December 16th, 2009: Bill Plaschke’s Bad Writing

Bill Plaschke is a sports Writer for the LA Times. His recent Op-ed is “The Tiger Woods story grows bigger, and juicier”  Basically, is a horrible conjecture that Tiger Woods has been using HGH because he looks big. And why does Plaschke come to this idea. Because of Woods adultery, of course. The man believes we are now free to question if Woods is a cheater in Golf because he is a cheater on his wife. He claims that a while back he saw woods from the back and he looked a lot like the cheater Barry Bonds. Yet, at the time he could not write about it because the story was not believable. Not that this has come out, it is believeable.
 

Woods used a doctor who is involved in the HGH business after an injury and claims that everyone who deals with these kind of doctors ends up being found guilty. What is sick is that people are piling onto woods sins he may or may not have done just because he is hurt. Woods approval rating has fallen from over 80% to under 40%. Plaschke is a fraud just like Woods because he would not call out an 80% approval Woods, but now he will at 35%. Either make your accusations at the time you notice them or don’t make them at all.
 

Don’t use one tragedy to be an opportunist to be in front of another. The NY Times did some good reporting in finding this link between Woods and the Doctor, now don’t go make your own conclusions in order to make a buck.

December 11th, 2009: The Proper Role of the US Police Force

The Neoconservative argues that the United States must be there for nations who are being tormented by evil people. The US needs to be a world police force so to speak. Isolationists such as Ron Paul argue that the US has no business being involved in any of these things.  They do not fall upon the classic left-right paradigm that operates in America today, contrary to popular belive because of the vast Neoconservative strain in the George W. Bush White House.
 

What brings this issue up is what Obama said yesterday when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. An award that Obama did not deserve, yet Obama gave one of the best speeches of his Presidency. I believe Obama is spot on in terms of his position. Read what Obama said here:
 

In a speech accepting an award for peace, Obama is making and argument for war.  But when is violent action necessary? Obama continues:
 

I like Obama because he is an idealist yet he wants to live by reality. There are times where violent action is necessary, because there are truly evil people in the world. Obama looks at the most clear example, Hitler. He then links that to the current example al-Qaeda. Both are evil, and both must be confronted. They are not confronted just because they are evil but because in fact if not confronted massive damage can be, or will continue to be handed down.
 

The Neocon reaches to the use of force too often. The isolationist does not do so enough. Obama has it exactly right with his practical idealism. As my hero Mike Huckabee said, “We stand for those things, we live or die by those things.” There are things worth fighting for, there are times to fight for them, and there are times that fighting for them requires war. Let me close with one more Obama quote, where he quotes JFK.
 

Let us hope and strive for peace on earth, but know that in this fallen world we will never be able to attain it.

December 8th, 2009: Bowling Embarrassment

I was driving home from small group today and right before I got to the Little River Turnpike I decided I wanted to go bowling. Being from Cleveland I love to bowl more than most people. There are lanes off the Little River Turnpike exit in Annandale where its $1.99 a game, a good deal after 9 PM. Most people think its odd to bowl by yourself, but its something an independent introvert such as myself loves to do.
 

I don’t have to talk to anyone, I can just bowl and bowl and bowl. I bowled 3 games, as I typically do. Since I am not really breaking, I usually break a good sweat and it’s a real challenge to myself. Some people give me odd looks with this big footed guy bowling by himself. On top of that, my bowling style is one I was suggest no one use, imagine your grandma trying to squat a little like a baseball catcher from the closer dots. The ball also goes slower than all but the most weak girls and children under 16.
 

What I lack in style I gain in precision. As a child I was on a church bowling league with my father and my two brothers, and I became an expert at hitting where I wanted with precision. Due to my slow ball and light weight due to my back problems, strikes were rare, but I was among the leaders in spares, the bulk of the time knocking down every non-split spare opportunity.
 

My precision is still good, but it was better when I bowled regularly. I have a little more speed and a 10 lb ball, the heaviest amount I am supposed to carry, and two pounds heavier than what I used as a child. Today my 3 games were going fine, but not great. With me, any game below 125 is bad and any game above 150 is good. My best game ever was a 191. My two goals are to throw a 200 game and bowl a game where I close every frame, meaning that I get a strike or a spare in each fram.
 

