God in the News: With a Little Help From My Friends

I know that my frequency of posting has greatly diminished but I have to say that in the interim I really appreciate the fact that people find some crazy stories out there, and send them to me as "perfect blog material." It makes my job easier...so keep sending them in!!

*Transitional Species*

When it comes to God in the News, I suppose I could start with debating Evolution vs. Creation. Evolutionists point to scientific theories backed up by data, geology records, fossil records, etc... Creationists point out that someone wrote down in a book that God created everything. Seems pretty evenly matched so far, right? Well, Creationists also like to punch holes in the theory of evolution with the "fact" that there have been no transitional fossils ever found. Boom! Case closed! I guess maybe we shouldn't have those people look at this website that just names a few of the transitional fossils found, not to mention the many others.

But you say you want more proof? Ok. How about this claim that 3 men found a Bigfoot. That's right, a Sasquatch. A Yetti. A Walking Hairy Dude With Size 19s!

If that's not a transitional species, then I don't know what one is. Ok, it's probably safe to assume that I don't know what one is. What I do know is that this Bigfoot (seen stuffed into a freezer above) supposedly stood at 7'7" tall. Now, I've seen "Teen Wolf" so I know that hairy animals can play basketball...and at over 7 and a half feet in height, B-Dub would easily be a lottery pick for the Memphis Grizzlies.


And if this isn't proof enough for you non-believers, how about taking a closer look at the 3 "men" (seen above) who captured Bigfoot before folding him in half and putting him into a freezer, not even caring about contaminating their Klondike bars and frozen burritos. If you want to tell me that all 3 of these guys are genetically human, you'd better come up with more proof than your word. I've got eyes. And that guy in the middle is definitely a transitional species between plant and man. Not to mention that the guy on the left looks like some kind of cyborg with a robotic arm, and the guy on the right seems to have swallowed a tin pie pan.

You want more? Fine. I give you the Malaysian pen-tailed tree shrew. These little animals survive on a diet that is basically 100% beer! They drink the "fermented nectar of the flower buds of the bertam palm plant", which can reach up to 3.8% alcohol content. According to the article, they could drink any fratboy under the table. However, I happen to know a few fratboys that would beg to challenge that. They'd want to go head-to-head with this little tree-hugger (literally, it hugs trees to survive in the trees of Malaysia). So you tell me who is smarter? The still-sober tree shrew, or a Kappa Phi Beta who just did 4 kegstands and is nude on the front porch of his frat house while taunting a squirrel for not being able to hold its liquor?

Not a fair comparison, you say? Ok. How about one of the scientists studying this fascinating animal: Marc-André Lachance, a microbiologist at the University of Western Ontario. He speaks of the Bertam Palm Plant that the tree shrew drinks from and describes it as such:

"This plant in that part of Malaysia is quite widespread," Lachance said. "It's a very spiny, very uninviting plant. The lower buds from which the alcohol comes out are very sharp. You can easily hurt yourself on them. I speak from experience."

He speaks from EXPERIENCE?! So in hopes of getting his drink on in Malaysia, this research scientist lowered himself to the ground in the woods, leaned his head inside of a "very spiny, very uninviting plant" and tried to suck out nectar with the equivelant alcohol content of a bottle of Miller High Life? Ok, who's smarter? At least the tree shrew has the excuse of not having thumbs to open the bottle.

I offer up all of the above as evidence of transitional species: The tree shrew will one day evolve into students at the University of Southern Illinois....and the fratboys -- along with scientist Marc-André Lachance -- are not quite human yet. I'd say at least a step or two behind the furry, drunk Malaysian tree dweller.

*My Faith Is A Rock*

Keeping with the theme of God in the News, I've got to give it up to the people who want to emulate the disciple Peter. He's known as The Rock -- the original one, not the wrestler/actor. Matthew 16:18 states: "[Jesus said,] 'And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.'"

What a strong, bold statement. The Church is a rock. It's a foundation, and not even the gates of Hell will overcome it. Inspiring words...so much so that the Roman Catholic Church in Italy has decided to follow its parishoners on their holidays so they can preach to them on the beaches from inflatable churches.

