Middle America's Worldview

A Nascar fan was confirmed this weekend. I was hesitant to go, when my wife asked me to go in her place. The concern of our son to be there for 12 hours, plus, will I really personally enjoy it? I am not much of a sports guy.

I actually enjoyed it.

I learned alot, simply listening to the conversations of the other fans. I was amazed the size of Texas Stadium. There were reported 200 thousand in the stands viewing the race. I believe it. As the stadium filled and constant view of moving people. I could only think, 'this must be what the Colliseum was back in the days of Rome.'

Here is a shot of the race coming around the bend.

One car caught on fire during the race.



But it was quickly put out.



Overall, my son did absolutely great. There was alot of walking. I was stiff the next day. The traffic out was horrific, but manageable.

We decided to head into Texas Thursday evening, after work. We made it all the way to Sherman, Texas. We found an availible room at La Quinta. The others were sold out, except the 139 dollar room at Holiday Express. I don't think so.

While finding a hotel with a room, we ran across Bobby LaBonte's trailer!!

Since, I had chosen him as my driver of choice for Nascar, it was a very cool surprise.

We are heading to Irving to watch the Nascar this Sunday. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Too bad, I couldn't have met him personally.

The Pocola Football is scheduled to play Panama tonight. We really wanted to see it, since Kel was from Panama. However, we set this trip up back in March. Oh well. I wish the Pocola team good luck.

It seems only 2 candidates are posing for the Democrat candidacy. At least if you only hear the main media outlets.

Seems Obama had a gospel concert tour for support in South Carolina over the weekend to add to his treasury. The tour was entitled "Embrace the Change" in the hopes of showing Obama's desire to show his family value and faith as well as "bringing all people together around his movement for fundamental change". Obama didn't attend the tour.

However, homosexual activist groups opposed one of the entertainers within the tour.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) homosexual advocacy group released a statement last week calling McClurkin, "an ex-gay gospel singer and minister who has called homosexuality a 'curse' an has 'repeatedly' stated his opposition to homosexuality as being against 'the intention of God'

HRC went on to say "There is no gospel in Donnie McClurkin's message for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people and their allies," added HRC President Joe Solmonese. "That's a message that certainly doesn't belong on any presidential candidate's stage."

Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, used a news release urging Obama to "part ways with this divisive preacher who is clearly singing a different tune than the stated messsage of the campaign".

Donnie McClurkin wrote a book entitled "Eternal Victim, Eternal Victor, where he told of his rape at the age 8 and 13 years of age by adult male relatives. He states "The abnormal use of my sexuality continued until I came to realize that I was broken." Once he accepted Christ, he became "a saved and sanctified man" In a telephone interview last week with the Associated Press he stated, "Sexuality, everything is a matter of choice," He went on to say, "What people do in their bedrooms and who they are as human beings are two different things."

With a view like that, one can see why the homosexual groups are against Obama having McClurkin attend. Rather than dissing McClurkin by the Obaman campaign, he chose to add Rev. Andy Sidden,a openly homosexual South Carolina pastor, to the list of participants.

I must admit, the ideology of accepting all points of views, is admiring. However, it is also unrealistic in today's world. We are bombarded everyday to accept every one's view point. Ironically, these same groups that push the idea of acceptance (accept me for who I am), are the same ones fighting to not hear of others beliefs.

Obama came out to say "I strongly believe that African Americans and the GLBT community must stand together in the fight for equal rights,"

He basically is toting the same idea of being African American is the same framework as being gay, lesbian, transgender or transexual.

"And so, I strongly disagree with Rev. McClurkin's views and will continue to fight for these rights as president of the United States to ensure that America is a country that spreads tolerance instead of division," he added.

So basically it appears Obama is against the idea of a person to choose their sexual interest, or that homosexuality is actually a choice.

The question now is, will voters understand what this candidcy stands for?

I had the day off today. It was one of those take it or lose it days. Since, I was able to do this, I took the kids to the Police Station for their Homeschool field trip. There were about 60 in the group. I thought it was interesting, as well as the kids. The new building was 2 floors. The hot spots for the kids were the CSI (Identification room) room, gun room (the kids took the most time here with questions, and the radio room. The tour lasted for one hour and 40 minutes.

Our daughter also had a girlscout ceremony tonight. We arrived there a bit before 6 p.m. This lasted for nearly 1.5 hours as well. It was interesting to watch the lighting of the candles, ect. Unfortunately, I didn't know hardly anyone there, so I kept mostly to myself, picking with our son.

I had planned to use most of the day to view movies. However, the day flew as they all do. Seemed we were basically running all day, from one place to another.

Next weekend, we travel to Texas.

I posted an article back in August entitled Illegal Immigrant murders spotlight grows describing Oklahoma adopting new laws to lessen sanctuary for the illegal immigrants. It also mentioned the percentage of crime in relation to illegal immigrants.

As the Republican President want-a-be's continues. Seems Fred Thompson is narrowing in on this same issue.

Here is a quick article by Gary Bauer describing the claim.

Thompson For
"Law & Order"

Is illegal immigration the issue that could determine the 2008 election?
For several weeks, Senator Fred Thompson has been going after Rudy Giuliani
and Mitt Romney on the issue. He has been particularly critical of so- called "sanctuary cities" that blatantly refuse to enforce immigration
laws.

Yesterday, Thompson unveiled a tough new "law and order" plan that would
withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities and crack down on employers
who knowingly hire illegal aliens. He made his announcement in Collier
County, Florida, where 22% of crimes are committed by illegal aliens, and
40 percent of the county’s arrest warrants are for illegals.

Thompson told his audience that, "Taxpayer money should not be provided to
illegal immigrants." Thompson believes that ending sanctuary cities, which
by definition invite and encourage illegality, and getting tough on hiring
will lead many illegals to return to their country of origin.

To help that along, he would massively increase immigration enforcement,
not just at the border, but in the interior of the country too. He also
asserted that, "A country that cannot secure its borders will not remain a
sovereign nation, and you cannot have national security without border
security."

Finally, the Thompson plan makes English our official language and severely
restricts so-called "chain migration" that permits an illegal immigrant to
bring in at times, dozens of extended family members.

The conservative Washington Times newspaper said today that the Thompson
plan goes further than any other.

I believe this issue could determine the 2008 election. While they are
saying the right things now, other leading Republican candidates have major
vulnerabilities on this issue, and certainly Hillary Clinton is very
vulnerable on illegal immigration, as is her pro-amnesty party.

The concern I have for the GOP candidates in whole, is the fact, what they say and what they can actually do, may be a dichotomy.

Most of these candidates are already within the political system. So they know their limitations. I hope if they indeed promise anything to the would be voter, they can produce it.

I have an interest in the Social and Cultural Landscape that defines us as a Nation.
I ran across a article, having NewsMax picking the top 25 most influential radio host. I wasn't too surprised to see the most knowing people. But some actually did surprise me. For example, I have heard Opie and Andie while in Pennsylvania. I have to say, they are definitely shock jocks. Demented would be another term. : )




Here are our editors' selections for the most influential talk-radio hosts in America, in order of their influence:

1. Rush Limbaugh
2. Bill O'Reilly
3. Don Imus
4. Michael Savage
5. Sean Hannity
6. Laura Ingraham
7. Glenn Beck
8. Dr. Laura Schlessinger
9. Neal Boortz
10. Al Franken
11. Mike Gallagher
12. Mancow
13. Howard Stern
14. Bill Bennett
15. Opie and Anthony
16. Ed Schultz
17. Michael Medved
18. Randi Rhodes
19. Jim Bohannon
20. G. Gordon Liddy
21. Diane Rehm
22. Larry Elder
23. Michael Reagan
24. Tammy Bruce
25. Tom Leykis

Last night, we played our second game of "Littlest Pet Monopoly". The last game our son won (with the wife's help). This time we played the long version, no freebies. It started out fun, till it became painfully obvious, I was ganged up on (again). Rather than paying me their property, they hawked them between the 3 of them, till they had nothing left but blood. Sigh.

