Lectionary Readings for August 1, 2010:
Psalm 107: 1-9, 43
Hosea 11: 1-11
Luke 12: 13-21
Colossians 3:1-11
Common Lectionary Thread
I am intrigued with trying to find a common theme or at least a common thread that runs through the four scripture readings from the lectionary for whatever Sunday I get the opportunity to preach.
I believe that there is common aspect with today’s readings that deal first with the idea of the Children of Israel turning away from God, and then in the New Testament reading of being transformed when they seek God, and finally in the Gospel, Jesus speaks specifically to one of these aspects: greed.
Starting with verse 2, Hosea 11 says:
“2 The more I called them,
the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
and offering incense to idols…”
God calls out that the Children of Israel have turned from Him rather than seek His will, and He is tempted to turn away from them and let them suffer their fate of punishment. Yet God relents, and instead shows compassion.
Our reading from Psalm 107 says in verses 4-7:
“4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress;
7 he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town …”
Our New Testament reading from Colossians 3: 1 – 11 sounds very familiar to what Lisa has highlighted this past month from the text in Galatians 5: 1, 13-25 even to the point of reciting the list of sins, followed by another list of things that are from above. Paul speaks of being transformed by seeking God’s will rather than turning from God as the Children of Israel did repetitively in the Old Testament:
“1 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
And finally, in today’s Gospel scripture in Luke 12:13-21, Jesus focuses on one of the sins that Paul listed: greed. In the passage in Luke, Jesus warns us:
“’And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God”
Focus on Greed and Possessions
I would like to focus this morning on the notion of greed and possessions – whether it is grain stored in enlarged new barns, or retirement pensions, IRA’s, 401 K, stock portfolios, property investments or life insurance. Is it good or bad to save up for a “rainy day” or retirement? Surely each of these things listed – in and of themselves is not bad – but neither are barns – even new, big ones. Yet Jesus tells us that God called the rich man a fool. Rather than to try to give you answers based on my beliefs or how I interpret our scripture readings, I prefer to ask you questions and let you wrestle with where to draw the line as you discern God’s will for you.
Possessions Here on Earth
I do believe that most of us, who profess to be Christians here today, readily accept the notion of a heaven after our time on earth, as well as that we can’t take our wealth and possessions with us.
Noted scholar, William Barclay, in his commentary on Luke, notes that there was a Spanish proverb that says: “There are no pockets in a shroud.” Not too many years ago, a number of cars sported a bumper sticker that claimed cynically that “He who dies with the most toys, wins!” which begs the question: wins what – since we can’t take it with us?
And if most of us accept that we can’t take wealth with us, why then are so many of us – even, or perhaps, especially, us Christians, so preoccupied with wealth and security? At what point does collecting wealth (or perhaps being preoccupied with trying to collect wealth) while here on Earth become greed? Or is all wealth sinful?
There is the phrase that money is the root of all evil. Wikipedia says it is attributed to Jesus in First Timothy, but that a more accurate translation from the original Greek would be: "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil …” making the distinction that money in itself is not necessarily evil, but that love or obsession for money can lead to problems.
When Is Enough Enough?
So where do you draw the line? As John Ortmeyer, a Methodist minister, counselor and friend of mine, asked me: how does a person know when enough is enough? What would it look like? What would it feel like?
Theologian William Barclay also cited a Roman proverb saying that “money was like sea-water – the more a man drank the thirstier he became.”
Bill Gates
When Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, was still CEO, he was known for being driven, even obsessed with the fear that some competitor might unveil some new innovative software or some advancement with hardware that would override Microsoft’s dominance in the market, leading to their rapid and ultimate demise. Gates continuously acted on the premise that Microsoft’s impending downfall was just around the corner, and therefore they had to remain vigilant, needed to rush to innovate and grow as fast as possible.
Paradoxically, here was a man who became arguably the richest man in America, and possibly the world – whose day to day mannerisms was to act on the verge of paranoia that all was at risk and under threat, which allow him to justify aggressive and even monopolistic tactics. The question can be applied to Bill Gates: how would he know when enough was finally enough? When could he stop being so paranoid.
I think it is fascinating that it was after he finally stepped down as acting CEO and became preoccupied with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on giving his money away that he finally seemed to relax and even look like he might be enjoying life.
Are Americans Happy?
A similar question could be asked of us as a nation. It can be argued that America in the year 2010 is the most powerful and affluent nation in the world at any point in history of mankind. Yet to listen to so many of the political opinions expressed in America or to note the American obsession with civil lawsuits for even some of the most petty things such as tripping on the edge of a sidewalk, or being served a cup of coffee that was scalding hot, etc.— one can wonder if given only two choices, would we as a group be summed us as either happy or angry? And if the answer is not happy, just how much more money, how many more things, how much more power would we need in order finally to become happy? When would enough be enough?
Bogged Down with Possessions
At what point does the accumulation of possessions start becoming a boggy quicksand from which we can get mired rather than our possessions giving us choices and freedom.
Can having so many possessions ever transform into chains holding us back – along the lines of where the Ghost of Marley, in Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, warns Scrooge that the chains waiting for him will be even longer, heavier and weigh him down even more in the hereafter.
Motor Home
I have a friend who has a magnificent RV motor home. It’s as large as a Greyhound bus in which he and his family can get away from it all by taking it all with them – at the cost of about 4 miles to the gallon.