"Catholic nuns and priests in Italy are following their flocks to the beach this summer, establishing an inflatable church and a beach-convent in the sands to lure sunbathers.
The 30-metre (98 ft) long blow-up church -- staffed by priests ready to take confession -- will debut on Saturday on the Adriatic coast in the Molise region, an organizer said."

It's just what every beach-goer wants: to get drunk, swim in the Adriatic Sea, sunbathe nude...and then, completely sunburned, stumble over to something that they think is a giant jumpy house and end up in confession with a priest wearing an inflatable, blow-up samurai body.

So not even the Gates of Hell can overcome the Church...but apparently a safety pin can. And in case of a water landing, your local Church can also be used as a flotation device.

**A Little Bit of Prager On My Mind...**

So if the idea of a blow-up Church actually shakes your faith, rather than strengthens it, who are you going to look to in order to restore it? I always turn to my own personal rock of sound reasoning, Dennis Prager. I hate to keep singaling out our Conservative friend here, but he makes it so easy...

I give you one of his latest columns "If There Is No God" in which he makes 14 "points" as to why there being the existence of God is better than not having Him exist.

1 - Without God there is no good and evil; there are only subjective opinions that we then label "good" and "evil."

Wow. Excellent "point". If it wasn't written on a stone tablet, brought down from a mountain, how would we know what was right or wrong? How would we possibly know that charity is good? In fact, murder and theft might just be fun hobbies if there wasn't a God.

2 - Without God, there is no objective meaning to life. We are all merely random creations of natural selection whose existence has no more intrinsic purpose or meaning than that of a pebble equally randomly produced.

Sheesh...I had no idea that if God didn't exist my life would only have the same purpose as a pebble. Kind of bleak when you think about it. Because being a random creature, evolved over millions of years is a horrible way to look at things isn't it? Every great step forward that humans have made has all been in vain. We should stop studying the past to learn where we came from and for crying out loud, stop trying to be happy and make a better future for those that come after us.

3 - Life is ultimately a tragic fare if there is no God. We live, we suffer, we die -- some horrifically, many prematurely -- and there is only oblivion afterward.

So true. If there's no God, then obviously the life we live can't include some happiness and joy as well. And those people that died peacefully or heroically: what a waste!!

4 - Human beings need instruction manuals.

Doesn't it say as much in the Bible? I'm paraphrasing here, but isn't there a passage in Genesis that says "And God created man. Some assembly required and there's an instruction manual printed in six languages taped to his back. For ages 3+. And it was good."

5- If there is no God, the kindest and most innocent victims of torture and murder have no better a fate after death than do the most cruel torturers and mass murderers. Only if there is a good God do Mother Teresa and Adolf Hitler have different fates.

Ahhh....one of my favorites. There must be a God. Why? Because it makes me feel better about tragedies. Because if there's no God, then Mother Teresa and Adolf Hitler will both be written about in fairy tales, sipping tea together on a sunny afternoon in the park. No one can tell the difference in their two lives without the existence of God. I know I can't. Did Mother Teresa have a mustache?

6 - With the death of Judeo-Christian values in the West, many Westerners believe in little. That is why secular Western Europe has been unwilling and therefore unable to confront evil, whether it was Communism during the Cold War or Islamic totalitarians in its midst today.

Yeah, that whole World War that took place on the ground in Europe, killing hundreds of millions of people really was a waste of time. No one believes it did any good. With a good God in existence we need to invade more countries. That ought to show that that God not only exists but that He's on our side.

7 - Without God, people in the West often become less, not more, rational.

Why can't we all just be rational? Without God, I guess people would actually want proof that something happened, rather than just believing it. Of all the nerve...Why can't they just believe in rational ideas like the fact that Jonah lived inside the mouth of a fish for 3 days?

8 - If there is no God, the human being has no free will. He is a robot, whose every action is dictated by genes and environment.

I guess he's right. Nothing I do is by choice. Without God, I should just be able to walk into a Red Lobster, strip naked and jump into the tank with the lobsters. Since I know that their claws are banded I'll be safe. So then I'll just get out, grab myself a tasty crustacean and walk back out to my car. If the cops ask me why I did it, all I have to say is that it was in my genes. I had no choice. So there must be a God, because I've chosen not to do that in my life......yet!