The weather dropped yesterday. Sunday it was 89, yesterday and today, I would say in the high 50's.

My little girl turns 10 today. Sigh. They say the older you get, the faster it goes. I am here to say, it's going faster already.

I remember the times when the little face would look upon me so questioningly. Now, I get the full interviews from her. I recall the time when she loved to wrestle and I would be oh so gentle. Now I have to ask her to be gentle on me!

I love my kids so much, it really does hurt at times. I want so much for them. More than I can even begin to provide. I look at how my childhood was and try not to compare it too much with theirs. Yet, in all the new benefits God has provided, it never seems enough for your kids.

Has it really been 15 days, since my last post? Sigh.
It's been busy, what can I say.

The cable company called me today, offering a great deal.
Yeah, OK, what is it?
HBO and Cinemax channels for 5 dollars more. ( For 6 months, anyway )After 6 months, it goes back to the regular prices of 18.95. I guess they are hoping many will simply forget about it after 6 months. I went ahead and bit.

I figured, if I can watch at least 2 new movies within each month, it would be the same as rental. We had HBO when I was a kid. I recalled how they basically acquired 2-5 new movies a month and play them over and over again. I am curious if its the same way, after 20 years.

Regarding TV viewing, I am getting interested with a couple of the new shows. Namely, Bionic Woman. I recorded the last 2 weeks and watched them when I have a chance. Not bad, not bad at all. I also recorded life, but haven't had a chance to view it yet. Both were recommended. I have to say, Bionic Woman looks pretty good to me.

I was able to watch "The Condemened" last weekend. It was a bad*ss movie. I recommend it, for a guy movie. I think this was the first movie Stone Cold played in. I thought he did a good job. Vinnie Jones plays one bad guy. My favorite part was the ending, regarding the op center with Vinnie.

Kel and I also watched "Lucky You", but it was a bit of a drag.

My daughter came up to me the other day asking if she can register for another website. First there was Trollz, then Webkinz, Disney, Hannah Montana, 4kids, Polly Pocket, ..... the list goes on. Seems nearly every toy or dvd now has it's own site to register. Oh they offer free online games as enticement, but how many can one really keep up?

I actually struggled with this same question only 3 weeks ago. How many sites can one person maintain? Currently, I have 7-8 personal sites I try to maintain. This isn't counting those sites of "friends" or others I help maintain. It's to the point of enough is enough.

The other night, I caught a bit of Attack of the Show discussing this similar topic. The discussion was 'how many social networks', regarding how much is too much. During the discussion the question was how many sites do most really maintain. Most answered about 3. your personal page, social page and a hobby page.

So, now the question is, which sites to keep and which sites to do away with. Makes sense, the less to maintain the more you can dedicate to make it better.

In an earlier post I pointed out where human and animal dna are being mixed creating a hybrid embryo. Of course by legislation, they cannot keep them alive for more than 14 days. Nor are they 'suppose to' implant the living entity in a womb.

I then came across a great (but sad truth)site showing human traffic. This site shows the how children are being used in prostitution around the globe. Sigh.

Now, ACLJ is going on the offense for children. They have created a petition to stop taxes from going to planned parenthood.

I received the notification today. As of 1:20 p.m central over 2400 have signed the petition.

ACLJ states:

Every year, the federal government hands over millions of our tax dollars to Planned Parenthood under the guise of Title X funding — a program that provides an enormous influx of money for "reproductive health activities." It is a travesty of justice that you are essentially being forced to fund the largest abortion promoter and provider in America. The ACLJ is determined to STOP this offensive misuse of our tax dollars — by standing in support of legislation that calls for an end to government funding of Planned Parenthood — but we must have your help to do it! Please read the form carefully and declare your membership with the ACLJ by signing our online Petition to Defund Planned Parenthood.

Within the email, we are told...

Over the last two years, America's #1 abortion provider has been funded with more than $500 million of taxpayers' money through Title X.

Title 10 is ....

The Title X program provides public funding for family planning and preventive health screening services. Established by Congress in 1970, the aim of the program is "to assist in making comprehensive voluntary family planning services readily available to all persons desiring such services."1 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administers the Title X program through its Office of Family Planning. Approximately 4,600 public and private entities, including non-profit family planning clinics, hospitals and public health departments, receive Title X funds each year.2

It was established 1970 "to assist in making comprehensive voluntary family planning services". The program was setup to assist those families below federal poverty level. It was created to allow those families to receive services at no cost. The Title X facilities are provided on a sliding scale based on income. No-one is refused services, if they were unable to pay.

However, in 1978, Congress amended Title X to place "a special emphasis on preventing unwanted pregnancies among sexually active adolescents," adding services specifically for teenagers."




According to a Planned Parenthood site....

By law, no Title X funds have ever been spent on abortion (Sollom et al., 1996). The family planning regulations require that women who face unintended pregnancies be given nondirective counseling on all of their legal and medical options (Federal Register, 2000).

So why the petition now?

Seems Congress is trying to increase tax payer funds to Title X.

Efforts intensify on Capitol Hill to increase Title X funding which would likely result in more taxpayer funds going to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider.

Our legislative affairs team in Washington is reporting that the Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations Subcommittee has approved an increase of almost $28 million for Title X funding, up from $283 million to almost $311 million. This is an increase of about 10%. Planned Parenthood requested this increase and will almost certainly benefit from a large number of these dollars.

Additionally, this bill still has two more stops to make in the House – the full Appropriations Committee and the House floor. If the Democrat majority continues with their current strategy, look for this increase to grow even larger.

Title X is already funded at $283 million annually and is intended to be used for family planning. Tragically, in reality, it is used almost exclusively for abortion-related services, most often by Planned Parenthood. This year, Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and Planned Parenthood are asking for an additional $100 million in Title X funding. While the Hyde Amendment (if renewed) would prohibit these funds from directly funding abortions, the additional funding would certainly free up other funds to be used for abortions.

So the call has been made to sign the petition and contact your representives to stop funding to Title X.

Talk about a sweet deal. Check this out!
Now were talking.

Fortunately, we survived another Monday.

I was able to finish up the cement work over the weekend. So at this point the backyard should be deemed, done.

We also had a freaking downpour Saturday night around 3 a.m. The news stated we received 3 inches within the less-than 12 hour span. I know it hit so hard, it woke me up.

I will give you a glimpse of our Monday (which incidentally seems to be ever Monday, anymore).

• 5 a.m. Kel is up and does her work
  
• 7 a.m I begin work
  
• 8 a.m. kids begin school
  
• 11-12 (somewhere around there) lunch
  
• 2 p.m. Kel takes kids to chiro
  
• 4-5:30 p.m daughters choir practice
  
• 3:30 sons speech
  
• 6-7:30 p.m daughters Girlscout
  
• 7 p.m. I attend school board meeting
  

This time around, Kel takes the kids to the chiro at 2 p.m. I picked our son up after speech. He and I ran to get some groceries on the way home (with a couple of other errands). I then take him to one of our friends to watch the cheerleaders (our friend's daughter is one of them), while I attend the school board.

That was pretty much our Monday.

Tuesday looks just as busy. My son and I will attend cubscout at 4:30 p.m. and then the boyscouts at 6:30 p.m. Kel and our daughter will be in a basketball meeting from 6 p.m till who knows. It will be another evening of get some food as you go.

OK. Here was the plan.
Thursday night get the backyard ready to pour the cement.
Friday morning.

Kel to hit and assist in the yard sale (someone else's home this time)

Kel's brother to be dropped over at our house to assist in the cement

Kel's mom to switch vehicles (so we can have the truck)

I would drop the kids over at the other house having the yardsale

I would grab the cement from Triple A, about a yard of it.