Moving My Possessions
When I graduated and first moved from my college dorm to an apartment – my possessions fit into the back of a Pinto hatchback. Two years later, when I packed up to go be a Peace Corps volunteer, my first wife and I could fit everything into the smallest of the U-haul trailers. Nine years later, when I left Caldwell to move to Washington, my wife and two kids, needed the help of a friend, his pick up and the smallest of the U-haul truck. Divorced and kids grown, two years ago, moving back to Idaho required the largest of U-haul’s trucks – just for my own stuff, which then went into a three-bay garage along with stuff that Annie has collected over the years, and stuff that her daughter is starting to collect – for both her and our young grandson.
Two years later, we still have any number of things still piled in boxes somewhere in the garage – fairly sure we have it, but just not sure which box it is in nor under which boxes it might be buried and therefore not really able to use it. We then debate whether to go to the store and just buy another one so we can know where it is … At least, we are no longer renting storage space each month – most of it is in the garage and we can even get two of our three cars inside the garage – as long as we don’t drive by any more garage sales this summer …
Where are you? Do you ever feel bogged down with what you have collected or do you still feel something is lacking and have the desire to go out and try to fill that void?
Christmas Morning
I have witnessed on several occasions Christmas mornings when young kids were tired out from having so many gifts to unwrap. And sadly, I have seen times despite all the toys, when kids couldn’t find anything to do. Do you ever get bored – with not enough in your possession to keep you entertained?
Getting Rid of Something to Make Space for Anything New Added)
So how do you decide for you how much “stuff” is enough? Short on space, my parents agreed that before they could “acquire” anything else, they would have to make space for it by getting rid of something else in its place. Are you too at a point where space is becoming limited?
89 Sq Ft Home
Recently I saw a news story online a couple of weeks ago that told of a man who moved out of his parent’s 4000 square foot home into something a bit smaller. (Show Tiny Home video: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7888960/20914090
Tiny Houses by Tumbleweed Houses: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/)
I wonder how many of us could even seriously consider living in a tiny house less than a 100 square feet big -- could we live that freely? Many of us have play rooms (whether we call them studies, dens, offices, craft rooms, hobby rooms, or libraries.) These rooms typically are more than double that square footage. Some of our homes have walk-in closets almost that big.
Steve Martin in The Jerk
So – just what is essential to you and what could you live without? Probably most of us would come to a different conclusion than Steve Martin’s character, Navin Johnson, did, in the 1979 movie, The Jerk, when Johnson’s financial empire started to crumble around him and he had to decide what he really needed.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VbI5zcB8Ac)
Text if video is not shown: Steve Martin in the Jerk:
Navin R. Johnson: Well I'm gonna to go then. And I don't need any of this. I don't need this stuff, and I don't need you. I don't need anything except this.
[picks up an ashtray]
Navin R. Johnson: And that's it and that's the only thing I need, is this. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need. And these matches. The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control and the paddle ball. And this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game and the remote control and the lamp and that's all I need. And that's all I need too. I don't need one other thing, not one - I need this. The paddle game, and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches, for sure. And this. And that's all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair.
[walking outside]
Navin R. Johnson: And I don't need one other thing, except my dog.
[dog barks]
Navin R. Johnson: I don't need my dog.
Note that even at this low point, Johnson’s list kept growing – just like a man’s thirst from sea-water. And what about you – under what conditions does your thirst get quenched, and when do you find yourself just getting thirstier?
Sharing
So with all of your things, do you ever find it hard to give or share? Under what conditions is it easier to share, and under what conditions does it start getting harder and harder to share or even to give away something outright? Is it harder for you to give food to someone else if you have not yet eaten compared to giving away left over food once you are done with your meal?
At what point does it become harder to give money when if it does not come from a portion of your abundance, but instead needs to come from an already over-stretched budget? Can you give to mission programs like the UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) based on the concept – or does it take a more personal connection – seeing the homeless person on the street corner with a hand out – or do you find it takes knowing the person in need before you decide to help – or does knowing the person make it even harder to help because you know so very well how they should have avoided getting into a position of need in the first place?
Twice now our church has hosted a financial program by Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University, where he talks about the problems of helping members of the family and the inherent dangers of enabling dependency and avoiding accountability.
How do you decide when to give, how much to give, and who to give to? Do you ever place any stipulations on giving?
Civil War Saber
There is a family with an heirloom, a sword, or more accurately, a saber that one of their ancestors had while serving in the Civil War. The saber has been passed down from one generation to the next four times, and the current owner’s son has asked several times as to when it will be passed on to him.
The owner of the saber has avoided answering his son. He is waiting to see when his son’s financial situation will improve and stabilize. He worries that if given the family saber now – it might end up in a pawn shop in order to provide some immediate cash. So how should the owner weigh his son’s sporadic financial situation compared with the importance of honoring family heritage?
Deb
In contrast, my wife, Annie, has a wonderful friend, Deb, who encountered one of her former employees in a time of need. Deb took off her wedding and engagement rings to give to the lady and instructed her to pawn the rings for immediate cash. To this day, Deb has never regretted her decision – though in all honesty, her husband initially was not too happy – but eventually, he too came around. I suspect he knows that while not overly religious, his wife still is an extraordinary person
So do you decide under what conditions you are willing to give? Do you give unconditionally or do you give with strings attached? Would you give money to a man on the street if you thought he was going to go immediately to the liquor store? Could you accept that maybe a drink would give him the most immediate happiness or relief from pain – albeit only temporarily? How do you decide when and what conditions to put on your giving?