I entered my final frame with a 118, which isn’t great but it isn’t horrible either. I threw the first ball and got a strike, my first of the game. I threw the second and got another strike, which is called a double in bowling lingo. The think about that strike is that it was very late developing. The 6 pin fell so late that the electronic reader marked that it was still up. So I go to the machine and change my 9 to a proper strike. The lane sits there open waiting for a 2^nd ball to be thrown with no pins, so I tell the machine to rerack it.
 

I then prepare to try to cap off a mediocre game with a turkey, bowling lingo for 3 strikes in a row. I see the pins are set and I get into my grandma like stance. I take my steps and throw the ball, it feels good. I look up and the pins are resetting again. I put my hand on my head thinking “Oh-no!!!” not because I think I got jipped on a strike but because its going to hit the bar in front of the pins. It does, with an embarrassing bang and my ball starts coming back toward me. It enters the gutter and slowly rolls toward me. It makes it about ¾ back down the lane and it stops. The machine records me getting a zero and it automatically shuts off because my bowling is over.
 

Yet my ball sits there. Normally I would just throw another ball down the gutter and send them both down. I cant do that here and I contemplate what to do. I decided that I might as well just get it myself. So I walk down the lane in the gutter, grab my ball and go. It’s a small bit of shame on what was a relaxing end to my day.
 

PS: I am back blogging, sorry about the break

October 23rd, 2009: The Sands of Time are Sinking

Last night I went to what I told my roommate was a surprise party for my Pastor, Mark Dever’s 15^th anniversary of being associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. What I saw was something much greater, which was a tribute to him and more importantly God and the work he is doing through Mark Dever and the Capitol Hill Baptist Church.
 

Those who follow Evangelical Christian leaders today know who Mark Dever is. He is known as the expert on the Church in many Christian circles today, creator of the IX Marks which describe 9 things a church must have to be a healthy, Biblical Church. Of course, the number 9 is clearly arbitrary, and Pastor Mark would tell you that himself. If you really want to narrow the 9 Marks down to 1 essential point, it is this: Preach the Word. Really, through a proper handling of the Word of God, all of the other necessary callings of the church take care of themselves.
 

Funny thing is that when I walked into CHBC just over two years ago, I had no idea who Mark Dever was. I had no idea what CHBC is. I went to CHBC on recommendation of Ken Spink, the Pastor of Berea Baptist Church who had been to CHBC once and was impressed and since I told him I was Southern Baptist it was a natural fit. I always imagined that meeting a celebrity pastor (Mark would cringe at this term, but it works because of his popularity) would be like meeting a star athlete or a prominent politician. In fact, had a known that Mark Dever was a “celebrity pastor” before I met him, I would have wanted nothing to do with him or his church, because I seek a pastor who was a faithful teacher of the word of God and can care for his flock, not someone who is concerned with Guest appearances on Larry King Live and his chief concern being penning his next Christian Best Seller, which was my impression of celebrity pastors.
 

Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t think ill of the stereotype celebrity pastor I speak of. I think they are good if focused on the word, for the Kingdom. I just think the chief role of a pastor is to preach the word of God, and a celebrity pastor just seemed like someone who did that because it was part of the job in order to have street cred, but really a Celebrity pastor was really more of an author, or broadcaster at heart. I was seeking someone like my pastor at my last church Pastor Cliff Houston, a great man who is the Sheppard of a flock of less than 100 sheep in the spiritual deprived Pittsford, NY, a suburb of Rochester. This man puts years of labor in planting seeds and it is easy to get discouraged as the results are not immanently evident.
 

Well, like Cliff Houston, Mark Dever is a pastor. He may be a celebrity outside CHBC, but his chief role is to Sheppard his flock by devoting the core of his time to preaching the word of God. When I met Mark Dever, I had no clue he was a celebrity pastor. He surly don’t come off as one. His humility is something to be looked up to big time. When asked why it was important to be involved in a local church, Mark said that “He don’t trust himself outside of it.” Mark Dever puts himself on no pedestal, he is a sinner who relies on the church just like the rest of us.
 

The celebration last night was not only for Mark Dever as a pastor, but for Mark Dever as a mentor. I must say it was quite moving. Still, I chiefly know him as a pastor and he is a model one for sure. Brad Paisley in his song “Celebrity” says, “When you’re a Celebrity, it’s adios reality.” Well, Mark Dever is a celebrity, but what makes his great is that he is Hola reality. He is a faithful sinner looking to preach God’s Holy Word as faithful as he can on a week to week basis.  Thank You Mark Dever.