9 - If there is no God, humans and "other" animals are of equal value.

a) I'm glad he italicized "other" because I wouldn't have known what he "meant" by "animals" if he didn't.
b) He did forget pebbles this time. If there's no God, then humans and "other" animals and pebbles are all of equal value. That makes sense.

10 - Without God, there is little to inspire people to create inspiring art.

How true. I mean look at the Beijing Olympics for example. On the whole, China doesn't condone religion...and look at all the crappy ideas the Chinese had in mind for the 2008 Olympic Games:



What a total lack of inspiration...

...And, well, there are actually 4 more "points" that Prager makes, but they seem more like ramblings than points. But I'm glad that we can always rely on him to continually make such strong arguments. That's why I "respect" him so "much".

Do Sons of Steel Mill Workers Now Have a Bad Rap??

When the Republicans have so much going against them: a terrible economy, the War in Iraq still going on, a lack of any healthcare plan whatsoever....what the Democrats simply don't need are scandals.

The Road to the White House for Barack Obama looked to be smoothly paved. Put the campaign car in cruise control, don't make any embarassingly wrong turns, and 1600 W. Pennsylvania Ave should reached on Jan 20, 2009.

But, instead, the Party will be reflected upon poorly because another highly regarded Democrat has admitted to having an extramarital affair: this time it was John Edwards -- a man who is not running for President any longer; a man who is not a sitting U.S. Senator any longer And yet, in a news media obsessed with sex scandals -- because that's what they assume people care about most -- this will be a major story that will lower independent's support for Obama.

To make matters bad, Edwards' wife Elizabeth has an incurable form of cancer.

To make matters worse, he ended up getting caught by The National Enquirer. That's right, I said The National Enquirer. So Edwards can hide the affair from every news organization following him around during both a 2004 Vice-Presidential run, and a 2008 Presidential run.....but he can't skirt by the people who tell us about how Britney Spears rides around in cars without underwear, or seatbelts for her children.

Ok, you got me. I used Britney Spears' name in the same blog as Barack Obama. Obviously, I'm linking the two together just as John McCain has tried to do in his political ad:

I never thought I'd say this, but I guess I'd rather have Obama's name linked to Paris Hilton & Britney Spears than with John Edwards right now.

This is politics people! Sadly, it doesn't matter how good your foreign and social policies are if you can't keep it in your pants.

What Ever Happened to Beaver??

I used to think we lived in a pretty good world. Boy was I wrong! Of course I didn't realize how very ignorant I was until I read Dennis Prager's column on Townhall.com, titled "When I Was A Boy, America Was A Better Place." You see, this is something I'd never heard of before: an old man complaining that the world is different from when he grew up. Inconceivable!! And while Mr. Prager may be nearing that age where his foods might not be solid, it's good to know that his arguments and Grandpa Simpson-esque complaints still are.

The day the O.J. Simpson verdict was announced, I said to my then-teenage son, "David, please forgive me. I am handing over to you a worse America than my father handed over to me." Unfortunately, I still feel this way.

With the important exception of racial discrimination -- which was already dying a natural death when I was young -- it is difficult to come up with an important area in which America is significantly better than when I was a boy. But I can think of many in which its quality of life has deteriorated.

Yeah, a guilty man walked free from a crime because he had money to pay for an expensive attorney. I'm with ya Dennis.

And of course he's right that when he was a boy, racial discrimination "was already dying a natural death." Prager was born in that luckiest of times to be a minority: Just after WWII, in 1948. He was just a young child in 1954 for the natural chain of events that led to the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. We all know that nothing is more natural than the progression of a segregation trial that ends up in the Supreme Court of the United States.

He was just a 7-year old boy when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. And if I've read my history correctly, at the time everyone pretty much felt she was in the right, because racial descrimination was a dying entity.

Luckily for Prager, he was a boy in his mid-teens in 1963 when Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, which pretty much put an end to any and all discrimination. I don't think there's been any since, right? Ahhhhhh, the natural death of racial discrimination.

Today, people at work, to cite but one example, are far less free to speak naturally. Every word, gesture and look, even one's illustrated calendar, is now monitored lest a fellow employee feel offended and bring charges of sexual harassment or creating a "hostile work environment" or being racially, religiously or ethnically insensitive, or insensitive to another's sexual orientation.