Fear
Perhaps fear is an area that often can draw out the possessiveness in us. For many of us that currently have or have had children, we can feel a tremendous responsibility that the family does not miss any meals or end out on the street, especially during times of economic recession and high unemployment. In terms of financial security, the future can be scary.
The thought of being out on the street terrifies me – but when I try to understand why, I am not sure. In all honesty, I don’t think it is something that should leave me terrified or panicked. Obviously, it would be tremendously uncomfortable – but the truth is that if I were compelled to do it – I could. Just as I am able to sleep outdoors as long as I make myself think of it as camping and it’s only temporary. Still, it can be done.
Yet the truth is, despite all of my stress and financial worries over the years, neither I nor my family while they lived in my household ever missed a meal due to a lack of money nor spent a night living out of a car or out on the street.
Does the street cause you also to panic, or at least lose sleep? Do you find yourself seeking money as the foundation of your sense of security? Do you ever find yourself competing to get money at the expense of anyone else? Is competitiveness just an unfortunate but necessary part of the American free enterprise system – survival of the fittest? How far have you ever gone, or are willing to go to win the competition? … and at what expense to the other person?
Luke 22B and 24
Verses 22 and 24 that come immediately after today’s reading in Luke, it states:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. … Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them.”
We are reminded on our U.S. coins: In God we trust. How many of us place more trust in our money than in God?
Short Sale
Yet it is much harder to truly trust God in reality than theory. Currently, I am trying to sell my house in western Washington that has been in the process of a short sale since January. The price is about $60,000 short of what I would have needed to break even. But in these economic times in a small, logging community that is hurting so badly, it is no longer realistic to hope to break even. There is great reason to panic – yet scripture reminds me to put my trust in God. Easy to say – but not nearly so easy to do.
I know that I am not alone. How many of you or sitting next to you today also are struggling financially, or trying to find employment, or trying to not be underemployed, or trying to be able to cope with balloon payments, variable interest rates, to obtain affordable medical insurance or contend with looming medical bills? Many of us face incredible financial difficulties. In such times, how do you cope? Are you able truly to put your trust in God?
10 Bridesmaids
In closing, the question remains: should we be building barns and storing wealth for rainy days?
Jesus also told the parable of the 10 bridesmaids in Matthew 10 where 5 of the ten bridesmaids prepared in advance making sure they had enough oil for their lamps, and 5 did not. Here Jesus refers to the 5 who did not prepare in advance as the foolish ones.
So -- how do you decide how much to prepare, in what ways to prepare and what to leave entirely in the hands of God – so as not to be deemed foolish by God – whether it be from building bigger barns or whether it be from not having prepared by having adequate oil for your lamp? I don’t believe that there are any easy answers.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Recorder Proposals
This is a letter to the American Recorder Society that includes three proposals and rationale for trying to increase awareness and interest in playing the recorder:
Proposals to the American Recorder Society to Promote an Enhanced Awareness and Appreciation of the Recorder
July 2010
Proposal One: That the American Recorder Society (ARS) actively, deliberately, and rigorously encourage the appropriate state music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations that host solo and small ensemble competitions to include and encourage early music competitors (including recorder soloists, duets, consorts, and early music mixed consorts, as well as early music recorder consorts and mixed consorts as accompanists for solo and small group choral competitions.)
Proposal Two: That the ARS create a competition nationally as well as regionally or statewide for those states and regions that do not have music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations willing to host such competitions. Ideally, these competitions could include scholarships as prizes for encouraging strong, active participation.
Proposal Three: That the ARS and many of its local affiliates offer free annual membership for one or two years to a small, select group of top high school and college students as recommended by their music teachers – selecting strong musicians and inviting them to add playing the recorder to their musical repertoire. In addition, the ARS or its affiliates will either donate (or loan) both soprano and alto recorders to these select students during the time of their membership.
Rationale: I suggest that the targeting of our top high school and college musicians to learn the recorder and/or other early music instruments has the best chance of changing and enhancing the image and awareness of playing the recorder.
Goal: To create an atmosphere where top young musicians view playing the recorder as a legitimate, and challenging instrument, and where other high school students look up to these top musicians and also become interested in learning to play recorders for individual, consort or mixed consort playing.
Origin: In response to ARS’s Play the Recorder theme in March, the ARS successfully extended the World’s Largest Concert annual elementary school concert to include recorder accompaniment.
Problem: Unfortunately, while I applaud this effort, it has the disadvantage like a double-edged sword of reinforcing also the notion that the recorder is basically an elementary pre-band toy music instrument.
Solution: The three proposals above attempt to counter the notion that the recorder is basically for elementary students only, and to create an interest among the best of our young musicians to include early music and the recorder specifically into their music preferences, with the compound effect that these musicians would then serve as role models in creating an awareness and appreciation by their peers and parents.
Key Components:
1. Encourage strong music students to add the recorder to what is already a strong music base, rather than trying to hope that elementary students will continue playing the recorder.
2. Seek to create musical recognition for the recorder by establishing or adding recorder competitions for top high school musicians.
3. Emphasize importance in the minds of high school musicians by attaching recorder abilities to scholarship money for college.
4. Students be actively recruited annually to join local ARS chapters – and framing this invitation as a reward for high musical achievement .
5. That student membership in local ARS chapters be aided by initial suspension of membership fees and help in obtaining access to recorders – particularly beyond the soprano.