October 15th, 2009: Limbaugh De-Nied

Sadly, Rush Limbaugh has been dropped as a minority partner in an effort to buy the St. Louis Rams due to the bloodrage by Al Sharpton and the NFLPA. Everything that happened was within the rights of the actors that did them. Limbaugh was, as he did, able to be a part of a group to attempt to buy the St. Louis Rams. Sharpton and his Allies were able to protest the idea of him buying a team, and they succeeded when the pressure they applied made the decision easy for the owners to reject Limbaugh as a fellow owner.
 

That said, it really is a sad thing. The main difference between Limbaugh and your average NFL owner is not their politics but rather their public awareness. The idea that we aren’t going to allow someone a football team because they say controversial things is a sad thing. When Sharpton  made his racist claims about Limbaugh, he should have been laughed out of the room. Instead, he was able to get the ball rolling and deny Limbaugh. All this indicant proved is that racism is not dead in America, because a racist like Al Sharpton is able to stop a business transaction that he ought to have no sway in.

October 1st, 2009: Obama Going to Copenhagen

Obama is going to Denmark in order to try to pull the 2016 to the United States, specifically Chicago. Why is anyone upset he is doing this? The Olympics bring in millions upon millions. While politicians often wrongly state that they “created jobs.” Obama in this case could claim partial credit. With Chicago as the site, and with the President from Chicago, and with the President being as popular as he is worldwide, to not go would be foolish. There has been debate if this is being done as political cover if we don’t get the games or if he is going cause he believes he can actually move the needle.
 

I think it’s the ladder but I really don’t care. The inTrade markets say that Chicago is about a 60% chance of getting the games. While I don’t agree with Obama on most of what he is doing, I am sick of Republicans who attack the President on these kinds of issues. The President is our head of state and he making a pitch just makes sense. If the Americans don’t get the games, the Brazilians probably will, so either way I will be happy because Rio is only 1 hour ahead of EST. That is what I care about!

September 22nd, 2009: Plaxico Burress Raw Deal

Plaxico Burress started a 2 year prison sentence today. Sadly, justice is not blind because Plaxico Burress got a raw deal as he was sentenced two years for a crime that would typically have been given very little, if any prison time. Burress had a gun which he ought not to of had. This was discovered after his firearm discharged in his own pocket and he injured himself. The NY authorities decided to make an example of Burress in terms of their strict gun ban.  So, instead of the typical light sentence to someone who did not intend to hurt anyone in his crime, the book was thrown at him. He had no prior record and this helped him none. Sure, the sentence was correct in the letter of the law, but not within the spirit of the law.
 

This whole idea of using a single person to make an example of absurd. Burress is no more guilty that the countless other who did the same crime. Yet, because of his celebrity status he was given a harsher sentence to be made an example of. You might remember this same injustice being made of Martha Stewart in her insider trading case. I would also point to the Michael Vick case, but that has less of an argument.
 

On the flip side, Celebrities either are on one extreme or the other. If the book is not thrown at them, then they get little at all. Dante Stallworth was convicted of DUI Manslaughter, yet he received only 20 days in prison. How can a man get 2 years for carrying an illegal firearm yet another get 20 days for taking a person’s life? In terms of celebrities, it is a very clear example that Justice on this earth is not just.

September 17th, 2009: Racist!

Do you disagree with healthcare? Racist! How about the rising level of debt the US is taking on? Racist! You hold up a sign on the National Mall? Well if it’s not for one of those anti-war rallies, you’re clearly a racist. Joe “You Lie!” Wilson? If you don’t think he is a racist, you are a racist too! Jimmy Carter says you’re a racist. Paul Krugman says you a racist. According to many on the left, the only logical reason a person would oppose the President’s agenda is because they have racist tendencies.

Let me be clear, there still is racism in America today. There are people who did not vote for President Obama not because they opposed his policies but rather because they opposed his skin color. There are people today who are enraged that a black man occupies the White House today. Yet, the vast majority of people who oppose the President’s policies do so without race being a factor.  They oppose him because they believe his policies hurt themselves, their families and America as a whole.
 

People on the left, and a lot of people on the intellectual right, don’t understand these people. It is in that same vein when Obama said that people in the heartland “cling to their guns and religion.” They aren’t as much intellectual as they go with their gut. They live by principles, and when those principles are breached, they get concerned. In order not to awake this sleeping giant, you have to go about reform in the same way. It’s often noted that America is a center-right country, but it is really more of a traditionalist country than holding to the left of the right.
 