It was so much nicer back in Prager's day when you didn't have to worry about being racially, religiously or ethnically sensitive -- you just didn't have to hire those kinds of people if you didn't want to. How simple was that?? And as for someone's sexual orientation? If we can't even expect our military to exclude gays, what hope does the work force have? Right on Dennis!

When I was a 7-year-old boy, I flew alone from New York to my aunt and uncle in Miami and did the same thing coming back to New York. I boarded the plane on my own and got off the plane on my own. No papers for my parents to fill out. No extra fee to pay the airline. I was responsible for myself. Had I run away or been kidnapped, no one would have sued the airline. Today, fear of lawsuits is a dominant fact of American life.

I feel horrible for Mr. Prager. When he was 7, it was right at the same time as the Rosa Parks bus incident. Luckily, on an airplane in 1955, little Dennis didn't need to worry about any black people sitting in his seat, since white people wouldn't hire them and they couldn't afford the ticket.

I just don't understand why we don't send more children cross-country on their own. Where is the harm in that? What is this country coming to? It's lawsuit this, and lawsuit that...and all because people saw a way to punish -- after getting screwed by -- bigger corporations with pocketbooks deeper than the chasm that those aliens were found in The Abyss. Granted, an upset lawyer suing a dry-cleaner for $65 million might be a bit excessive, but they DID lose his pants after all.

When I was boy, I was surrounded by adult men. Today, most American boys (and girls, of course) come into contact with no adult man all day every school day. Their teachers and school principals are all likely to be women. And if, as is often the case, there is no father at home (not solely because of divorce but because "family" courts have allowed many divorced mothers to remove fathers from their children's lives), boys almost never come into contact with the most important group of people in a boy's life -- adult men.

Several good points here!!

a) teachers and school principals are likely to be women now?? *sigh* Can't we just ask them if they're a woman when they apply for the job in the first place and then just not hire them? Apparently not any more.

b) and what's up with family courts (or "family" courts, as Dennis likes to put it) not granting custody to unfit fathers? If a father drinks too much, is abusive, or has a tendency to throw key-parties with the neighbors, then what right does a divorcing mother have to remove and protect her child from that behavior? It's sad to think that if I get caught blowing lines of coke off of a hooker's thigh, that I might lose the weekend privelages with my 5-year old boy. How am I supposed to bond with him? Seriously, that'll really make you think twice, so that you don't get caught.

When I was a boy, the purpose of American history textbooks was to teach American history. Today, the purpose of most American history texts is to make minorities and females feel good about themselves. As a result, American kids today are deprived of the opportunity to feel good about being American (not to mention deprived of historical truth). They are encouraged to feel pride about all identities -- African-American, Hispanic, Asian, female, gay -- other than American.

I'm with Dennis: I hate that we try to make people -- especially those who have been oppressed, ridiculed and discriminated against -- "feel good about themselves." Why should they be made to feel proud of their heritage? Shouldn't they mock it like Americans used to do? That ought to make them feel proud to be an American!! Because it's not the fact that we're all equal in this country that matters; it's the fact that we're all the same, no matter where we came from....you know, as long as we diminish any importance to where we actually came from. Because America isn't supposed to be the great melting pot of rich histories -- it's supposed to be a bunch of suburban Americans going out to The Melting Pot for fondue.

When I was a teenage boy, getting to kiss a girl, let alone to touch her thigh or her breast (even over her clothes) was the thrill of a lifetime. Most of us could only dream of a day later on in life when oral sex would take place (a term most of us had never heard of). But of course, we were not raised by educators or parents who believed that "teenagers will have sex no matter what." Most of us rarely if ever saw a naked female in photos (the "dirty pictures" we got a chance to look at never showed "everything"), let alone in movies or in real life. We were, in short, allowed to be relatively innocent. And even without sex education and condom placement classes, few of us ever got a girl pregnant.

Wow!! What happened to those good old days when a teenage boy received the thrill of a lifetime by touching a girl's thigh? Ahhhh, those innocent 1960s that he recalls.....those must have been the days!! Forget for a moment the obvious innocence of teenagers in the 60s. It must have been such a blessing for the adults and teachers to just blindly believe that the kids weren't having sex or doing drugs, or watching Elvis Presley shake his hips. Much better to close your eyes to the reality of the 1960s and perceive the "Leave-It-To-Beaver reality" that you choose to believe in, than to maybe confront those issues. In fact, why do we even try to inform and protect a teenager who engages in sexual activity? Shouldn't we just ensure their ignorance on the subject so that they can make their decisions without the knowledge that we posess on dieases and pregnancies? Can't we go back to those innocent days where we could just chastise anyone who got pregnant as a teenager or caught a disease because they had it coming to them?!

