What It's About

Welcome to my blog! I ruminate on random thoughts rattling around in my brain. Subjects range from reality TV to current events and everything in between. Whether you agree with me or not, I welcome your comments. God gave you the ability to think for yourself, and this country was founded based on the right to have your own opinion. Who am I to question that? Hope you enjoy! And, if you like to shop on the internet, or have always wanted to try, please feel free to click on one of the banners on the left. Do admit I get a small commission for anything you buy through the links. Appreciate it if you do decide to buy something!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Whole Lot of The Other…

Haven’t been in much of a mood to blog lately, but there’s some things going on need to yak about.  So, here we go:

  • So, did you get your iPhone4, yet?  Ordered mine on the day you could pre-order them.  Got one for The Mrs, too.  Ours were even delivered a day early.  My wife loves hers.  Have been out of town so haven’t been able to use mine, yet.  A friend here got his so I have been able to see one.  Can’t wait to see mine.  Took Apple two months to sell 1 million iPads.  They’ve already sold more than 1.5 million of the iPhone4’s.  In reality, it’s taken about five days to sell that many.  Unbelievable.  Like the man said, if you build a better mouse trap…;
  • Been lots of talking about the U.S. Soccer team and the World Cup.  Reckon congratulations are in order for making the elimination round.  Not much of a soccer fan myself.  Have to admit had fun on Twitter during the U.S.–England match.  Many of my English friends were cracking jokes.  Best one I saw was from my bud @LordNeil who said something about the Americans showing up around 19:41.  Retaliated with we just might show up in the mid 17’s or early 18’s.  He came back with yes, but the English would have been around since the 14’s.  Purty funny for a history geek like me.  Turned out we scored our goal at the 40 minute mark.  Told him reckon we really do show up in the 40’s.  Guess we did OK, though, even if the English goalie pulled a Bill Buckner.  Lots of Englanders got a kick out of the New York Post saying we won by tying the game.  Anyway, not sure soccer/football will ever take off here in The States, though.  Figure if guys couldn’t get interested when ladies were running around taking their shirts off, there’s not much hope;
  • That was some match at Wimbledon tween John Isner and Nicolas Mahut.  11 hours and 5 minutes total with 138 games in the final set alone.  Most matches that go 5 sets probably average about 60 games for the whole match.  Now, I realize they played over 3 days, but you have to have a lot of endurance to play that kind of match.  Pretty amazing.  Not much of a surprise that the winner of the match, Mr. Isner, lost his next match pretty quickly.  Had to be worn out.  But, it gave folks something to talk about and also reminded people that Wimbledon is even going on;
  • Lots of talking last week about General McChrystal stepping down as commander over the Afghanistan operation.  Still ain’t sure if he quit or got fired.  Either way, he had to go.  Can’t have someone that high up in the food chain making fun of the Commander in Chief and the Vice Commander in Chief in a public forum like that.  Have to give him credit for one thing, though.  At least he didn’t try to squirm out of it by saying he was “quoted out of context” or anything lame like that.  Or, if he did, I didn’t hear about it.  Know there’s lots of folks who agreed with what he said, but just cuz folks agree with him, don’t make it right.  Freedom of speech don’t apply in the military, but I sure appreciate them defending my right to have it;
  • Well, last Friday marked the one year anniversary of the death of a true icon, Farrah Fawcett.  It was touching to see all the tributes and…what’s that you say?  You only saw the ones for Michael Jackson?  Yeah, me, too.  Not saying they weren’t deserving.  Think what makes me wonder a little is the fact his family is now trying to claim he was murdered. According to LaToya, he was murdered for his back catalogue of music.  Didn’t even know she was still talking to the family.  As shocking as his death was, it was a tragic accident to someone with a sad addiction.  That doc may have been a nincompoop, but doubt he was purposely trying to kill the King of Pop.  Just a sad, sad story;
  • Speaking of sad stories, The Deadliest Catch has finally gotten to Capt. Phil having his stroke.  Came shortly after finding out his son Jake is an addict.  Have been thinking all season that Jake was acting like an addict so wasn’t that surprised to find out he is one.  Hope he gets the help he needs.  In an odd way, it led to Capt Phil being in port when he had his stroke.  They came in early so Jake could go to rehab.  Ended up not saving Phil, but at least he had a chance.  Am curious how the producers are going to handle this whole situation.  Have read they are going to stretch it out over 6 episodes.  Not sure how much will focus on Jake but know Capt Phil will definitely be a main focus.  Hope I can make it through without crying…;
  • Just so I can end on a higher note: who in blue blazes is Lady Gaga and why should I care what she’s doing at Mets and Yankees games?!  And, even more, why should I care what Jerry Seinfeld thinks about her?!  Now, I know who she is, and I understand she’s a big star and everything, but could care less how she’s dressed at a baseball game and whether or not she was allowed in the dressing room after the game.  Just stick to singing, Honey, and, put some clothes on when you’re out in public.  You got the cash.  Spend a little of it to help out the clothing industry if nothing else.