Kel's brother and I would get the cement done.

I would then drop said brother off at home (after returning the cement truck)

I would then shower, meet up with kids (after their tennis)

I was then planning to take them to Chuckee Cheese as a surpise.

Kel was to work at the law office till 4:30 while I had the kids for the remainder of the day.

I had taken off this Friday to not only run the kids over to a surprise, but also planned to drop some things off at Goodwill. I was also hoping to check out this nearby church's library. It was suppose to be open to the public and very impressive. Just hanging with the kids in town.

In short, the plan didn't work. We made it up to getting the cement done. On the way of taking the cement trailer back to Triple A, the truck was crapping out on us. We learned quick the ballbearing went out on the 4x4. Sigh. That stalled us. It also made us pull Kel's dad off his work to pull the trailer back to Triple A. Pulled Kels' mom home from work to meet us at our house. She called a friend who had another truck and trailer so they can take the vehicle to the shop. Since, we exchanged vehicles, I simply told Kel's mom to take the van home. This way they wouldnt be a foot. That left the kids and I home alone without a vehicle.

Kel still made it to work and will be there till 4:30. So, the kids and I have been home all day. At least the concrete work is done. I will need to clean up the surrounding dirt, but the bulk is finished. The patio work is done.

Maybe I can take the kids in the morning. Bummer man.

I saw a tickler last night speaking of placing human genes in a empty animal embryo. The tickler mentioned the hybrid would be 99.9% human and .1% animal. The scientist would be required to destroy the embryo before 14 days and it is banned to be placed in a womb.

I thought 2 things when I seen it (after my wow).

1)Why 14 days?
2)Have we really gone this far?


Seems the Government previously agreed stem cell embryo's have a 14-day limit. I guess you have to start/end somewhere.

Legislative references to the 14-day rule cite ethics committee reports. The most influential of these reports were sponsored by the U.S. government (1979, 1994, 1999, 2004), Britain (1984), Australia (1984), Canada (1994), California (2002), the leading U.S. IVF medical association (the American Fertility Society, 1986 and 1990), and a leading U.S. biotech company (Advanced Cell Technology, 2000). If you read these reports, the first thing you'll notice is that they refer to each other. We've agreed to the line because we've agreed to it—and could just as easily move it. The next thing you'll see is that many of them admit that the date is "arbitrary." The British report, from which others copied the rule, concedes that "biologically there is no one single identifiable stage in the development of the embryo beyond which the in vitro embryo should not be kept alive."

A fact of prenatal development.

Pregnancy begins at conception, the time at which the male sperm and the female ovum unite. What results is called a zygote, a one-celled biological entity, a stage in human development through which each of us has passed (just as we have passed through infancy, childhood, and adolescence).

It is a misnomer to refer to this entity as a "fertilized ovum." For both ovum and sperm, which are genetically each a part of its owner (mother and father, respectively), cease to exist at the moment of conception. There is no doubt that the zygote is biologically alive. It fulfills the four criteria needed to establish biological life:

• (1) metabolism,
  
• (2) growth,
  
• (3) reaction to stimuli, and
  
• (4) reproduction.
  

Second fact of prenatal development

Second, not only is the conceptus human insofar as being caused by humans, it is a unique human individual, just as each of us is. Resulting from the union of the female ovum (which contains 23 chromosomes) and the male sperm (which contains 23 chromosomes), the conceptus is a new -- although tiny -- individual.

It has its own unique genetic code (with forty-six chromosomes), which is neither the mother's nor the father's. From this point until death, no new genetic information is needed to make the unborn entity a unique individual human.

Quote

This is why French geneticist Jermoe L. LeJeune, while testifying before a Senate Subcommittee, asserted:

To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion. The human nature of the human being from conception to old age is not a metaphysical contention, it is plain experimental evidence.

It is vital that you -- the reader -- understand that...

You did not come from a zygote.

You once were a zygote.

You did not come from an embryo.

You once were an embryo.

You did not come from a fetus.

You once were a fetus.

You did not come from an adolescent.

You once were an adolescent.

But have we gone so far as mixing DNA to create hybrids? We have attempted pig heart transplants in the past.

I recall a bible prophecy stating "37 "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.38 "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,39 "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. "

It is found in the book of Matthew chapter 24. The coming of the Son of Man refers to the rapture of the true church. Noah was found to be righteous with God. He with his immediate family were saved by the Ark. We recall the story from Sunday school.

The Noah story is found in Genesis chapter 6. The chapter makes reference to 'sons of God' taking the 'daughters of men' as wives, creating offspring referred to as 'giants' and men of name.

Some scholars believe Noah not only found grace, but was also pure in genetics. These sons of God and daughters of men had created a different gene pool.

This thought came to me as I watched the tickler, referring to 99.9% human and 1% animal. With the stem cell research, we could easily begin to change our gene pool.

You can view some videos of embryos here.

"What we've found is not normal, based on either observational studies or on computer simulations of the large-scale evolution of the Universe," Williams said.

I found this quote very interesting in the full article. University of Minnesota astronomers have found an enormous hole in the Universe, nearly a billion light-years across. The empty space is void of stars, galaxies, gas and the mysterious unseen dark matter.

"Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size," said Lawrence Rudnick of the University of Minnesota astronomy professor. Rudnick, along with grad student Shea Brown and associate professor Liliya Williams, also of the University of Minnesota, reported their findings in a paper accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.

The finding surprised the Astronomers. As quoted by Williams, the finding is not normal with their idea of 'large-scale of evolution of the Universe'.

The article goes onto trying to explain the absence of anything in roughly 6-10 billion light years from Earth by using 'dark matter' as the cause.

Members of APEC are to be in their yearly meeting to discuss free trade, ect. However, this year, it seems terrorism, free trade, security will not be on the forefront of discussion. Rather, the big concern is the weather. Yes, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, is pushing for the climate change to be the hot topic (pun included).

The countries that make up APEC are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. India is keen to join.

Climate Expected to Top Asia-Pacific Meeting Agenda
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
September 04, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - World trade and security will be on the table, but as Asia-Pacific leaders gather in Sydney, Australia, this week the issue of climate change looks set to dominate the headlines.

Some of the 21 nations whose leaders will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting are unhappy with the environmental focus at a forum historically aimed at promoting free trade.

But Australian Prime Minister John Howard is set on achieving some kind of climate agreement, noting that the leaders of the world's biggest emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2) -- the "greenhouse gas" many scientists blame for climate change -- will be attending.

With the presidents of the United States, China and Russia among those around the table, progress on the issue was vital, Howard told a press conference in Sydney.

He noted that the APEC meeting comes ahead of two major climate events -- a conference of major economies called by President Bush in Washington later this month, and the annual meeting of the U.N.'s climate change body in Bali, Indonesia, in December.

"Nobody is arguing you can fix climate change at the [Sydney] meeting," he said. "If we can get some consensus on a way forward on climate change out of a body including America, Russia and China, that's a huge step forward."

President Bush, who was due to arrive in Sydney later Tuesday after a surprise stopover in Iraq, said ahead of leaving Washington that climate change would be an important part of the APEC meeting.

"If you're truly interested in dealing with greenhouse gases, people need to focus on the development of technologies that will enable us to, on the one hand, grow our economies, on the other hand, be good stewards of the environment," he said.

Bush said the Australian prime minister would take the lead on the issue, "and the United States will play a constructive role."

Bush and Howard have been berated by environmental activists for years for their antipathy towards the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 international treaty that requires industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by set amounts by 2012.

Arguing that legally mandated emission curbs would harm their economies, the U.S. and Australia -- a major coal exporter -- were alone among industrialized nations to reject the protocol. They also criticized the fact that countries like China and India, although major emitters, were exempt from mandatory reductions under Kyoto because they are considered "developing" nations.

