-cancer drug Avastin has just been banned by the FDA because of a side-effect risk. Yet terminally ill breast cancer patients who understand the risks have begged to be allowed to take the drug (even Europe allows it). Peanuts and peanut butter, particularly good sources of protein for kids (because kids actually like and therefore eat peanuts and peanut butter), are banned in more and more schools because of the risk (which is far less than that of being killed by lightning) that peanut-allergic students may die in schools that do not ban peanuts. Desperately needed nuclear power plants are shelved because of the infinitesimally small risk of nuclear-waste-radiation leakage. And now an NFL game is canceled because of the risk that some fans might get into auto accidents in a snowstorm.

Americans are becoming increasingly risk-averse.

Though Governor Rendell is a Democrat, this risk aversion comes from the Left, which has made it its mission to protect people from risk. Risk may lead to pain, and the Left dreams of a pain-free life.

The most left-wing institutions in America, our universities, are therefore the most pain- and risk-averse. That is the reason for speech codes on campuses: No student should have his or her feelings hurt or ever feel “offended.” Likewise, no Christmas trees are allowed lest a non-Christian student feel not included.

That is why Yale University Press last year decided at the last minute to cancel inclusion of the Danish cartoons of Muhammad in the book it was about to publish about the Danish Muhammad cartoons! Too risky. The liberal university now stands for avoiding pain much more than for freedom of speech.

I have a sad confession to make. Whenever I hear or sing the National Anthem, I no longer fully believe its ending — “o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” We have many freedom loving and brave Americans — just think of those in the armed forces. But overall, risk has been banned as Americans seek to be immunized against pain.

Needless to say, the liberal Philadelphia Inquirer supported the decision to cancel the football game. And so did some of my callers who think of themselves as conservative. But all those self-identified conservative callers who supported the decision were, I noted on air, under the age of 40.

I explained to them that they have grown up in a different America than I did. The idea of telling an American that a pro-football game is canceled because he might drive in bad weather strikes a conservative over 40 as demeaning. But the young have been raised without monkey bars, dodgeball, or see-saws lest they fall and hurt themselves, and without “Merry Christmas” lest it offend; protected by parents and schools from experiencing the pain of a loss in sports; told they are wonderful when they are not; and otherwise weakened to the point where it seems perfectly natural to cancel a football game because fans may drive in bad weather.

A listener who disagreed with me sent me an e-mail asking how I would feel if my father drove to that game and died in an accident because emergency vehicles could not reach him in time. I responded by giving my correspondent my father’s e-mail address. I told him that I suspected that my father, who is a healthy 92 and fought for three years in World War II, would probably respond that he doesn’t recognize the America of today as the one he fought for 65 years ago.

That’s why the cancellations by the NFL and Yale University are important. Once the home of the brave, America is becoming the home of the risk-averse and the pain-avoiders. And when you are risk-averse you are not only less brave, you are less free. With freedom comes pain, a price more and more Americans don’t want to pay.

— Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist. He may be contacted through his website, dennisprager.com.
from National Review Online

The true story of Santa Claus

Not to be outdone by their sister, (please see previous post below) Jon and Greg (ages ten and nine) put their heads together and put on a rather elaborate play, featuring 8 scenes, with numerous costume and role changes. Without further adieu, here is The True Story of Santa Claus.

Scene One: A baby is born to Mrs.Claus (Greg). The lyrics are all about what to name the baby. Naturally, they agree on "Santa."

Scene Two: Santa Claus is five years old. It is the year 1440. Santa's mother (Greg in a dress) comes into his room and finds him smoking a pipe. When she demands to know why he is smoking a pipe, Santa (Jon) replies, "It's the style of the forties, Dude."

Scene Three: Santa Claus is now ten years old. He is eating a huge pile of junk food.
Mother (Greg) confronts Santa, "What are you becoming, Santa?
It's a failure to call you my son!" Santa, with his mouth full of candy and drinking a Sprite, mumbles this pitiful excuse, "It's good to be an only child!"

Scene Four: Santa is still ten years old. Greg is now Santa Claus. Jon is a mutant bunny rabbit. "I was sent by God to cast a spell on you, because you have been a bad boy. You are now obese! Fear not, God has decided to be merciful to you. You will be sentenced to go to the North Pole. Every year on December 25 you will deliver toys to all the children of the world. You will have a selection of Elves to help you make all the toys."

Greg (Santa) replies, "So you're going to torture me?"
Jon (messenger from God) answers, "Yes, well that is the bad news. The good news is that because I am casting a spell over you, you won't ever die."