Challenges to ARS:
1. Develop working relationship on a state-by-state and region-by-region basis with music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations to set up to include and encourage early music competitors. (Proposal One)
2. Establish early music competitions for high school students in states and/or regions where music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations are not willing or able to do so. (Proposal Two)
3. Establish a national early music competition for high school students based on regional and/or state winners. (Proposal Two)
4. To encourage/direct/facilitate local ARS chapters working with their local public and private high schools to invite top musicians to their local ARS chapter. (Proposal Three)
5. To find financial support to fund scholarships and providing of recorders. (Proposals Two and Three)
Proposals to the American Recorder Society to Promote an Enhanced Awareness and Appreciation of the Recorder
July 2010
Proposal One: That the American Recorder Society (ARS) actively, deliberately, and rigorously encourage the appropriate state music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations that host solo and small ensemble competitions to include and encourage early music competitors (including recorder soloists, duets, consorts, and early music mixed consorts, as well as early music recorder consorts and mixed consorts as accompanists for solo and small group choral competitions.)
Proposal Two: That the ARS create a competition nationally as well as regionally or statewide for those states and regions that do not have music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations willing to host such competitions. Ideally, these competitions could include scholarships as prizes for encouraging strong, active participation.
Proposal Three: That the ARS and many of its local affiliates offer free annual membership for one or two years to a small, select group of top high school and college students as recommended by their music teachers – selecting strong musicians and inviting them to add playing the recorder to their musical repertoire. In addition, the ARS or its affiliates will either donate (or loan) both soprano and alto recorders to these select students during the time of their membership.
Rationale: I suggest that the targeting of our top high school and college musicians to learn the recorder and/or other early music instruments has the best chance of changing and enhancing the image and awareness of playing the recorder.
Goal: To create an atmosphere where top young musicians view playing the recorder as a legitimate, and challenging instrument, and where other high school students look up to these top musicians and also become interested in learning to play recorders for individual, consort or mixed consort playing.
Origin: In response to ARS’s Play the Recorder theme in March, the ARS successfully extended the World’s Largest Concert annual elementary school concert to include recorder accompaniment.
Problem: Unfortunately, while I applaud this effort, it has the disadvantage like a double-edged sword of reinforcing also the notion that the recorder is basically an elementary pre-band toy music instrument.
Solution: The three proposals above attempt to counter the notion that the recorder is basically for elementary students only, and to create an interest among the best of our young musicians to include early music and the recorder specifically into their music preferences, with the compound effect that these musicians would then serve as role models in creating an awareness and appreciation by their peers and parents.
Key Components:
1. Encourage strong music students to add the recorder to what is already a strong music base, rather than trying to hope that elementary students will continue playing the recorder.
2. Seek to create musical recognition for the recorder by establishing or adding recorder competitions for top high school musicians.
3. Emphasize importance in the minds of high school musicians by attaching recorder abilities to scholarship money for college.
4. Students be actively recruited annually to join local ARS chapters – and framing this invitation as a reward for high musical achievement .
5. That student membership in local ARS chapters be aided by initial suspension of membership fees and help in obtaining access to recorders – particularly beyond the soprano.
Challenges to ARS:
1. Develop working relationship on a state-by-state and region-by-region basis with music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations to set up to include and encourage early music competitors. (Proposal One)
2. Establish early music competitions for high school students in states and/or regions where music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations are not willing or able to do so. (Proposal Two)
3. Establish a national early music competition for high school students based on regional and/or state winners. (Proposal Two)
4. To encourage/direct/facilitate local ARS chapters working with their local public and private high schools to invite top musicians to their local ARS chapter. (Proposal Three)
5. To find financial support to fund scholarships and providing of recorders. (Proposals Two and Three)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
And On the Seventh Day …
This was written at a time when I was a school district athletic director:
Recently, biblical historians were thrilled at the discovery of a completely unknown text of the creation story in Genesis that included an astonishing additional text never before seen. It seems to put the creation story in a whole, new profound perspective. Below is the traditional text supplemented with the new discovery:
The traditional, known text from Genesis:
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmaments of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kind. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold , it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
The newly discovered supplemental text:
And on the seventh day, God intended to rest. But there came to him the softball coach with great expectations of compliance and preparation from which great games were to be played. And God groaned, and sent forth his people to meet these immediate expectations. And God saw that it was OK.
And on the eighth day, God was again confronted by the softball coach with further immediate demands. And God groaned louder – threatening to shake the heavens and the earth – but yet restrained himself. And God saw and began to wonder.
And on the ninth day, God saw the softball coach approaching, groaned and roared and brought forth great winds and rains – thus canceling the day’s game. And God saw that it was good and so for forty days and forty nights the rains continued to pour till the fields and diamonds were covered fully with water. And then God finally rested ...
Recently, biblical historians were thrilled at the discovery of a completely unknown text of the creation story in Genesis that included an astonishing additional text never before seen. It seems to put the creation story in a whole, new profound perspective. Below is the traditional text supplemented with the new discovery:
The traditional, known text from Genesis:
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmaments of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kind. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold , it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
The newly discovered supplemental text:
And on the seventh day, God intended to rest. But there came to him the softball coach with great expectations of compliance and preparation from which great games were to be played. And God groaned, and sent forth his people to meet these immediate expectations. And God saw that it was OK.
And on the eighth day, God was again confronted by the softball coach with further immediate demands. And God groaned louder – threatening to shake the heavens and the earth – but yet restrained himself. And God saw and began to wonder.
And on the ninth day, God saw the softball coach approaching, groaned and roared and brought forth great winds and rains – thus canceling the day’s game. And God saw that it was good and so for forty days and forty nights the rains continued to pour till the fields and diamonds were covered fully with water. And then God finally rested ...