The U.N. meeting in Bali in December aims to discuss a successor agreement to Kyoto for the post-2012 period.

Howard's proposals are believed to involve goals to reduce "energy intensity" in the APEC region -- not Kyoto-style mandatory emission cuts.

On Monday, the Australian leader reiterated his view on Kyoto.

"We do not believe that continuing down the Kyoto path is going to provide a solution to the problem," he said. "We think that will be a recipe for a partial and ultimately ineffective response to a growing problem. What I would like to see the APEC meeting in Sydney do is develop a consensus on a post-Kyoto international framework that attracts participation by all emitters."

Speaking in Washington late last week, Dan Price, deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs, said the climate-related topics for discussion in Sydney would include energy efficiency, forestry, technology development, alternative energy and efforts to reduce barriers to trade in environmental goods and services.

'Undermining Kyoto'

Howard's plan to have climate change on an APEC forum agenda for the first time has drawn some opposition.

Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz was quoted as saying neither Australia nor the U.S. had the credentials to use APEC as a forum to address climate change since they are not Kyoto signatories. Officials from several other Southeast Asian countries have also voiced unease.

Environmental activists in Australia are skeptical of Howard's agenda too -- and not only because he faces an uphill re-election campaign in the coming months.

Greenpeace called on APEC countries to reject Howard's "efforts to undermine the Kyoto Protocol."

"Real action on climate change means moving away from coal and shifting to clean, renewable energy -- and we don't have the luxury of time for expensive talkfests that have no concrete outcomes," said Ben Pearson, energy campaigner for Greenpeace.

In an open letter to APEC leaders, the Climate Action Network Australia urged them to embrace Kyoto.

"To avoid dangerous climate change, a post-2012 agreement must be built using the architecture of the Kyoto Protocol: absolute emission reduction targets for developed countries, and expanded mechanisms that facilitate contributions from developing countries," said the group, a branch of the international Climate Action Network.

"The very best way for Mr. Howard to demonstrate international leadership at APEC would be for him to get together with President Bush and ratify the Kyoto Protocol," said another organization, the Australian Conservation Foundation.

'Support, don't attack'

During his four-day visit to Australia, Bush will also hold one-on-one talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and several other leaders, a three-way breakfast meeting with Howard and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and a meeting with the leaders of Southeast Asian nations.

As has become commonplace during such gatherings, demonstrations are expected by various groups campaigning against free trade, globalization and U.S. foreign and environmental policies.

Howard has taken the unusual step of posting a clip on the video-sharing Website YouTube urging protesters to refrain from violence at the summit.

Anyone planning to be disruptive, he said, should "stop for a moment and consider that if they really are worried about the issues such as poverty, security and climate change, then they should support APEC and not attack it."







Major security precautions put in place in Sydney include a steel and concrete fence designed to keep protestors -- and terrorists -- away from the 21 leaders and their delegations. Some 5,000 police and troops will be on duty.

Members are APEC are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. India is keen to join.

I was a bit surprised to see this post on Stop the ACLU.

A video shows Presidential nominee Mike Huckabee, speaking about a Federal law ensuring a smoking ban in all public places.

I seen some other sites commenting on this discussion of public smoking ban.

Most feel this same way. Note this comment I found.




"Last month I saw Mike Huckabee give a talk. I was impressed, especially because Fred Thompson spoke directly after Huckabee and Huckabee's talk was head and shoulders better than Thompson's. But I will never, ever vote for Huckabee. Huckabee wants a national ban on smoking in public places . I don't smoke. I never have and I never will. But there is no change I will never consider voting for a candidate that wants to limit freedom like Huckabee wants to. People should be allowed to decide what workplace, restaurant, and public place they want to create."

Conservatively, I think Huckabee would be the best Presidential Candidate. However, do we really want to go toward federal laws regarding people's choice of consumption?

I can understand the thought process of 'helping' people by putting up these kind of things. However, too often, a good intention turns the wrong way for the outcome. I can see the federally mandated smoking ban eventually happening. Already, we see Disney stating they are removing smoking scenes from their movies. This national push to remove smoking seems to be a unstoppable snowball effect.

Yet, we don't see similar pushes for other health issues. (shrugging shoulders)

I have to travel via the airport once a quarter to Philly. I noticed in the news tighter scrutiny is being done by the TSA. Not so much regarding those possible hidden weapons, rather apparel.

Take this poor chap.




He wasn't allowed to board due to his shirt stating "We will not be silent" written in arabic and english. The full story is found here. Of course he filed a lawsuit with the ACLU. You can view the whole thing here

Recently in the news, talk of new restrictions by TSA include pulling those aside with headgear. Yes, this includes cowboy hats, berets, ect. However, one religion is more none for headgear than others.

No not this one.



This one.



And they are not happy.

Respectively, I agree all the non-essential body wear should be removed and scanned. I have to pull my shoes, jackets, ect off. Why not add a hat?

But I am concern with the t-shirt issue. As my 5 readers know, I normally wear christian t-shirts, even through the airport. If they were to pull or delay someone wearing a shirt with "We will not be silent", why not doing the same with a shirt stating "Jesus is the only way to heaven" ?

I fear to see the airport to become more and more 'religion/free speech sterile'.

I went ahead and ordered two new christian movies. I found a site that sells Christian Movies. They should be in 2-5 days. I will post a review on them, most likely.




I originally found this one. It doesn't look to be long, but I am fascinated with the spiritual warfare.

This movie was named the number one movie of the whole website. Since I use to be into UFO's, I figured I would check it out as well.

A blogger by the name of Zombie had posted a really detailed post regarding te Al-Harmain case against the Bush Administration. I passed over some of the legal mumbo jumbo. I would plead to all to take a read. It was very interesting. It regards to the charity front Al-Harmain found to be supplying funds to terrorist. It shows to be a complicating legal case asking, 'should the government be allowed to eavesdrop on anyone suspected of terrorist acts'.

I was so impressed,I am adding Zombie to my list of Need to Read.

Seems the homicides, murders, and arrest_release of illegal immigrants are getting more and more attention these days.
I can't really blame United States frustrated with this issue. I am just glad they are becoming more aware of it.

I suspect the regular politics will be played on either side, depending on the agenda.

The States are frustrated Congress cannot pass a federal legislation bill regarding the illegal immigrants. So more and more states are proposing tougher proposals against them.

"By the time most legislatures adjourned in May, at least 1,100 immigration bills had been submitted by lawmakers, more than double last year's record total, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. This year's total is expected to grow as the issue continues to dominate debate in statehouses still in session."
source June 25, 2007.

In Oklahoma HOUSE BILL 1804 was passed and will go into effect November 1, 2007.

I won't duplicate it here, but if you have time it's a good read. Basically, it makes it unlawful to harbor, employ, ect. with illegal immigrants. It also cuts out funding, services to illegal immigrants.

It's a tough bill, that removes Oklahoma from the possible "sanctuary cities".
I will be curious to see if the bordering states will follow pursuit. Now if only they will stick to the new laws.


News from the Loft.

Triple murder in NJ by an illegal immigrant couldn't have happened in Arizona
Posted by Rachel Alexander
August 23, 2007 at 11:45 pm

The triple murderer in Newark, NJ, who had been released on bail previously for sexually assaulting a minor and an assault in a bar wouldn't have been freed on bail to commit those murders had he lived in Arizona, thanks to a law Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas helped draft and get passed last fall prohibiting bail for illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes. It's overdue for other jurisdictions to follow the lead of Phoenix and pass laws like this to prevent this from happening again.

The three execution-style murders that occurred on August 4, 2007 in Newark, New Jersey by an illegal immigrant and other suspects has set off an outcry around the country against local authorities who ignore the status of illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes. These authorities allow them to remain in the country where they may commit more crimes or flee punishment by escaping the country.