Y’all have a good one!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Does God Really…?

A Twitter friend posted some interesting questions and comments about God the other day.  They got me to thinking of some responses.  Since I needed more than 140 characters to respond, thought I’d post my response here.  I’ve been working on a blog along these same lines for a couple of weeks, anyway, so this gives me just another reason to go ahead with it.  I’m not trying to convert anybody with these ramblings.  Just putting my thoughts out there.  It’s up to you to decide what you choose to take from ‘em.  So, here I go:

  • I don't believe in the Christian God [but] I've seen enough "miracles" and heard strange stories to think that I can't deny the possibility of supernatural – To paraphrase the great mind Yoda, there either Is or Is not.  There either is a God who has dominion over everything or there isn’t.  There is no Christian God, Jewish God, Muslim God, Hindu God, or any other specific brand of God.  There can be only one God.  I choose to believe there is a God cuz I’ve seen and heard lots of things that have convinced me He is here, but I will get into that a little later;

  • Why do Christians automatically expect their God giving them just blessings? - Hear this question a lot, especially in the context of sports when the winner thanks God for helping them win.  Don’t think Christians (and followers of other religions) think God only blesses them and their kind.  After all, why would God care who wins the Super Bowl?  Think people are just misunderstanding the response.  To me, the response is thanking God for giving them the talent to succeed in that particular situation, which is not to say the other team has not been given the same gifts or that He has willed for the Saints to beat the Colts.  Instead, these folks realize they’ve been given a gift above others.  After all, lots of folks can play football in the backyard, but most of them don’t have the talent to make it in the NFL (or to play in the FIFA World Cup for my overseas friends).  “Religious” people realize where this talent comes from.  God gives this to them at birth, long before they’ve made the choice whether to follow God or not.  It’s not just limited to Christians, either.  Jews thank Yahweh.  Muslims thank Allah.  Christians just get more press about it cuz there are more in the high-profile sports for whatever reason.  The fact you are a Christian does not necessarily grant you more blessings than others…on Earth.  We’ve all seen successful people who aren’t “religious.”  The greatest blessing for believers will be after they pass from this lifetime and live eternally in the Kingdom of God.  Bottom line is: Christians (and others) realize where their blessings come from and like to give thanks where thanks are due.