Be Sure & Cancel Your Credit Cards Before...
The following email was received. My response and that of others follow after it.
Subject: Be sure & cancel your credit cards before you die.
A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February & March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then added late fees & interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00, now it's somewhere around $60.00.
A family member placed a call to Citibank:
Family Member: "I'm calling to tell you that she died in January."
Citibank: "The account was never closed and the late fees & charges still apply."
Family Member: "Maybe you should turn it over to collections."
Citibank: "Since it is two months past due, it already has been."
Family Member: So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?"
Citibank: "Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau; maybe both!"
Family Member: "Do you think God will be mad at her?"
Citibank: "Excuse me?"
Family Member: "Did you just get what I was telling you . . . the part about her being dead?"
Citibank: "Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor"
Supervisor gets on the phone.
Family Member: "I'm calling to tell you, she died in January."
Citibank: "The account was never closed and the late fees & charges still apply."
Family Member: "You mean you want to collect from her estate?"
Citibank: (Stammer) "Are you her lawyer?"
Family Member: "No, I'm her great nephew." (Lawyer info given)
Citibank: "Could you fax us a certificate of death?"
Family Member: "Sure. It's ..."
After they get the fax ...
Citibank: "Our system just isn't setup for death. I don't know what more I can do to help."
Family Member: "Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don't think she will care."
Citibank: "Well, the late fees & charges do still apply."
Family Member: "Would you like her new billing address?"
Citibank: "That might help."
Family Member: "Odessa Memorial Cemetery, Highway 129, Plot Number 69."
Citibank: "Sir, that's a cemetery!"
Family Member: "What do you do with dead people on your planet?"
What fun it is dealing with "customer service"
Tom
"EMF" made the following annotations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this transmission in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in electronic or hard copy format. Thank you.
My wife relayed my response to a family member:
Here is Kim's take on it:
I think it is important to allow for time for technology to work out the kinks when they put in a new automated system.
Surely, something as new as people dying can't be expected to be worked into an automated system overnight.
It is my suspicion that eventually, some of the people who helped design the system might themselves die as well, in which case, they could well begin to understand and better perceive the valid concerns and needs of dead people not always keeping current with their day-to-day financial obligations.
In my particular case, I have decided that such hassles are extremely difficult to avoid upon becoming dead, and so have decided that I will either forego ever dying, or at least postpone it until technology has had adequate time to become familiar that the concept exists that eventually we won't exist -- but of course by that time, their system will most likely be dead, having been replaced by an even more extensive, all-inclusive technologically newer system.
Kim
Family member, Theresa's response to my wife, and relayed to me:
Ok..... Either he is eating schrooms, is a pocket philosopher or missed his calling as a lawyer who could argue that the sky is green and the grass is blue.
Theresa
Tax Compliance Technician Permit Unit
My response:
Response #1:
Dear Mastercard and Visa,
Upon my death, please cancel my credit card account -- as I will be preoccupied (probably fighting fire day and night -- but possibly arranging clouds or polishing gold pavement) and most likely unable to continue monthly payments.
In the event that I might owe you any money upon the time of my death, please feel free to either cancel said debt, or feel free to try to obtain payment from either of my kids, lol!! Good luck getting them to pay their old man's bill ...
If you are unable to track my death through the local newspaper's obituary column, please feel free to assume that upon no payment from me for two consecutive months constitutes my death, and proceed with the cancellation of my account, as long as it includes cancellation of my indebtedness as well.
Most sincerely,
One of your alive customers -- if at least only momentarily.
Response #2:
In regard to the following message found at the end of this chain of
emails:
"'EMF' made the following annotations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this transmission in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in electronic or hard copy format. Thank you."
Dear Idaho Tax Compliance Technician,
I felt privileged to receive these emails and therefore have reason to believe that perhaps I have been an unintended recipient of the transmission below -- for surely it must be in error -- for I would never zoom from the effects of schrooms, nor is it a philosopher that one can see bulging from my pocket. Please note that in an effort to be in compliance with Idaho state law, I am making (somewhat) immediate contact with the sender(s) and am willing to destroy their computers and harddrives in its entirety upon receipt of address and location of said computers and harddrives, as well as setting fire to any near by papers (in the event that they might be formatted hard copies of said email.)
In the event that I do not receive such address and location information, I feel that I am ethically -- if not legally -- absolved of any further obligations regarding this matter of unintended email reception.
Sincerely,
A former Idaho income tax payer who has since re-located outside of your
tax-collecting boundaries.
My wife's response:
I hope her emails are scanned, and the authorities don't take your comment about destroying their computers seriously, and show up at my door to arrest you for your terrorist ways . . .
Subject: Be sure & cancel your credit cards before you die.
A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February & March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then added late fees & interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00, now it's somewhere around $60.00.
A family member placed a call to Citibank:
Family Member: "I'm calling to tell you that she died in January."
Citibank: "The account was never closed and the late fees & charges still apply."
Family Member: "Maybe you should turn it over to collections."
Citibank: "Since it is two months past due, it already has been."
Family Member: So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?"
Citibank: "Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau; maybe both!"
Family Member: "Do you think God will be mad at her?"
Citibank: "Excuse me?"
Family Member: "Did you just get what I was telling you . . . the part about her being dead?"
Citibank: "Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor"
Supervisor gets on the phone.
Family Member: "I'm calling to tell you, she died in January."
Citibank: "The account was never closed and the late fees & charges still apply."