When I was a boy, "I Love Lucy" showed two separate beds in Lucy and Ricky's bedroom -- and they were a married couple. Today, MTV and most TV saturate viewers' lives with sexual imagery and sexual talk, virtually all of which is loveless and, of course, non-marital.

When I was boy, people dressed up to go to baseball games, visit the doctor and travel on airplanes. Today, people don't dress up even for church.

Think about how much better it would be if our parents slept in separate beds? Then marriage could be viewed as it's supposed to be: like summer camp.

And yeah, it's a horrible society where people actually want to be comfortable for a crammed, 4-hour flight in coach from Cincinnati to Salt Lake City. If the person next to you is going to make disgusting sniffing noises all flight, slurp his orange juice and smell bad, the least he could be doing is wearing a sweater vest.

Can we return to the America of my youth? No. Can we return to the best values of that time? Yes. But not if both houses of Congress, the presidency and the Supreme Court move the country even further leftward. If that happens, many of the above noted changes will simply be accelerated.

Yes, Mr. Prager is absolutely right! How did we even let the country deteriorate to the point where he's so very ashamed of it? It must have been all of those liberal, left-wing Democrats that we've elected President in the last 40 years...you know, both of them! Since 1969 (when Prager was 21), Jimmy Carter was President for 4 years, and Bill Clinton for 8. Those 12 years out of the last 40 under a Democratic Preisdent surely destroyed his innocence. I guess we can only thank the other 32 years of Republican Presidencies that we're not even worse off than we are.

One can only hope that a 71-year old white man can win the office of President in November, so that he can continue providing our young, innocent children what we're supposed to provide them with: death in an unnecessary war, isolation from the world, further neglection of the middle class so as to continue building the empires of the richest 1%.....and the hope to one day feel a girl's breast. I lament with you Mr. Prager.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!

NCAA Division I Basketball National Champions in 2008!!!

Not much else to say...What a great weekend to beat North Carolina by 18...and then win one of the best National Title games in recent memory. Down 9 points with less than 2 minutes in the game...Huge shots, made free throws, 3 pointers by Collins and the Unbelievably clutch shot by Mario Chalmers.

(Did I mention BCS Orange Bowl champs, too??)

What a great year to be a Jayhawk!

Here's the scene of 40,000 Hawk fans crowding downtown Lawrence on Mass Street:

Party on Hawks!!! Rock Chalk!!!

God in the News...Whatchoo Talking Bout?

After a little hiatus from "God in the News" I'm glad to report that it's back, in all of its Omnipotent News Glory. I know that I normally start out by telling you that "The World is Ending" but I think I'll stay away from that this time. Why? Because apparently the world is NOT ending. Need proof???

**End of the World?**

Members of a Russian cult are starting to trickle out of a cave, where they had holed themselves up since last November to await the end of the world, which is apparently supposed to happen this May. Self-declared prophet Pyotr Kuznetsov "left his family and established the True Russian Orthodox Church and recruited followers in Russia and Belarus. His followers were not allowed to watch television, listen to the radio or handle money, Russian media have reported."

I think people are being a little hard on Pyotr here. He was an engineer from a devout Russian family, so clearly he abandoned the material things in life in order to serve God. And doesn't it even say somewhere in the Bible that we're not allowed to watch television or listen to the radio?? (source needed)

So why did the cult...ahem, Church members decide to come out into the open? Did they come to their senses and realize that maybe the world really isn't going to end this May?? Or did this have something to do with it?

"[Last] Friday...melting spring snows caused part of the shelter to cave in, sparking fears that the entire structure could collapse....and more of the cave had collapsed around dawn Tuesday. Cult members told emergency officials that they had had a divine vision overnight that instructed them to leave."

I imagine that this divine vision looked something like a coal miner with a light strapped to his head, shouting in a Scotish accent, "Get the hell out of here!! She's goin to crumble!" Ahh, divine visions...we should all be so lucky.