Here in Arizona, thanks to the passage of Proposition 100, which I helped draft and campaigned for last year, tragic situations like this are being averted. Illegal immigrants arrested for serious crimes are held without bail, and Immigrations & Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) is notified.

The illegal immigrant responsible for the Newark triple homicides, Jose Carranza, was indicted earlier this year on 31 counts relating to the sexual assault of a girl under age 9 that took place over a span of four years. He was indicted again last month for an assault in a bar. Yet both times he was released on bail.

The Newark authorities didn't bother to notify I.C.E. about Carranza. Carranza was released on $50,000 bail in the assault case and $150,000 bail in the sexual assault indictment. While out on bail the second time, he allegedly shot four victims execution-style, forcing them to their knees and then shooting them in the back of the head. Only one survived.

Arizonas Proposition 100 prohibits bail for illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes. A separate constitutional provision approved by the voters prohibits bail for defendants accused of rape or child molestation. Had the Carranza case occurred in Arizona, both Prop 100 and the second provision would have denied him bail. His immigration status would have been flagged and he would have been held without bail until sentencing and inevitable imprisonment. And in the future, upon release from prison, I.C.E. would be notified to pick him up and deport him.

Local authorities are slowly reacting to these types of grievous crimes and taking steps finally to prevent these situations from happening in the future. Newark city councilman Ron Rice says he will propose legislation which would require the police to notify I.C.E. immediately when a suspected illegal immigrant is arrested for a felony. I encourage all local authorities around the country to follow the lead of Arizona and pass measures similar to Prop 100.

Not only have I began to change this template around, I have created 5 additional pages on my Video site!

I found a site that had a real cool way to pull in a number of videos in a small horizontal bar. I have taken it and modified it a bit for my own means. Yeah, call me a hack.

If you want to check out the new pages, check them out here.

• Ask A Ninja


• Sexy French Maids


• HAK 5


• Lonely Girl 15


• Hacking

I plan to create additional pages, as I find the time. I am not totally satisfied with this template on the blog, nor the new pages. However, it's a start.

I enjoyed the weekend with the family, even though half of the family was sick with the allergies. I am looking forward to next weekend. I should be off Labor Day, without being on call! I had call all this week, but knock on wood, it wasn't that bad.

I have also been trying to learn this adsense phenomena. Hopefully, I won't be too far behind the eight ball.

I am attempting a new template for the Blog. I had to upgrade the template in the dashboard, then chose another template. I noticed now they are all XML files.

How To Share Videos With Your Friends And Get Paid! Click Here.

IPCONFIG

See more videos Tutorials

I was pleasantly glad to be home yesterday. It was great to see the kids and wife.

I had been awaken 4 a.m est ( 3 my regular time ) and bounded out to the airport. I arrived plenty of time for the ticket and security line. Fortunately, both were open when I arrived.

The one food stop in the airport that was open that early had plenty of customers for their coffee and bagels.

No issues on the plane or trip home. I grabbed a protein shake in Dallas Airport on my connecting flight.

I guess the two difficult things occur when I get home after being gone for a week.

• 1) I get into a mindset when I am surrounded in my corporate work enviroment. This is difficult for me to break on my first night home. Up there, my focus is on my work and I have a small amount of flexibility to do exactly what I want to do. That may be something as simple as working on my laptop as I push through the channels. The point, is my environment surrounds me and I have total control of it. When I arrive home, my focus is on the family and I do not have control of my environment.
  
• 2) I get so freaking tired. While I am up there, I am constantly driving my body and mind to stay sharp and keep moving. I get so hyped while I am up there. The massive amounts of freely availible caffeine also helps. However, when I arrive home, I start unwinding and my energy high, goes down. I know it's part of that calming down due to being in a safe environment, but it doesn't hold well when I am falling out early.
  

Man, I am ready to get home. I had the opportunity to go out with some friends this evening. We hit Trader Joes and Whole foods to check out the organics.

I am already packed and ready. I have the wakeup call for 4 a.m. est. My flight out is 7:45 a.m.

I believe of the full day today, the most interesting was our KeyNote speakers this morning.

One of them was Chris Gardner. This is the guy where the movie 'The Pursuit of Happyness' was base of. Very good speaker. I plan to ask Siemens if I can get a copy of the speech.






I hit the hotel before 5 p.m. and caught up some of my work, since we were in classes all day.

It's already 8:30 p.m. I must admit. My thoughts regarding the School Board that is to happen tonight back home also lays on my mind.

I was up by 6:22 a.m. est this morning. I didn't really want to be up that early, just happen that I could not sleep. The hotel breakfast wasn't too bad.
It allowed me to get some things done for work while I waited for the time to be able to register for the convention.

Since I had chinese last night, I was looking for a philly cheesesteak or something like it. Around 10:30 a.m. I walked around and everything was freaking closed. I finally backtracked to the hotel and asked for a nearby sandwich shop. They suggested the train terminal. sigh.

I walked back the 3 blocks and a 7-11 happen to be there. I went in and grabbed a salad and sandwich with a couple of snack items. At least it was open. By the time I was back in the hotel it was after 11 a.m.


8 p.m. and I am already back at the hotel this Sunday evening. I was able to see a friend from the company, I haven't seen in more than one year. It was good to see him. I also was able to see a few other friends in which I haven't seen in over a year.

Looks to be a fast week now that we have started the convention. I noticed in the mirror I have a bit of s sun on my neck and face from all the walking.

I thought I was going to be on call this week, but it seems its the following. That is a bit of a relief. Seems last week and this weekend, on-call has been pretty bad.

I made it in Philly around 5 p.m. est.

Taxi was 26.50 just to get to the hotel. I unloaded the suitcase and headed to china town for some decent food.



It wasn't too bad. I was filled to the gills before I left.

I backtracked to the hotel then off to 13th and Market Street in search of the Galleria mall. It ended up under 10th street.

What I found fascinating was the walk to and fro. On the sidewalk to 10th, a couple of guys with Mic's were addressing the street about the second coming of Jesus.
In front of Kmart a guy had two very large boa constricters allowing anyone to have them to hold them for pictures. On the way back to 13th street on the opposite side of the 'second coming of Jesus Christ, with the new heirarchy', another guy was addressing the white man taking over the black communities. It was interesting to say the least.

I forget how quickly one can get around when so desired.

I set my alarm for 6 a.m. so I can get up and around this morning. I didn't want to be late to the airport. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep last night. I just don't before I travel. At 5:22 a.m. I am looking at the clock on my own. Oh well.

I already went through the house twice, and packed my elecronics (laptop aside). It is now 20 minutes before 7 a.m. and I am considering to leave already.

My wife will be glad to know, I have accomplished everything on my list (wink).

I was planning to watch "The Bourne Ultimatim" last night, but didn't make it. My dad had plans to watch something at home, so the night at the movies fell through.

That's OK, I caught up on my shows I have been recording all week. Most of them anyway.

I did manage to see the new SciFi FlashGordon show. I was disappointed to say the least. During the first part of the show, I was thinking it might get better. However, when it leaked a hint of intrique, it was over. the commercials hinted the old 80's movie theme song. Yet, it never played during the pilot episode. I could see where the writers attempted to keep some of the plot lines of the movie. However, a remote associaton is at best. Sigh. Oh well. It's not a show I will keep up with.

At this time, I am officially hooked on 3 shows; Deadzone, Mind Control with Derren Brown, and Burn Notice. I have my DVR set for each. (smile).

I am having to go to Philidelphia this weekend for work. I leave Saturday morning. I will be gone for the most part of next week.

In the past, when I travel, something normally comes up at home. Usually one of the family members becomes sick, or family drama happens.

This time, Kel decided to take the kids to Amarillo, while I am gone. This way, it will be less likely to get hit with something, plus a nice visit with her family is added.