Family Member: "You mean you want to collect from her estate?"
Citibank: (Stammer) "Are you her lawyer?"
Family Member: "No, I'm her great nephew." (Lawyer info given)
Citibank: "Could you fax us a certificate of death?"
Family Member: "Sure. It's ..."
After they get the fax ...
Citibank: "Our system just isn't setup for death. I don't know what more I can do to help."
Family Member: "Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don't think she will care."
Citibank: "Well, the late fees & charges do still apply."
Family Member: "Would you like her new billing address?"
Citibank: "That might help."
Family Member: "Odessa Memorial Cemetery, Highway 129, Plot Number 69."
Citibank: "Sir, that's a cemetery!"
Family Member: "What do you do with dead people on your planet?"
What fun it is dealing with "customer service"
Tom
"EMF" made the following annotations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this transmission in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in electronic or hard copy format. Thank you.
My wife relayed my response to a family member:
Here is Kim's take on it:
I think it is important to allow for time for technology to work out the kinks when they put in a new automated system.
Surely, something as new as people dying can't be expected to be worked into an automated system overnight.
It is my suspicion that eventually, some of the people who helped design the system might themselves die as well, in which case, they could well begin to understand and better perceive the valid concerns and needs of dead people not always keeping current with their day-to-day financial obligations.
In my particular case, I have decided that such hassles are extremely difficult to avoid upon becoming dead, and so have decided that I will either forego ever dying, or at least postpone it until technology has had adequate time to become familiar that the concept exists that eventually we won't exist -- but of course by that time, their system will most likely be dead, having been replaced by an even more extensive, all-inclusive technologically newer system.
Kim
Family member, Theresa's response to my wife, and relayed to me:
Ok..... Either he is eating schrooms, is a pocket philosopher or missed his calling as a lawyer who could argue that the sky is green and the grass is blue.
Theresa
Tax Compliance Technician Permit Unit
My response:
Response #1:
Dear Mastercard and Visa,
Upon my death, please cancel my credit card account -- as I will be preoccupied (probably fighting fire day and night -- but possibly arranging clouds or polishing gold pavement) and most likely unable to continue monthly payments.
In the event that I might owe you any money upon the time of my death, please feel free to either cancel said debt, or feel free to try to obtain payment from either of my kids, lol!! Good luck getting them to pay their old man's bill ...
If you are unable to track my death through the local newspaper's obituary column, please feel free to assume that upon no payment from me for two consecutive months constitutes my death, and proceed with the cancellation of my account, as long as it includes cancellation of my indebtedness as well.
Most sincerely,
One of your alive customers -- if at least only momentarily.
Response #2:
In regard to the following message found at the end of this chain of
emails:
"'EMF' made the following annotations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this transmission in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in electronic or hard copy format. Thank you."
Dear Idaho Tax Compliance Technician,
I felt privileged to receive these emails and therefore have reason to believe that perhaps I have been an unintended recipient of the transmission below -- for surely it must be in error -- for I would never zoom from the effects of schrooms, nor is it a philosopher that one can see bulging from my pocket. Please note that in an effort to be in compliance with Idaho state law, I am making (somewhat) immediate contact with the sender(s) and am willing to destroy their computers and harddrives in its entirety upon receipt of address and location of said computers and harddrives, as well as setting fire to any near by papers (in the event that they might be formatted hard copies of said email.)
In the event that I do not receive such address and location information, I feel that I am ethically -- if not legally -- absolved of any further obligations regarding this matter of unintended email reception.
Sincerely,
A former Idaho income tax payer who has since re-located outside of your
tax-collecting boundaries.
My wife's response:
I hope her emails are scanned, and the authorities don't take your comment about destroying their computers seriously, and show up at my door to arrest you for your terrorist ways . . .
Friday, July 2, 2010
Going Out with "the Guys"
From: K Wardwell [mailto:kwardwell@glacierview.net]
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 11:45 AM
To: Dave
Cc: Annie Wardwell
Subject: Meridian Speedway
Dave,
Going to the Meridian Speedway with the guys sounds good.
My wife has given me permission to go out and be one of "the guys." She is even contemplating giving me permission to drink more than one beer and to belch -- hell, maybe even one vigorous enough to the point of being classified as a full-fledged burp ...
I am not sure she will let me ogle women walking by, but I am sure she will allow me to leer with subtle side glances, but no staring directly, nor am I allowed to stare at any woman's chest while trying to strike up a conversation.
She did say that I could scratch my belly in public - though she would prefer that it not be while burping at the same time -- provided I was with "the guys" and not around her.
Kim
My wife's response when cc'd a copy of this email to Dave:
Glad you have all of the rules straight. Men are so hard to train . . .
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 11:45 AM
To: Dave
Cc: Annie Wardwell
Subject: Meridian Speedway
Dave,
Going to the Meridian Speedway with the guys sounds good.
My wife has given me permission to go out and be one of "the guys." She is even contemplating giving me permission to drink more than one beer and to belch -- hell, maybe even one vigorous enough to the point of being classified as a full-fledged burp ...
I am not sure she will let me ogle women walking by, but I am sure she will allow me to leer with subtle side glances, but no staring directly, nor am I allowed to stare at any woman's chest while trying to strike up a conversation.
She did say that I could scratch my belly in public - though she would prefer that it not be while burping at the same time -- provided I was with "the guys" and not around her.
Kim
My wife's response when cc'd a copy of this email to Dave:
Glad you have all of the rules straight. Men are so hard to train . . .