Who is this man? a) Borat, b) Gary Oldman, c) cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov

**End of your credit?**

Well shoot! If we can't trust a guy who is a self-proclaimed prophet, then who can we trust? Luckily we have actual ordained pastors, ministers and priests on our side. Such as the Rev. Raymond Clayton, former pastor of a Northumberland County [Pennsylvania] church. Last Monday Rev. Clayton plead guilty in federal court to a charge of access device fraud, in which he acknowledged using parishioners' personal information to obtain credit cards.

"Following the plea, 83-year-old church member Patricia Tomedi said, 'Thank God.' Tomedi says she's lost 20 pounds since Clayton was charged with stealing church members' identities. Her's was one of the Social Security numbers he used.'

I really don't see how people are viewing this as a bad thing. The way I see it Rev. Clayton is simply on to a better weight-loss scheme than Jered's Subway sandwiches. Tomedi said she lost 20 pounds!!!! That's fantastic! It really sheds a whole new light on the if-life-hands-you-lemons-make-lemonade viewpoint.... So if-your-pastor-steals-your-identity-curl-up-in-a-little-ball-stop-eating-and-lose-weight. It's got a certain ring to it. God's diet plan at work!

**Wright vs. Right??**

In recent news, we've all seen the video clips of Barack Obama's former pastor Rev. Wright. In the heat of the moment, he's made some pretty outlandish claims. And even though Obama says that he denounces any type of anti-American statements made by Rev. Wright, it appears that the political right-wing still wants to tie Obama to those comments. And why not?? I mean, look at the claims that Rev. Wright is making....In the middle of a sermon trying to challenge his congregation to think about things, Wright said that instead of blessing America, blacks should damn it for its mistreatment of them and suggested that the nation had brought the attacks of Sept. 11 on itself.

We have to think about this rationally, people. How can the Sept. 11th attacks have been brought upon by ourselves, when we know fully well that the truth behind the Sept. 11th attacks was clearly stated by Rev. Jerry Falwell:

"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'"

Evangelist Pat Robertson's immediate response to Falwell's claim: "Well, I totally concur."

See, now THAT makes sense! As we all know, one of the main items of the homosexual agenda is to ruin the institution of marriage....by being allowed to be part of it. Kind of like the kids on the playground who stink at kickball yet want to play, too: Don't they know that by joining the game, their awkwardness and lack of skills ruins the game?? So they should just be left out! They can go play 4-square or hopscotch, though...that's almost the same, right?

So basically we need to continue trying to ban gays from getting married. And not just for the fact that we don't approve of who they're sleeping with, but rather a much more noble cause: to prevent more attacks on our country by radical Islamic terrorists. Because everyone can see how closely those two things are linked.

**Right vs. Marriage??**

The sanctity of marriage must be protected! Think about what we're looking to protect here: One man. One woman. One wedding dress made from toilet paper. These things are crucial to our stable way of life here in America. Marriage is something that needs to be taken seriously. It is a covenant of love made before the eyes of God. And who doesn't want to stand before God wearing this:

Personally I would have thought strapless the way to go, but maybe she just needed to finish off the last of the roll. And if she did, I can just see the lucky groom on their honeymoon, sitting on the toilet and noticing that there is no more toilet paper.... "Honey, if you're going to use the last of the toilet paper, please at least be courteous enough to let me wipe with your wedding dress!"

I guess when you really think about it, maybe we should let anyone marry whomever they wish. Hell, if Gary Coleman can get married to a woman twice his size, then why not, right? This is obviously what God had in mind for marriage:

And if marriage really does make you smarter, as a recent article tries to suggest, then that might explain Coleman's stupidity beforehand, thinking that he was still a celebrity that needed to get married in secret. However, does it really explain his recent ad with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter?

(Ever wondered why Gary Coleman isn't invited to your Thanksgiving? Just watch him eat)

If Coleman really wanted to make some money, why not do it the old fashioned way? You know, the way our forefathers did it. Hard work, long hours, dedication...and occasionally offering to be bitten by mosquitoes infected with malaria.

"The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute will pay volunteers as much as $4,000 to be bitten by mosquitoes infected with malaria. Scientists say no lives are in danger because the volunteers can be cured. The institute is testing which vaccines work fastest."