This is the only realm where Americans can say “Don’t let the Government get their hands on my Medicare.” They don’t want what they have changed. People would rather keep their health care coverage now rather than buy this new health care plan Obama has. Obama is trying to push a lot of reform. It was bound to have resistance. I don’t care if Obama was black, white or alien, that is just the way it works.

September 11th, 2009: Remembering 9/11/01

On September 11^th, 2001 my life changed. I knew no one in the attacks. In fact, I never heard of the World Trade Center buildings until the day of those attacks. It was a normal day for me, I was in the 11^th grade, and line most school age children, I was in school. It was the second class of the day, English, which always was my least favorite. It was taught by Ms. Dobson, a crazy African-American woman who claimed to be a Christian, but I don’t think she was. It was from her I first heard the wisdom, “Men want a lady in the street and a freak in the bed.” Usher would repeat that line later. The next year, Dobson was fired for hitting a parent. Point is, this lady was a bit crazy. In fact, our great school librarian, Ms. Stone, was going from room to room and saying we need to turn on the news now.
 

This happened in schools all over America. It did not happen the way it did in most places in Ms. Dobson’s room, she turned it on, and there was a picture of the 1^st World Trade Center building after being hit. Dobson left it on for about 30 seconds, and she said the following, “We need to get back to class, watch it on the news tonight” Her tone was that it was a minor event. I trusted her judgment at the time, though I wanted to see more. Thus, unlike most people, I did not see the 2^nd plane hit the 2^nd tower live.
 

It would not be until my later classes that I understood how important these attacks were. What 9/11 did for me was take an international perspective. Often we hear the terms “pre-9/11” or “post-9/11” mindset” thrown around. For me, it is a lot more than that. Funny enough, it would be just after the 9/11 attacks that I would really start to follow politics. I grew up in a family that never talked about world events, never talked about politics. Thinking about it, I grew up one of the strangest kids ever. The typical side was my relationship with my father in regards to sports. We bonded like my father and son in Cleveland through the Cleveland Browns and Indians. Other than that though, I was secluded to my own introverted world of math, reading and sports.
 

In my high school years I found Rush Limbaugh on the radio one day during the summer. I found him interesting and I started to listen to him every day.  It’s a funny link, but from 9/11 I went to Rush Limbaugh and from Rush I went to politics in general. By the time I graduated from high school, I knew that I wanted to be involved in the College Republicans at RIT.  While at RIT, I figured out I wanted to go into politics.
 

Why do I point of my career path on an anniversary of such a tragic day? I just wanted to show another perspective in how a major event changes our orientation. Events that happen in your teenage years are usually those which influence you the most. It’s hard for me to see an event that shaped my worldview more than 9/11. My thoughts and prayers go out to the affected 9/11 and my thanks go out to our military to fighting the good fight 8 years after this declaration of war by our enemies.

September 1st, 2009: Bob McDonnell Thesis Problem: Family Values is the Real Issue

The issue of what Bob McDonnell wrote in his thesis at Regents University in 1989 has been drawing heat over the past few days. What Bob McDonnell wrote was odd in 1989, and it is radical in 2009. McDonnell claims his views have evolved, and I am sure they have, to some degree. Still, let’s consider the source. This was a thesis done at Regents University, a Conservative Christian university. The Chancellor of the University is none other than Pat Robinson himself

What people fail to notice is how the Christian worldview of women in the workplace and the worlds view have diverged over the last 50 years. I would point to things such as the council of biblical manhood and womenhood as a Christian response to feminism. They don’t believe that the advances of feminism as a whole have been a good thing. I agree with them. While some things that the feminist movement has done are good things, such as equal pay for equal work, as a whole they are a negative on the culture.

The contrary worldview is that men and women are different, and they have different roles. While the roles are different, it does not mean that one sex is greater than the other. A huge problem with the feminist movement is that it has made women who stay at home looked down upon. This ought to not be looked down upon, but rather praised, especially those mothers with young children.
 

 If you want to make it far running for elected office today, you can’t make it clear that you have these views. I don’t know if McDonnell holds these views or not, but he is responding to them well. As someone not running for office, agree a lot with what McDonnell said in 1989. I have not read the entire thesis, so I won’t agree with it all, but unlike most, it furthers my support for McDonnell, not diminishes.