Urgent Payment Confirmation
Below is the "paste and copy" of a series of responses to another of those chronic "scam" emails -- often from Nigeria -- trying to entice some nameless email recipient into losing their bank account in the vain effort to receive millions of unearned dollars.
RE: Urgent Payment Confirmation:
-----Original message-----
From: "Jennet Michael"jenetm4@centbk.org
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 19:53:06 -0700
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Re: Urgent Payment Confirmation:
Re: Urgent Payment Confirmation:
Attention Beneficiary,
Did You Permit Mr. Jerry Richard To Claim Your Approved $5.5 millon Inheritance Payment On Your Behalf?
Mr. Jerry Richard Told Mr. Jaiye Ebinisi That You Appointed Him To Represent You On The Claiming Of Your $5.5 millon Inheritance Payment, Mr. Jaiye Ebinisi Is About Releasing Your $5.5 millon Inheritance Payment To Mr. Jerry Richard As Soon As He Complies With The Mandatory $198.00 Courier Fee For The Delivery Of Your $5.5 million ATM Card To His Address At 100 Eggerding Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45215 USA As Your Representative.
Urgently Confirm To Mr Jaiye Ebinisi Whether Yes You Permitted Mr. Jerry Richard To Pay The Courier Fee Inorder To Claim Your $5.5millon ATM Card Payment On Your Behalf Or No You Shall Be Paying The Courier Fee Yourself In order To Claim Your $5.5 millon ATM Card Payment As The Legal Beneficiary.
Send Your Confirmation To Mr. Jaiye Ebinisi (Debt Settlement Officer)
His Email:( jaiyeebinisi2344@yahoo.co.jp )
You MUST Reconfirm Your Full Names, Address And Telephone To Mr. Jaiye Ebinisi For Verification.
Your Immediate Confirmation Is Highly Needed.
Jenet E. Michael.
Payment Confirmation Dept.
-----Original Message-----
From: K Wardwell [mailto:kwardwell@glacierview.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2010 11:16 PM
To: jenet4@ymail.com
Subject: Re: Urgent Payment Confirmation:
Jennet Michael,
Yes, that sounds like a good idea. I am sure that Mr. Jerry will know
how to take care of my money. And besides, it's fine with me if he pays
the $198.00 courier fee.
Once I get the money, I will more than pay him back.
In fact, if you send me your bank account number, I will wire a reward to you too -- I am so grateful of your honesty and willingness to connect me. I mean, in today's world, believe it or not, some people can't be trusted -- they would actually try to scam me out of my $5.5 million. They're not all honest like you and Mr. Jerry. Thank God for friends like you.
So yes, I give my permission for him to handle it.
Thanks for taking good care of me -- and remember, if you can get me your bank account info, I will have a nice reward for you too -- what do you say to $10,000 as a way of showing appreciation for all of your effort?
My wife's assessment of me:
You are incorrigible! :o)
RE: Urgent Payment Confirmation:
-----Original message-----
From: "Jennet Michael"jenetm4@centbk.org
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 19:53:06 -0700
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Re: Urgent Payment Confirmation:
Re: Urgent Payment Confirmation:
Attention Beneficiary,
Did You Permit Mr. Jerry Richard To Claim Your Approved $5.5 millon Inheritance Payment On Your Behalf?
Mr. Jerry Richard Told Mr. Jaiye Ebinisi That You Appointed Him To Represent You On The Claiming Of Your $5.5 millon Inheritance Payment, Mr. Jaiye Ebinisi Is About Releasing Your $5.5 millon Inheritance Payment To Mr. Jerry Richard As Soon As He Complies With The Mandatory $198.00 Courier Fee For The Delivery Of Your $5.5 million ATM Card To His Address At 100 Eggerding Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45215 USA As Your Representative.
Urgently Confirm To Mr Jaiye Ebinisi Whether Yes You Permitted Mr. Jerry Richard To Pay The Courier Fee Inorder To Claim Your $5.5millon ATM Card Payment On Your Behalf Or No You Shall Be Paying The Courier Fee Yourself In order To Claim Your $5.5 millon ATM Card Payment As The Legal Beneficiary.
Send Your Confirmation To Mr. Jaiye Ebinisi (Debt Settlement Officer)
His Email:( jaiyeebinisi2344@yahoo.co.jp )
You MUST Reconfirm Your Full Names, Address And Telephone To Mr. Jaiye Ebinisi For Verification.
Your Immediate Confirmation Is Highly Needed.
Jenet E. Michael.
Payment Confirmation Dept.
-----Original Message-----
From: K Wardwell [mailto:kwardwell@glacierview.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2010 11:16 PM
To: jenet4@ymail.com
Subject: Re: Urgent Payment Confirmation:
Jennet Michael,
Yes, that sounds like a good idea. I am sure that Mr. Jerry will know
how to take care of my money. And besides, it's fine with me if he pays
the $198.00 courier fee.
Once I get the money, I will more than pay him back.
In fact, if you send me your bank account number, I will wire a reward to you too -- I am so grateful of your honesty and willingness to connect me. I mean, in today's world, believe it or not, some people can't be trusted -- they would actually try to scam me out of my $5.5 million. They're not all honest like you and Mr. Jerry. Thank God for friends like you.
So yes, I give my permission for him to handle it.
Thanks for taking good care of me -- and remember, if you can get me your bank account info, I will have a nice reward for you too -- what do you say to $10,000 as a way of showing appreciation for all of your effort?