Scene Five: Now Santa (Jon) is "an old geezer" 700 years later. Greg is Head Elf, shouting at the other elves to "get working!" He apologizes to Santa for the poor toy production. Santa is overwhelmed by a huge stack of letters from children. He becomes out-of-sorts and starts screaming at Head Elf for the lack of production from the elves.

Scene Six: Santa is burning all the letters. He failed to notice that one was from a "snotty rich kid" who threatened to kill Santa if he did not receive a powerful Tommygun for Christmas.

Scene Seven: (Major action scene of the play) Greg and Jon are elves making toys. Greg complains, "I hate this job: It is the day after Christmas, and we are already making toys for next Christmas!" Jon agrees, saying "No one gives us any credit. Santa gets all the credit. We don't even get paid!" Jon is interrupted by a large BOOM! It is the "sadistic rich kid, armed with the latest Nerf gun from Walmart. He disguises himself as an elf, and kills one of the elves, before demanding to know where he can find Santa. At first Jon refuses to tell him, but then he remembers that the elves are making all the toys, and Santa is getting all the credit, and he tells the kid he can find Santa on the 47th floor in his office.

Scene Eight: Santa Claus is going over the events of the previous day. It was not pretty. The sleigh had broken down, and Rudolph had died a tragic death when his mercury-filled Obama light bulb exploded just after take-off (Hey, I am the blogger here; I can add whatever touches I want to this script)! Greg (playing the kid with the Nerf gun, mows down Santa (Jon), saying, "so you think you cannot die of old age. Well, maybe not, but I can shoot you!"

The narrator (Jon) then comes forward wearing one of my old suits. "And that is the true story of the sad ending of Santa Claus. The sadistic kid took over the North Pole, and all the elves were kept busy making toys only for him. There will be no more Christmases." Just then the sadistic kid (Greg) mows down the narrator, to give the play a happy ending.

A Christmas play (better late than never)

Tonight the three younger children were ready for me when I came home from work. First, Sara put on a show featuring original lyrics, (and how!) singing and dancing. In the middle of the performance Greg came over to me and whispered, "Is this supposed to be the Nativity?" He asked that because the lyrics featured the baby Jesus, cats, chickens, dogs, and a turkey. One of the cats became a pony. One line I remember: "Jesus was born with lovely hair, and He can wear underwear." A "big, fat Monster" took off the horse's head, which became a worm.

No worries. The next scene was "Here come the angels nice and small, sitting in a tree." Next came the beautiful Princess who happily lived with the King of Birth."
In the next scene, darkness covers the Earth, and Mrs. Meaniehead arrives on stage. "I'm a good girl, but people say I'm mean, that I just care about me, me, me!" "Then came the final gift of death: the world is horrible and my mean little kitten hisses."

At this point the boys had had enough, and tried to disrupt the performance. Undaunted, Sara warned, "If you get in this room, and you are a little boy, you will be kissed, and you'll turn into a little fat frog. Then you'll turn into a little tiny woman, and my cat will eat you up! And that's the end of the world!"

Next scene: "Here comes the beautiful Princess of Love. Kiss her nice. There is no such thing as a fairy, so they'll fly away and Santa Claus will bring you presents if you've been good, loving, and sharing." "Welcome everyone. It's Christmas time. The party is just beginning. Can't you see these lovely reed flutes?"

Bus Tour of Global Warming

I don't know where this pic was taken. Found it at Theo Spark

2010 statistics on Airport screening from the Department of Homeland Security

Terrorist Plots Discovered 0
Transvestites 133
Hernias 1,485
Hemorrhoid Cases 3,172
Enlarged Prostates 8,249
Breast Implants 59,350
Natural Blondes 3

Via Theo Sparks

A Message from some astronauts and a country singer

Apollo message from The Bible and Society
Alan Jackson message from You Tube

Let us not forget...

As the newly elected Congresspersons prepare to move in to their new digs, let us not forget the Congresspersons and their staffs who are now being displaced. Iowahawk has some very thorough and helpful suggestions, including assessing your skills and competencies, familiarizing yourself with your new industry, getting the skills you need, finding job openings, preparing your resume, the job interview, and going on public assistance.

Getting a "head start on future tax obligations"

Did you know that more and more financial planners are setting up offices in day care centers in order to explain to children "the need to invest a portion of their allowances in flexible foreign funds?" "Kids need to get a head start on their payment obligations these days," said one center worker. "So it only makes sense to add a review of future tax obligations to the mix of activities day care centers have to offer."
Via Op-Toons Review

What every parent needs

Via Bad Friggin' Hair

2011: Let's start with some cartoons!

Click on each cartoon to see them better.

