I can't stop laughing!!



"Stan Jones,a 63-year-old business consultant and part-time college instructor, said he started taking colloidal silver in 1999 for fear that Y2K disruptions might lead to a shortage of antibiotics. He made his own concoction by electrically charging a couple of silver wires in a glass of water.

His skin began turning blue-gray a year ago."

The best thing about it is that his condition is permanent!! I wish that I lived in Montana...I would vote for this guy in a heartbeat. Way to go you Y2K yahoo.

Read the full article.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry...



Never has the term "study" in "Study Bible" been used quite so loosely. I'm thinking the only books that have study annotations are Daniel and Revelation. Whad'ya think?

According to the Drudge Report, 60 Minutes will run an interview with Jerry Falwell on Sunday. In the interview Rev. Falwell will denounce the prophet Mohammed as a "terrorist". "I read enough…by both Muslims and non-Muslims, [to decide] that he was a violent man, a man of war,” he tells CBS.

I don't think there's a man who alternately compels and repels me at the same time more than Rev. Falwell. He can have me cheering one moment and groaning the next. The other shoe, of course, drops however in the interview in which he intimates that (surprise, surprise) that the Christian Right influences U.S. government policy toward Israel. To wit:

"Falwell sent a personal protest to President Bush, and the White House received 100,000 e-mail protests from Christians when Bush urged Israel to remove its forces from Palestinian towns earlier this year. Falwell believes Bush is well aware of the Christian constituency. “There are 70 million of us…[and] there’s nothing that would bring the wrath of the Christian public in this country down on this government like abandoning or opposing Israel on a critical matter,” Falwell tells Simon."

Ugh...nothing like a good dose of "Bible" fiction to grease the wheels of the imperialistic war-machine.

Anyway I told this to my co-worker (who went to Bob Jones University and almost got his master's there before he apostasized and is now an animistic Zen-buddhist) and he retorted "Well its not surprising since wars are usually caused by religion". I retorted that that it was in fact true and I started talking about humanism as an official state religion and all the wars it started: Marxism and the Bolshevik Revolution, Socialism and WWII. He quickly lost interest in the conversation though as I was attacking one of his pet doctrines and started talking about different types of cell phone rings. Rather than continuing to press the conversation I just let it go and hopefully some of the stuff I was saying will sink in and at least be a foundation for future dialogue. He's a bright guy, nice enough but he's been severely damaged by hyper-fundamentalism in his youth. I think (at least I'd like to think) that I'm kind of a breath of fresh air for him as we frequently share the same political views (classically liberal/libertarian in nature) and I don't think he's met a Christian that isn't a card-carrying member of the Religious Right. Anyway, remember me in your prayers as well as my co-worker Craig.

I can relate...

"Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord" - Luke 5:8

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
...where there is injury, pardon;
...where there is doubt, faith;
...where there is despair, hope;
...where there is darkness, light;
...where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
...to be consoled as to console;
...to be understood as to understand;
...to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
...it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
...and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life
--- Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi died on this day in 1226. The founder of the Franciscan Order of monks was born Giovani Francisco Bernadone, and lived a decadent early life. When he recovered from a sickness he vowed to dedicate his life to the church and to helping others. Even though he lived the rest of his life in poverty, he never refused giving alms for the poor.

They just opened one of these right across the street from my house.

I'm doomed.

Wow!

Once again James Jordan impresses me. He has a habit of doing that though.

"Christian activist literature too often reduces or even perverts Christianity into an ideology, a set of ideas. Christianity is not, however, an ideology to be implemented through crusading activism. Rather, Christianity is a new creation. It grows holistically and organically out of the life of faith and prayer. It is as men draw near to God and acquire wisdom and maturity from the Scriptures that they are built up and prepared for dominical responsibilities, and God will confer these upon His people in due time.

Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things" -- dominion in the world -- "will be added to you" (Matt. 6:33). By this command our Lord orients us toward the Tree of Life. We pray for God's kingdom to come on earth and His will to be done on earth as in heaven, but the kingdom does not come through direct action. Rather, it is bestowed, as a gift (Luke 12:32). It comes indirectly as a result of piety. Dominion is not given to those who seek it directly, but it is given to those who seek Life, confessing that they do not have it in themselves. Thus, the Church -- the institution of piety -- exists for the purpose of building men up so that they can take Life to the world and transform it."

OK, I need some opinions

Who should I start Sunday on my fantasy football team? A struggling Curtis Martin against the pourous run defense of the Chiefs, or Jerry Rice, the second option to Tim Brown vs. the pourous secondary of Buffalo?

Manager of the Year?


OK wow, I don't even know where to start. First of all I love Mike Scioscia, he was a former Dodger and any former Dodger will always have a spot in my heart no matter what they do...um, unless they go to the Giants (You're dead to me Dusty Baker. Yeah, yeah I know Orel did too, but he later repented).

Second of all, tonight was a case of grade-A brain fart. What was Scioscia thinking putting Donnelly in against Bernie "I eat rookie pitchers for lunch" Williams. BERNIE WILLIAMS!!! A player like that deserves respect and respect must only come in the form of giving him your best shot to get him out. And the Angels best shot was...Brendan Donnelly?

Meanwhile a twitchy, caffeine-addicted fireballer who oh..only saved about 40 games for you this season rots away in the bully. Troy Percival...this is your life!

This was the kind of mistake that stays with a team and haunts them throughout the series. Hopefully they'll be able to shake it off and knock the Yanks out.