Work, eat, sleep man. Work, eat, sleep.

I have been cruising the net to see if I can find a means to pull in some extra dough. I ran across this software called Keyword Elite. It's a software showing you how to capitalize on your adsense, adwords, meta keynames, ect.

It looks like a good software program. Has anyone else checked it out? I pulled one of their free ebooks and posted it here if you want to check it out.

The book in entitled "Google Adwords Made Easy".
Some things the Free Ebook offers are "10 Minutes to instant Web Traffic", Adwords Keyword Strategies", "Finding Profitable Keywords'.

I plan to read it and check it out.

You can also simply right click this link and download a free copy yourself.

Well, I didn't actually rent a guy movie for the weekend. Rather, I caught up with my shows.

I had "Burn Notice" recorded from the last two weeks and about 4 "Enterprise" shows recorded. I also was able to check out the new Derren Brown show Mind Control. I think the most fascinating part of Mind Control was the showing of 'how' ideas are implemented in peoples sub-conscience.

I was able to view Mind Control, both Burn Notice shows and one Enterprise. I also managed to drink a cold Corona. Yes, it was good.

Even though I was up till nearly midnight last night and awoke 6:30 this morning, I actually feel refreshed.


Yesterday, Kel repainted our bathroom, while I repainted the bedroom ceiling. We started early and completed it by 1:20 p.m. That pretty much wiped us out. : )

OK. I am in need of a guy film. It's Friday, which I am glad. But every morning I have awaken with Hannah Montanna songs in my head. Don't get me wrong. It's a cute show and all, but man, every morning. Sigh.

I figured I better blog. I haven't had much time or desire to post a good update in awhile. Last week was horrendously busy. This week my theme will be to "slow down". I am trying to not get too much in a hurry at work. I mean what's the point? If you juggle too much, you miss something. Yet, irregardless how much you try to do, it's never enough. So, I am trying to slowdown and maintain concentration. I guess we will see if it works.

We go live with a new system in one of our hospitals today. I hope it goes well. This was another big install. It included 5 interfaces and 8 maps on my part alone.

I am currently re-installing the XP on our home pc. I acquired some virus that just won't go away. I was told about a freebie anti-virus software called Avast. I was also told it was the best one out there that is still free. I guess we will see. I will plug it in as soon as I get this installed.

Another freebie application I am currently trying is Idea. It's a personal organizer for your PC.
Below is a snapshot of it.

You can find it at Sycon.de. I already see some things I don't like about it, but there are some good qualities too it as well. You can create a hyperlink to a specific program within you pc. This will allow you to have one database of all your links, including your PDF books (if you have them). I find it a fast way to pull up documentation in a hurry, rather than going to that dedicated folder and pulling it up. I am trying to streamline my documentation in dedicated folders as well as a means to access them quickly. This app seems to do that. However, I would also like to create a link to pull the full folder. I haven't found a way to do that yet with IDEA. I already have an excel created for that purpose and that excel is now linked in IDEA now.

My kids can't wait to see this one.

UnderDog Movie Trailer

Duration 2 minutes 11 seconds

Click pic to view video.

You can view other Movie Trailers here.

I added a new video on Cool Vid website.

You can also check it out here.

I created a new site dedicated to the new SciFi's Flash Gordon series.

I will be adding videos, articles, ect. covering this show.

You can check it here

It will be a 22 episode series. First episodes debuts August 10th, 2007.

John Ralston as Ming
Gina Holden as Dale Arden
Jody Racicot as Dr. Hans Zarkov
Karen Cliche as Baylin
Giles Panton as Joe Wylee
Panou as Nick
Jonathan Walker as Rankol

Woman Honor Thyself had a trackback in regards to the fundamental necesaties of marriage. As of this month, I have been married for 12 years. In today's currently culture and age, that seems alot. However, the time has truly flown by.

I recall before I was married, while working in ER, a 70+ year old lady and I briefly talked. Somehow the discussion came up, with me getting married. I was probably excited and shared it with everyone (smile).

Irregardless, she had some knowledge to share with me. She said, "Many people say it's 50-50, but it's not. It's 70-30. When you think your giving your 70, so does she."

I kept that with me to this day (nearly 13 years later). Personally, I think it boils down to not being selfish. I fear what this young culture worldview is. We are so bombarded with 'me me me me' and individual choices, it lacks compassion of helping the fellow man out of the pure purpose of giving.

Yes, I think helping out around the house is great. I personally never had a problem doing it. However, I wonder if it's pushed so much now, do to the fact couples are separated most of the day with their jobs. While at home doing chores together, they are actually contributing something together. A sad thought, really.

Another thought, I wonder if most of these kids actually know what self-sufficient really means. I lived alone for awhile before marriage. Yes, it was a small dinky place, but it was my cave. If I missed the toilet, I cleaned it up (wink).

So maybe, you can take that with you.

Listen to your spouse. Try to remember the important dates, and if you start out with a bang on those holidays, don't stop.

Don't forget the message passed to me. "It's 70-30. When you think your giving the 70, so does she." Because in marriage, it's about giving.

Check this out. We are looking to buy ourselves this camera for our anniversary.


Sony CyberShot DSC-H7 8.1 Megapixel Digital Camera with 15x Optical Zoom + Lexar Media 2GB 40x Platinum II Series Memory Stick (MS) PRO Duo Card + High Speed USB 2.0 Memory Stick (MS) Card Reader + Digital Camera Case

Back to reality, in a heat wave. The weekend was fantastic. Much needed and enjoyed. We stopped at a grocery store on the way to the cabin, picking up some food items. We stayed in the cabin all the first night. I was still stressing over work, till I hit the hot tub. After that, it was relaxation time.

We cruised into Eureka Springs the next day, simply taking our time to walk downtown, ect. We didn't really buy much. It was just nice to window shop and walk around without the worry of "being somewhere".

We came on home early Sunday morning. We arrived home early enough before lunch. I hit the yard. We managed to mow the wet yard. Suppose to rain again ( 30 % chance tonight ) tonight and more coming this week.

It was pretty hot out there, but done now.

The kids came in shortly after we finished the yard. Now we have all showered and watching the recorded disney special Wish Gone Amiss weekend special.

Ahh, Friday finally arrives. I been putting in 10-12 hours of work all week, trying to tie all loose ends. I know it's only one day, but unfortunately when your pounding the keys as much as we have this month, each day counts.

Irregardless, I finished up on providing the documentation to my peers early this morning. I didn't sleep worth a flip last night. I guess with the anxiety of leaving my projects and excitement of getting away is too much.

We are heading to log cabins away from it all. This will not be a roughing trip, rather a Jacuzzi relaxing trip for our 12th year anniversary. It still amazes me it flew this fast.

Yesterday, I was given a high note. It's very rare for me to buy alcohol, save a wine bottle once in a blue moon. I picked up a pack of wine coolers (for wife) and a six pack of Corona's (the only beer I actually like). The checkout girl actually asked for my ID. I had to thank her for one thing. On the way home, I was thinking, it might be due to my new haircut. Hmmm. I was still in a good mood and expressed to Kel what occured.

She quickly replied, "Oh yeah, they started to ID anyone looking less than 40."

Thanks hon.

I'm all for some diversity, if it brings some form of unification or advancement. However, I am simply not seeing it happening in the area of religion.

I caught wind of a school board allowing female muslim kids one hour of prayer in school. Evidently a substitue teacher had a note to allow one hour of segregated prayer for muslim children. They were allowed in a separate room where no one else could bother them, to pray each day. The controversy is, of course, the separation of church and state. Now, before anyone crys foul over me making that statement, you have to understand something. Yes, I have said before, I think it is the right of American children to be allowed to pray in school. I have always said that, and will continue to say that. However, in this scenario, you have the school mandating their teachers to provide this hour of prayer for muslims, yet not providing the same mandate for judeo-christian children. And of course, the ACLU is quite when the religion in question is not Judeo-Christian. I wouldn't personally have such a problem with it, if the other forms of religion were offered the same treatment.