Via The Mega Independent

Protect us from our protectors!

Can't get legislation through Congress? No worries, the Obama administration just issues new regulations to grab more power for the government. Can't get an appointment through Congress? No worries, just wait till Congress is in recess, and appoint whomever you want to fill vacancies (new deputy attorney general and new U.S. Ambassador to Syria).

But wait, there is something called the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn regulatory agency orders with a simple majority in the House and Senate. New internet regulations issued on the eve of Christmas Eve, other regulations being issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and others, should give Republicans lots of opportunities to protect us from our protectors during these next two years of Obama's Presidency.

VIctor Davis Hanson: The American 21st Century

America’s rivals lack the culture necessary to sustain greatness.

The current debt, recession, wars, and political infighting have depressed Americans into thinking their country soon will be overtaken by more vigorous rivals abroad. Yet this is an American fear as old as it is improbable.

In the 1930s, the Great Depression supposedly marked the end of freewheeling American capitalism. The 1950s were caricatured as a period of mindless American conformity, McCarthyism, and obsequious company men.

By the late 1960s, the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., along with the Vietnam War, had fueled a hippie counterculture that purportedly was going to replace a toxic American establishment. In the 1970s, oil shocks, gas lines, Watergate, and new rustbelts were said to be symptomatic of a post-industrial, has-been America.

At the same time, other nations, we were typically told, were doing far better.

In the late 1940s, with the rise of a postwar Soviet Union that had crushed Hitler’s Wehrmacht on the eastern front during World War II, Communism promised a New Man as it swept through Eastern Europe.

Mao Zedong took power in China and inspired Communist revolutions from North Korea to Cuba. Statist central planning was going to replace the unfairness and inefficiency of Western-style capitalism. Yet just a half-century later, Communism had either imploded or been superseded in most of the world.

By the early 1980s, Japan’s state capitalism along with emphasis on the group rather than the individual was being touted as the ideal balance between the public and private sectors. Japan Inc. continually outpaced the growth of the American economy. Then, in the 1990s, a real-estate bubble and a lack of fiscal transparency led to a collapse of property prices and a general recession. A shrinking and aging Japanese population, led by a secretive government, has been struggling ever since to recover the old magic.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the European Union was hailed as the proper Western paradigm of the future. The euro soared over the dollar. Europe practiced a sophisticated “soft power,” while American cowboyism was derided for getting us into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Civilized cradle-to-grave benefits were contrasted with the frontier, every-man-for-himself American system.

Now Europe limps from crisis to crisis. Its undemocratic union, coupled with socialist entitlements, is proving unsustainable. Symptoms of the ossified European system appear in everything from a shrinking population and a growing atheism to an inability to integrate Muslim immigrants or field a credible military.

As we enter this new decade, we are being lectured that China is soon to be the global colossus. Its economy is now second only to America’s, but with a far faster rate of growth and with budget surpluses rather than debt. Few seem to mention that China’s mounting social tensions, mercantilism, environmental degradation, and state bosses belong more to a 19th- than a 21st-century nation.

Amid all this doom and gloom, two factors are constant over the decades. First, America goes through periodic bouts of neurotic self-doubt, only to wake up and snap out of it. Indeed, indebted Americans are already bracing for fiscal restraint and parsimony as an antidote to past profligacy.

Second, decline is relative and does not occur in a vacuum. As Western economic and scientific values ripple out from Europe and the United States, it is understandable that developing countries like China, India, and Brazil can catapult right into the 21st century. But that said, national strength is still measured by the underlying hardiness of the patient — its demography, culture, and institutions — rather than by occasional symptoms of ill health.

In that regard, America integrates immigrants and assimilates races and ethnicities in a way Europe cannot. Russia, China, and Japan are simply not culturally equipped to deal with millions who do not look Slavic, Chinese, or Japanese. The Islamic world cannot ensure religious parity to Christians, Jews, or Hindus — or political equality to women.

The American Constitution has been tested over 223 years. In contrast, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, and South Korea have constitutional pedigrees of not much more than 60 years. The last time Americans killed each other in large numbers was nearly a century and a half ago; most of our rivals have seen millions of their own destroyed in civil strife and internecine warring just this past century.

In short, a nation’s health is gauged not by bouts of recession and self-doubt, but by the durability of its political, economic, military, and social foundations. A temporarily ill-seeming America is nevertheless still growing, stable, multiethnic, transparent, individualistic, self-critical, and meritocratic; almost all of its apparently healthy rivals, by contrast, are not.

— Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author, most recently, of The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern. You can reach him by e-mailing author@victorhanson.com.
from National Review Online