Meanwhile my Angel fan friends, the Daves are at home testing the strength of their shower curtain rods. Rest easy guys...there's three more games to play.

Read Rob Neyer for his take on the game. He breaks it down 100x's better than I could.

Three new CD's for me to drool for.

1. Beck - "Sea Change". Dave B. brought this one over on Sunday. Phenomenal !! You can really hear the Willie Nelson influence of this one (that's a good thing btw). It's a very mellow album, profoundly sad, and genuinely beautiful. For those of you who only know Beck from his stoner-funk, "Mellow Gold" days, you need to pick this one up now. Brilliant stuff.

2. Elvis - "30 #1 Hits". Yeah the old standards are here and it's nothing more than a shamless ploy by Elvis Inc. to get us to cough up more cash. But buying this album is worth it just to hear the songs digitally remastered. No more scratches and lo-fi background static on these beauties.

3. Rolling Stones - "40 Licks". I'm going to the concert this month and I gotta get ready for it. It's the Stones, do I really need to say more?

Post-Wedding Conversation at Church.

Me: Lisa, You looked very pretty in the wedding yesterday.
Lisa (Age 7): Thank you Mr. Chapa
Me: Did you do a lot of dancing?
Lisa: No, I tried to dance with the little boy who was in the ceremony with me, but he told me that he didn't know how to dance. But then I saw him dancing with another girl later on.

*sigh* I then wanted to say "Just wait until high school kiddo", but I didn't want to corrupt the child's mind with my cynicism.

Jesus saves...and you can too up to 10% on long distance rates!

Two great articles from LewRockwell.com

In order to make war, presidents lie! It happened with Woody Wilson, FDR and LBJ and it's happening today!!


"When you’re talking job security, hardly anything beats being a Rolling Stone!" Gary North writes about the staying power of two ancient bands (The Stones and the Dead) and how they have marketed themselves sucessfully from generation to generation.

No!

I'm in the process of regaining my voice after a long bout with a head cold but it is a long, hard struggle (of course singing along to "You Shook Me All Night Long" Angus-style on Saturday didn't help matters). Anyone who knows me knows that I like to talk, so being unable to is like a prison sentence for me.

My co-worker today said that I sounded like a cross between Harvey Fierstein and Tigger. Heh, now that's a combo for ya.

The Dance

On Saturday I went to the wedding of an elder’s daughter (who is also a friend of ours). It was an evening of feasting, drinking and…dancing. As often as the subject of weddings comes up so also comes the subject of dancing. Ah yes, the dance, my old nemesis.

Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy dancing…just not in front of people. My moves can be best described as a pregnant yak tiptoeing through a landmine field. Often the results are just as messy. My wife however has been graced by the gift of being able to bust a salacious groove or two. She will dance anytime, anywhere. So it came as no surprise to me that when the first trumpet strains of “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang burst through the air and my wife jumped out of her seat…that my doom was sealed. She grabbed my friend Nicole and went rushing to the dance floor to release an abandon that only weeks of chasing after 2 year olds could produce. My wife, having mercy on me, allowed me to continue to nurse my beverage as I caught up with my old high school buddy Jason.

Well after a Jack ‘n Coke I started to feel the rhythm. Call it a mixture of thumping bass, swirling, multicolored lights and the sweet, sweet flow of 80 proof whisky flowing through my veins and I soon began to give Missy Elliot’s request to “get my freak on” a bit more serious consideration. Finally an old ragtime song came on and my wife, unwilling to ignore me any longer, grabbed me and we began to trip the light fantastic…well she did anyway, I just proceeded to trip.

Now when I dance I chuck away archaic notions such as rhythm, dexterity and coolness. But I have fun and that’s what counts. I break out old dances that my friends and I have created such as “The Mr. Ed”, “Paparazzi”, “The Trout” and my favorite “Swimming with Piranhas”.

At about three songs in I’m hooked and stop caring about what I look like. It makes me think of David, who danced for joy as the Ark was brought back to Jerusalem, not in the bit concerned with how unbecoming his conduct appeared. Now granted the Levitical priests weren’t blowing “Play That Funky Music” on the shofars, but as far as an expression of pure joy, you can’t beat the dance.

The Perfect Saturday

8:00 AM: Woke up
8:00:10 AM: Rolled over and went back to sleep
10:20 AM: Woke up (Part deux)
10:30 AM: Jumped on the net, read e-mail
11:00 AM: Grabbed a bowl of Lucky Charms
11:30 AM: Watched the Ryder Cup/College Football
12:00 PM: Read
1:30 PM: Watched the Dodgers spank the Padres (alas to no avail).
3:30 PM: Got washed up & ready for a wedding.

What a great morning/afternoon. Days like that are reinvigorating.

As you might of already guessed I'm doing some restructuring on my blog. About a week ago, in response to my pathetic grovelings for HTML help, a fellow blogger, the intrepid Jamie Bevill answered the call and really took the ball and ran with it. She asked for my blog's HTML code, worked through it and redesigned the tables so that the text now has a little more room to breathe. I can say that this blog wouldn't be where it is today without her genius...Muy gracias to Jamie.

She's also quite the accomplished musician and she's got a superb blog as well...stop by and say "Hi"!!

For all parents R.C. Sproul Jr. gives much needed advice on an oft neglected concept.

Kristen,

Know that you are not alone in your sentiments.