I was also sent an email (Below) regarding our Senate opening prayer by a Hindu chaplain. You can read the email below.

I am all for listening to everyones side of belief. But the reality is, our founding fathers in the United States, primarily held the belief in one God. That is why our motto is "One Nation under God".

On Thursday, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada, by the name of Rajan Zed is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. Zed tells the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he will likely include references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards, and Bhagavard-Gita. Historians believe it will be the first Hindu prayer ever read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.

WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto "One Nation Under God."

TAKE ACTION – Call your Senators at 202-224-3121
"In Hindu, you have not one God, but many, many, many, many, many gods," the Christian historian explains. "And certainly that was never in the minds of those who did the Constitution, did the Declaration [of Independence] when they talked about Creator -- that's not one that fits here because we don't know which creator we're talking about within the Hindu religion."

TAKE ACTION – Click here to send your E-mail today!

Barton says given the fact that Hindus are a tiny constituency of the American public, he questions the motivation of Senate leaders. "This is not a religion that has produced great things in the world," he observes. "You look at India, you look at Nepal -- there's persecution going in both of those countries that is gendered by the religious belief that is present there, and Hindu dominates in both of those countries."

And while Barton acknowledges there is not constitutional problem with a Hindu prayer in the Senate, he wonders about the political side of it. "One definitely wonders about the pragmatic side of it," he says. "What is the message, and why is the message needed? And will it actually communicate anything other than engender with folks like me a lot of questions?"

Barton says he knows of at least seven cases where Christians have lost their bid to express their own faith in a public prayer.

Zed is reportedly the first Hindu to deliver opening prayers in an American state legislature, having done so in both the Nevada State Assembly and Nevada State Senate earlier this year. He has stated that Thursday's prayer will be "universal in approach," despite being drawn from Hindu religious texts.

Take Action
Send an email to your senator now, expressing your disappointment in the Senate decision to invite a Hindu to open the session with prayer.

Click Here to Email Your Senators Now!

The weekend was rather nice. We pretty much did nothing Saturday (a rare occurrence).
Seems each of us wanted some time alone. Kel read in the bedroom while the kids watched a 'Fairly Oddparents' marathon in one of their rooms(while playing with the toys).

This left me alone in the living room. I was able to catch up on some viewing of documentaries and such. All in all, a very relaxing day.

Sunday, we had church and then back home. I managed to get a haircut that afternoon. We waited for our friends to bring their kids over for a sleepover. This will probably be their last one, as our friends will be moving away. They arrived around 6 p.m. It allowed the kids some time to play.

This coming week will be as others, busy.

Monday I have a school board meeting. The agenda looks to be a long one.
Wednesday we have TeamKids at church. The church has the water slide again.
Friday I am scheduled off. It will be Kel and I time to get away. This coming weekend will mark our 12th anniversary. We have been together for 13 years. Hard to believe it flew so fast. We plan to run away to the mountains, at a cabin for at least 2 nights.

Our Fourth of July could not pass without some drama.

Everyone in our house arose as usual except for me. I actually slept in till 7 a.m. local time. Kel was up at 4 a.m. and I heard the kids were up around 6-6:30.

We cleaned the house up a bit, and had a simple breakfast. Being the Fourth of July, I watched the "Liberty's Kids" dvd on "The first Fourth of July". Yes, we still enjoyed it.

Kel's parents came over around 10:45 a.m. with a smorgasbord of food. Kel's dad always seems to go overboard with cooking on the holidays. But it provided everyone leftovers the next day.

Since we cleaned the pool out last weekend, the kids wanted to play in it. It was too cold for me, but Kel's dad jumped in there with them.

All in all a good day.

We pre-bought tickets to see Transformers the movie (just the kids and I). I enjoyed watching it with the kids. It wasn't like I thought it would be, but a pretty good movie. The story revolved around the two young actors, not the robots (FYI).

As we were heading home, I received a call from my dad. He wasn't feeling good at all. I, with the kids, swung by and took him to the hospital. Fortunately, Kel came shortly after and grabbed the kids. I stayed with him in ER from 7 p.m. to 10:40 p.m.
Fortunately, he was able to go home, blood work came back fine.

He had been sick all last week and most of this week. He went back to work Tuesday, and I think it was just too much for him. A bag of fluids in him, with some rest, brought the color back to him.

I made it home nearly 11 p.m after dropping him back home.

Monday went by with no issues (re-adjusting blinders). I was on support for work, so needless to say, the day went fast. Seems we are too never really slow down.

I took our daughter to Art class, as Kel too our son to speech Monday afternoon. I had some spare time, while waiting for her class to end. I ran to the library and picked up "1776" by David McCullough. I have been interested in reading it, so I figured why not now.

Over the weekend the kids and I played alot of board games. One of them, was Professor Noggin's Revolutionary war card game. I was impressed with it and will buy more of them. Since we played the game regarding the Revolutionary war, it scratched my want to read more about it.
I was also impresssed with the kids recalling some of the answers, by remembering the "Liberty Kids" cartoons.

Later that Monday night, while everyone else were in their beds, I watched "The Nativity Story". I had purchased it from Blockbusters (3 for $20 ) awhile back. I just had the opportunity to watch it. I enjoyed it. It was different from what I expected, but interesting in the aspect of the portrayal of Joseph and Mary.r

We enjoyed our Saturday with the kids. There is a farmers market in downtown Fort Smith, we checked out. Grabbed some local veggies. We told each other, we will need to do this again.

We also took the kids to Chuckies for a treat. No, we didn't eat there. I can't stand their pizza. Rather, we spent 12 bucks to play their token games. Considering we were there 1.5 hours, I didn't think it was too bad. It averaged less than 4 dollars for each of us to play games and down the soda.

We were too watch the new movie Ratatoille, but the kids opted to buy the full season of Sonic the Hedgehog instead. $20 for the dvd. Kel and I made out cheaper then going to the movies.

I managed to get the yard mowed Saturday afternoon. This is a good thing, considering we were woke this Sunday morning at 5 a.m. with thunderclaps. Raining again, already.

We actually accomplished alot this weekend. Cleaning house, preparing for a yard sale, mowing the yard, just to name a few ocurences this weekend. I am glad we did get alot done, considering another week of running is already here.

I was also on-call last week. I had one call during the week, but Sunday made up for it. I was working most of the day on a re-occuring issue for one of our servers. I am hoping this time, they found the culprit (possibly backup tapes).

This week, I look forward to the following evenings.

Mon- Running at least seven errands with the kids.
Tue- Kel's B-day evening.
Wed- TeamKids
Thur-School Board meeting
Fri- (Do I get this evening off?)

Unreal.

I found this interesting and wanted to share it. These are the most frequent questions/answers for Mike Evans.

What is the present status of Iran's nuclear program?

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated that Iran will have 3000 centrifuges by the end of July. This is the number needed to build an atomic bomb. The Agency has said the Iran will have 8000 by the end of the year.
Found here.

You met with President Barzani during a State invitation to northern Iraq in April 2007. What is the status of Kurdistan now?

The U.S. Base in the capital, Erbil, will be empty by the end of this month. The 1500 South Koreans that now man the base are leaving Iraq. If the U.S. does not occupy the base, the Turks will invade. The Turks have oil contracts with Iran and do not want the Kurds to control the Kirkuk oil fields (considered the largest untapped reserves in the world).

HAMAS has recently taken over Gaza; why?