  • God is guiding me everywhere right on time, but millions die in floods, diseases and natural and other disasters?  Don’t think God controls my every movement or anything like that.  Do I think He watches out over me?  Yes, but, like any other child, I don’t always listen to Him so I do things He’s not necessarily happy about.  But, just for the sake of argument, let’s say He does guide me everywhere.  That still will not shield me from disasters.  The world ceased being a perfect place once Adam and Eve made the decision to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.  Therefore, bad things are going to happen.  Could God stop them if He chose?  Yes, and I believe sometimes He does, especially if He has a higher purpose for you being here.  Now, that don’t mean only the bad die young.  Heard a preacher say once there is no explanation why good people die before we think they should.  Unfortunately in life, there are things we are just not meant to understand nor be given an answer to;

  • Why do I believe?  (This is my question, not hers)  There are many reasons why I believe.  One is because I do.  My heart of hearts tells me there is a Higher Being out there Who looks out over us and was gracious enough to let us be born.  Christianity is the only religion which worships a savior with an empty grave.  This is because Jesus conquered death by rising three days after he was killed on the cross.  With all the early Christians went through to keep it going, hard to believe it would still be around if God did not exist and Jesus didn’t rise from the grave.  Another is there are just too many things which had happen at the right time in the right place for us to be here for me to believe they happened by luck or coincidence.  But, if you are a real pragmatist, here is something to think about:  No one disputes the Bible is thousands of years old.  Many believe it is inspired by what God told the writers.  If you read Genesis 1, it says God created the heavens and earth.  Then He created life in the oceans before creating life on the land and in the air.  It also says He created the animals before He created man.  Science believes this is the same order life as we know it was created in.  The Bible told us about this thousands of years ago, long before scientists existed much less proved this to be true.  And, for the record, have always believed Who created us and why is much more important that the actual how.

So, these are my thoughts on the matter.  Like I said earlier, not trying to convert anyone.  My purpose is to give you some things to think about.  It’s up to you to decide whether you believe them to be true or not.  If God cannot make you believe, what chance do I have?  If you decide not to believe them, I will still love and respect you as a friend, and I hope you will feel the same about me.

May the Peace of the Lord be with you!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

My Take

Been some folks having bad PR weeks lately.  Also been a few with some good PR.  Am feeling the need to comment on a few of both.  So, if you’re ready, proceed at the risk of your own intellect:

Some of the folks gettin’ some bad PR lately:

  • President Obama – Between recent losses by his political allies, a couple of candidates saying he basically tried to bribe them to drop out of the races and the whole BP mess, he’s had some rough weeks here lately.  Some of it’s not his fault.  Ruling parties traditionally lose seats with each progressive election after they take the White House.  Promising people jobs if they’ll drop out of races, if he did have anything to do with them, is something he could have totally avoided.  Not sure what I think about the whole BP situation.  On the one hand, people talk about how government is getting too involved in things.  Then, folks complain when they don’t.  Have said before think this fell under federal jurisdiction so maybe they should have done something earlier.  At the very least, Mr. President shouldn’t have waited 40+ days to say this whole thing makes him mad.  Not sure what else he could have done differently, but, sometimes a leader has to look like he’s doing something even if he ain’t or it won’t do any good.  I have a bigger beef with the folks who keep blaming everything on W. Bush.  Nancy Pelosi even tried to blame this whole mess on Bush being cozy with the oil companies.  Guess she didn’t know they are one of Obama’s biggest contributors, too.  Bush has been gone for almost 2 years now.  Time to stop blaming him for all your shortfalls;
  • BP – Now, they’ve had some real bad PR for the last 40+ days and deservedly so.  What happened to that rig and the resulting spill have been real tragedies.  Eleven men were killed and lots of sea life is either dying or will be.  Think some of the bad stuff being said about them is going a little overboard, though.  People talking about how BP don’t care about cleaning things up, saving the environment, won’t pay for anything, etc.  That’s just a bunch of hooey!  They’ve been trying everything they can since Day 1 to solve this mess and keep the oil from leaking out.  Ain’t a company in the world that would intentionally want this kind of PR.  They haven’t tried to shirk any of their responsibility in this.  In fact, they are already handing out money to folks on the Gulf Coast who’ve lost jobs cuz of this whole mess.  And, to all of you thinking about boycotting BP cuz of this, how bout waiting until the clean-up is over.  If you stop buying from ‘em now, they might run out of money to take care of all this.  Contrary to what some folks may think, only the government can create money out of nothing.  Businesses can only get it from their customers.  Can’t blame you for being mad at BP.  Just want to give you something to think about.  And, no, don’t own any BP stock that I know of;
  • Israel Not really sure what they were thinking raiding that flotilla.  Obama’s getting some flak over this, too, cuz he won’t make a strong statement against Israel on this.  Actually think he’s doing the smart thing and waiting until more information comes out.  The natural knee-jerk reaction would be to say the Israelis are completely in the wrong on this one.  Have something telling me there’s more than meets the eye to this story.  They either had some bad intelligence or the whole story ain’t been told, yet.  Maybe they were in the wrong.  Don’t know.  Reckon there’ll be a lot more coming out on this before it’s all said and done;
  • Helen Thomas – Case you don’t know who she is, she’s a reporter who’s been in the White House press corps since Washington was president.  She was asked what she thought about Israel and she said they should all go back to “Poland…or Germany…or wherever they came from.”  Saw the You Tube clip myself on Twitter.  Maybe she should read the Bible a every now and then to learn where the Israelites come from.  Anyway, conservative pundits have jumped all over this saying it shows how daft the liberal media is.  Personally, not sure why this is even a story.  She may be a role model for a lot of reporters, but imagine most regular folks could care less what she says or thinks.  Besides, thought she retired several years ago.  Reckon it’s time for her to go back to the old hack reporters’ home;
  • Baseball Commissioner/Umpires – There was already some nyah-nyahing going on cuz some of the umps have had hair-triggers on ejecting people this year.  Then, the whole mess with the perfect game that wasn’t cuz of a bad call by the umpire came along.  Have to give the ump credit for admitting he made a bad call after he watched it on replay.  Even went over to the Tiger locker room to apologize.  Not many people would have done that.  Think the worst thing in this whole mess is Commissioner Selig still insisting baseball won’t join the 21st Century and have instant replay apply to something other than questionable home runs.  Was agin it myself for a long time but am slowly coming around to they need to get it right.  Come on, Baseball, get in the game!

Now for some folks who’ve had some good PR here lately:

  • Armando Galarraga – In case you don’t know, he’s the pitcher who lost the perfect game cuz of the bad call.  He’s handled this whole situation with a level of class that you wish more people would.  He didn’t argue at all with the umpire about the call, not even in the heat of the moment.  Just smiled, shook his head, and walked back to the mound.  He accepted the ump’s apology by giving him a hug and telling him it’s OK.  You should use him as an example to your kids how people should react to adversity.  Like my wife said on Facebook, people are going to remember him more cuz of the way he reacted to not getting the perfect game than they would have if the call had been correct.  Keep up the great work, Armando!;
  • NHL – The Stanley Cup finals have been great this year!  In fact, the entire playoff season has been great.  If you want to see exciting games between two evenly-matched teams with players who go all out on every play, this series is for you.  Been lots of scoring and even more hard hitting.  Glad the refs let them play in the finals.  NBC and Vs. have done a great job covering them, too.
  • Dennis Hopper – Hard to say someone who just died is having a good week.  But, there’s been lots of nice things said about him since his passing.  He was one of my all-time favorite actors.  He played a lot of roles, but my favorite was the photographer in Apocalypse Now.  The most surprising thing I read was that he considered himself a Republican.  This is the man who wrote Easy Rider, one of the ultimate anti-establishment movies.  Go figure.  Him doing those retirement fund ads makes a lot more sense to me after reading that.  Rest in peace, Mr. Hopper! 

All I got this time.  Made it to 47 miles running last month.  Not quite to my goal of 50 but I’ll take it.  Hit my 2,000th tweet over the weekend.  Didn’t take as long as I thought it would.  My Twitter name is @scotps23.  Approaching 150 followers now and always looking for more.

And that’s the news that is the news the way I see it.  Y’all have a good one!