That seems worth it!!

Hope: Maybe we can all feel it...

Senator Barack Obama gave a speech on Tuesday, March 18th about racism. He delivered this speech because he needed to address some of the comments made by the Pastor of his church in Chicago. I think it's something everyone should invest the 37 minutes and 10 seconds to watch.



Hopefully this was able to motivate people...open people's eyes to the fact that racism still exists and it's naive to believe otherwise. However, here is a column I read by Mary Katherine Ham, a columnist on Townhall.com. She says:

"...what does [Obama] ask in this speech and of whom does he ask it? How will we form a 'more perfect union,' according to Obama, and who needs to do the forming?"

She quotes Obama here:

"For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who has been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny."

How does Ham respond to this good message?

"Note that while Obama conceded that not all of whites' race issues are entirely unjustified ('And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.'), he did not ask the black community to try to understand them. But he did ask that of white Americans. In fact, that should be the white community's first priority."

Sadly, that's how she took those comments. Rather than feel inspired, she felt offended. And how does she justify this? By quoting this part of Obama's speech:

"In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper."

To a reasonable ear this sounds completely legitimate and inspiring. It raises hope that maybe we CAN rise to that point in our lifetime. Maybe we CAN provide for our children in a fashion that all of them can get an equal education, and therefore close the gap on opportunity discrepencies.

But what does Ham say?

"In short: Black people, continue to ask more of this oppressive society in which you live without becoming victims of that oppression. White people, try to learn not to be so darn oppressive, huh? ... Obama asks white people to perform the same rites every leader before him has, atoning for the country's historic racism by understanding more fully and funding more heavily, and doing it without question. He asks little to nothing of anyone else."

I wish I could say that this cynical viewpoint is in the minority. But here are some of the comments that are made in response to this article:

"As to what the whites owe blacks in education:

THE ENTIRE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS BEEN CONTROLLED BY LIBERAL UNIONS AND LIBERAL IDEAS FOR 36 YEARS SINCE THE PRES. OF THE NEA SAID THE SCHOOLS WILL BE THE ENGINE OF SOCIAL CHANGE IN 1972.

The social change they got is rotten minority schools in urban areas that were once the pride of the world. Whites didn't corrupt those schools. Obama's liberal ideas did.

Black students in DC and Newark, NJ, graduate reading on the fourth grade level on the average. Whites didn't do that. Liberal teaching methods like Whole Language and social promotion did (does) that."

...and...

"Obama doesn't get the American heartland. Axelrod had to explain to Obama how inflammatory Wright is -- Obama just didn't get it. Imagine this as an international incident. When Sharon went to the Temple Mount, he knew he was going to inflame the Palestinians -- that was his agenda. It's not like Sharon had no clue what he was doing.

The worst thing a would-be peacemaker can do is favor one side over the other. Obama made it clear he favors the black nationalist point of view over the many white points of view."

...and...

"I'm pretty sick of this white guilt baloney, I don't feel guilty for one minute over this issue.That was paid in the blood of Americans over 100 years ago. My ancestors stopped the slave trade."

The quotes go on and on and on...it saddens me to see them. However, I hold out hope that the strength and will to make positive changes rises to the top. That we can all make the differences in our own lives, and in the lives of the younger generations. And as time goes on, I can hope that the cynicism and the "oh, it's not my fault" attitudes of certain individuals becomes the exception, not the rule.

Favre Retires...Madden To Follow??

Well, as any casual observer noticed yesterday, legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre retired after 17 seasons in the NFL. His decision leaves people pondering why, as the Packers looked to be loaded next season with a young and talented team -- a team that was only a few minutes from reaching the Super Bowl this past season. Some speculate that Green Bay's failure to sign wide receiver Randy Moss weighed heavily into Favre's decision as he felt he really needed a reliable WR that could get open for him. Favre can't do it all by himself! He needs people to get open, otherwise he might make a bad pass... which might get intercepted... which might lead to losing the NFC Championship game...

I mean, look at this snapshot from the last pass in Brett Favre's career:
Obviously, Favre needed a Randy Moss on that play. None of his guys could get open (other than the 3 circled receivers who are all clearly wide open). We'll all miss you Brett!! I don't know if John Madden's heart can truly be in his broadcasting anymore without you...