Iran has given the order for HAMAS to attempt to destabilize Israel. The same thing was done last summer through Iran's other sub-contractor, Hezbollah. I was on the northern border of Israel when some 4000 missiles were fired into Israel. Why? To weaken Israel so it will not attack Iran's nuclear reactors. HAMAS' plan is to establish an Islamic theocracy from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River with no Jews. Their constitution says, "The day of judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then Jews will hide under rocks and the rocks will cry out, 'Oh, Muslim, a Jew is hidden behind me; come and kill him.'" HAMAS airs a daily show "Tomorrow's Pioneers," a Mickey Mouse-type video in which children sing songs and recite poems about how they will blow up Jews, since all Jews are considered "monkeys and pigs." An unrestrained Islamic revolution is spreading through Iraq, Lebanon, and the PA while the world sleeps. This revolution is fueled and fed by Iran; its final move is to take it to the streets of America.

What is the current status of your book, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, since it hit #1 on the New York Times list?

The second and third weeks, the book posted at #5, and the fourth week, it posted at #6.
What would the U.S. or Israel have to do to impede Iran's nuclear program?
Iran's three facilities in order of ascending importance would have to be attacked. They are the heavy water and plutonium reactors under construction at Arak, a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, and a uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. Fifty Israeli jets would have to reach these targets to succeed: twenty-five F-151s and twenty-five F-161s.

What do the Iranians believe concerning the End Times?

They believe there are 50 signs of the coming of the "perfect human being," the Mahdi's resurrection. Some of those signs are:
Death of 1/3 of mankind
Elimination of scholars
Fireball in the sky (a nuclear event?)
Profanation of the house of Islam
Skyscrapers and technology
War - East verses the West (Armageddon)
The Mahdi and Jesus will jointly defeat the Dajjal (Antichrist), liberate Palestine, and unite the world under Islam
A cataclysmic situation will usher in the Mahdi
What do they believe about Jesus?
He was prophet, but not the Son of God.
He was raised to heaven but not crucified.
He will reign 40 years, die, and be buried in a tomb beside Mohammad.
The chosen devotees (144,000) of al-Mahdi will reach Israel within a short period of time to oppose the great deceiver, Israel.
He will be a faithful Muslim and make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
He will visit Mohammad's grave, salute Mohammad, and destroy Christianity.

Does Iran plan to attack the U.S. with nuclear weapons?

Yes, their goal is to detonate a nuclear device in the U.S. FBI director Robert Mueller said that the goal of the terrorists is to hit American cities - among them, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston, Houston, and Washington, D.C.

How can I see the documentary on the subject?

You may purchase a copy of the documentary on the website, www.beyondiraq.com, or you may watch a pay-per-view version. You can purchase it for $10.00 or watch it on pay-per-view for $4.95 by going to www.beyondiraq.com.

What can I do to help?

Send this email to everyone on your list; ask them to buy the book and watch the special.

Ask your pastor to preach on it. There is a message complete with PowerPoint information on www.beyondiraq.com at no cost. Also ask him to buy the book and use it as a study guide for church members. The book contains a 21-day call to prayer plan.

URGENT! PLEASE SEND THIS TO YOUR ENTIRE LIST AND ASK THEM TO PRAY. THIS IS A BATTLE BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT...

Dr. Mike Evans’ latest #1 New York Times bestseller, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, outlines the threat that Iran’s terror activities through its proxies, Hezbollah and HAMAS, holds for Israel, and indeed, the world.
The battle can be won, but it has to be fought by knowing the truth (it will set us free), and through prayer.

Millions of praying saints (Daniels and Esthers) can reverse the curse. Esther won the battle:

"If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. What's more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)
Daniel won the battle: "The people that do know their God will be strong and do exploits..." (Daniel 11:28)

All royalties from the book will be used to bless Israel.

I had a wonderful Birthday. Much appreciated to the family. I was awaken by breakfast in bed. My little girl fixed breakfast for me. Yes, it was good. LOL

Here is most of the cookie cake the family provided. I love the local cookie cakes.

Lucky me, the kids couldn't wait for Fathers Day to give me those gifts too. I was provided awesome gifts, made by the kids and purchased by the wife. The most techy gift was a WinTV. It allows me to watch tv on my pc. Cool beans.

We played all day together and watched "Eragon" (one of my gifts), which turned out to be a really cool movie.

So, a wonderful birthday followed up by a great Fathers Day. We plan to watch movies today after church. The son and I will hit the new Fantastic Four, while the girls watch the Nancy Drew. I will probably post a review on it.

The best gift of all is the family I am blessed with. With all honest and sincerity, I can say, God has truly blessed this unworthy soul the best family one could ever wish for.

We utilize the cable company like most do around here. Primarily, I use them for the cable internet access. It hit our area before the phone DSL, so I obviously jumped on the cable highway as soon as it was made availible.

Given that, the cable company began to offer another tantalizing option, in the name of DVR. The digital video recorder came into the public spotlight by TIVO. Since then other companies have attempted to get into the mix, some were sued by TIVO for having too close of a product using their patent. From the looks of it, this niche will only grow.

I listened to the others having the dvr and was told by all, they love it. However, when I asked can you export that same video, no-one knew. Now before you jump in and say it's illegal to copy off the cable, I would simply remind you the VCR did the same thing and no-one blew a gasket over it.

The other day, I finally took in my regular cable box and traded it in for a DVR. There was basically a 10 dollar difference per month between the two. The DVR I acquired suppose to hold 40 hours of video. Not too bad, considering 80% will probably be taken up by 30 minute cartoons.

I tried to play with it last week by recording the show "Pirate Master" on Thursday night. I was able to view it Friday evening. I noticed the same 7 p.m. show was accidently recorded twice. You can view the "DVR Listing" and choose a recorded show. I chose one of the two and behold, it was a black screen with a rolling text on the bottom informing me this show can not be duplicated or copied.

'Interesting'.

I then chose the other recorded show and it played fine. So, the cable company has some type of firmware, within the box, that does not allow you to record the same show twice at the same time.

I haven't tested or tried to actually record from the DVR to a VHS/DVD combo.

Unfortunately, what I am seeing is a great attempt to put up a wall from the media/video itself. The VHS is being replaced with disc (similar to the cassette with cd's). Along with the change, the ability to duplicate is being removed.

Someone had suggested to read Richard Dawkins book entitled "The God Delusion". I was finally able to snag it at the library.

I also was able to acquire the video "The God who wasn't there" by the same Dawkins.
I understand he also had a couple of documentaries called "The root of all evil". I haven't seen those yet, but intend to view them as well.

Why would I read and view some information from the viewpoint of an Atheist? I am glad you asked.

When I converse with someone, I like to have a better understanding of that person's worldview. For me, it makes it easier to communicate when I understand the persons background and worldview.

Note I said converse and not debate. Over the years, I simply have found debates to be unproductive.

So I am reading why this, once christian boy, now has the worldview of a naturalist.

I read an interesting article that really made me think (no comments please).
The article is here.

Essentially, it reminded me of the precious times I have left with the kids. They looked at the Saturdays (50 per year) times the childs age minus 18.

So, my daughter is now 9, soon to be 10. 9 minus 18 equals 9. Take 9 times 50 (for the number of Saturdays per year) and I am left with 450 Saturdays to spend with her. Not much actually. My son is 8. 8 minus 18 leaves me 10. 10 times 50 is 500. So I have only 500 Saturdays left to spend with him.

Realizing I have less than 500 Saturdays, saddens me. This is in the perfect world of actually spending every Saturday with them. Sigh.

I would simply convey, Dads, spend more times with your kids. I am putting this PC down and doing just that.

For a four day week, it sure has been a long one. Been on-call all week, but still knocking on wood. I sill have this dreaded cold, but started to feel better yesterday. Perhaps, I am nearly over it.

Work continues to consume me. This weekend on Sunday Kel's family has a yearly reunion we will be going to. Last year, I took the kids while Kel worked. This year it looks like both of us will be able to go. From what I hear, there will not be many showing up.