My wife's assessment of me:
You are incorrigible! :o)
Monday, June 28, 2010
The Hemiola
hemi·o·la Etymology: Late Latin hemiolia, from Greek
hēmiolia ratio of one and a half to one, from hēmi- + holos whole : a musical rhythmic alteration in which six equal notes may be heard
as two groups of three or three groups of two(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Early Baroque and Renaissance music sometimes includes a confusing measure – often the next to the last measure at the end of the song (or phrase) as a form of early syncopation.
In modern notation, it seems to be most common with music written in 6/4 time. When using 6/8 or 6/4 time, musicians often do not count all the way to six for each measure. Rather they group them into either two groups
of three or threes of two, with two groups of three probably being more common.
A hemiola is simply switching from two groups of three to three groups of two – while maintaining the same tempo if one were to count the measure in six. If when counting 6 counts, I tap my foot each time I count 1 in 1-2-3, 1-2-3, my tapping would be at a different speed than another person also counting 6 counts, but tapping his/her foot on each 1 of 1-2,1-2,1-2. Yet we would both complete the 6 counts at the same time. Note that one point of frustration is that conductors are often conducting in two threes, and sometimes are able to conduct three twos if all parts have a
hemiola. But some pieces only put a hemiola on some of the parts while the other parts continue with two threes.
Probably the one of the most effective songs for demonstrating this concept is “America” from Westside Story. If you tap with the accents in
the first measure, you would tap twice at the start of each triplet, and then in the next measure, you would tap three times for each quarter note, but at a different speed of tapping so that both measures take the same duration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy6wo2wpT2k&feature=related
You can hear the frequent use of hemiolas starting in the 3rd minute of this 7 minute You Tube video, when she starts singing “I like to be
in America” from America, Westside Story. (If the link doesn’t work, paste the site into the URL.)
hēmiolia ratio of one and a half to one, from hēmi- + holos whole : a musical rhythmic alteration in which six equal notes may be heard
as two groups of three or three groups of two(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Early Baroque and Renaissance music sometimes includes a confusing measure – often the next to the last measure at the end of the song (or phrase) as a form of early syncopation.
In modern notation, it seems to be most common with music written in 6/4 time. When using 6/8 or 6/4 time, musicians often do not count all the way to six for each measure. Rather they group them into either two groups
of three or threes of two, with two groups of three probably being more common.
A hemiola is simply switching from two groups of three to three groups of two – while maintaining the same tempo if one were to count the measure in six. If when counting 6 counts, I tap my foot each time I count 1 in 1-2-3, 1-2-3, my tapping would be at a different speed than another person also counting 6 counts, but tapping his/her foot on each 1 of 1-2,1-2,1-2. Yet we would both complete the 6 counts at the same time. Note that one point of frustration is that conductors are often conducting in two threes, and sometimes are able to conduct three twos if all parts have a
hemiola. But some pieces only put a hemiola on some of the parts while the other parts continue with two threes.
Probably the one of the most effective songs for demonstrating this concept is “America” from Westside Story. If you tap with the accents in
the first measure, you would tap twice at the start of each triplet, and then in the next measure, you would tap three times for each quarter note, but at a different speed of tapping so that both measures take the same duration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy6wo2wpT2k&feature=related
You can hear the frequent use of hemiolas starting in the 3rd minute of this 7 minute You Tube video, when she starts singing “I like to be
in America” from America, Westside Story. (If the link doesn’t work, paste the site into the URL.)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
An Open Email (Letter) to Amazon
Dear Sir,
I wonder if Amazon has any feelings at all about the integrity and effective use of the internet, or if Amazon's primary motivation to make money is so dominant that it obscures any other priority.
I am at Google, and do a search: "crumhorns for sale." And the number two link that comes up is Amazon. I am amazed. Could it be true that Amazon has crumhorns for sell. I click onto your site, skeptical, but willing to see if what you claim is true.
It isn't. You offer CD's with crumhorn music.
How can I be any more specific on a search engine? I put "crumhorn for sale" in quotes, and Amazon still twists it into what it has to sell -- regardless of what the user wants.
Anymore, I find that search engines are getting increasingly difficult to use because the various commercial giants have intervened to re-direct everything to their potential sales -- even if it is not even remotely close to what the individual wants.
I am more and more getting to the point where I feel it is a waste of time trying to use search engines, since I really can't seem to get past the various commercial monopolies, e.g. primarily Amazon.
I use to go to chat rooms, until the abuse become so pervasive, that it seemed futile to try to strike up a geniuine conversation.
I fear that search engines are going to be the next major tool on the internet that is subverted to the will of others.
I ask you: is this ultimately in Amazon's own best interest, if you chase away customers because they can't avoid you even when they actively seek to do so?
Do you understand that there are people out here who will hesitate to come to you when seeking a book, CD, or DVD because they feel so abused by you the rest of the time?
I suggest to you to be wary that you don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
If you are so aggressive to try to increase your percent of profits that you chase away your customers, you may some day discover that not only can you not increase the percentage of profits, you may find that there is actually a decrease in profits altogether.
I strongly urge you to use some self-restraint before you either kill interest by users in search engines altogether, or you entice the government to intervene, much as Congress finally intervened with large banks when credit card abuse finally went too far.
Amazon's response: (Note: I was surprised that part of it appears to have a genuine, personal response -- but then quickly reverts to form letter wording, e.g. the letter was referred elsewhere, but then wants to know if I consider that the problem has been resolved ...)
Hello,
I am sorry for any inconvenience caused.
I have forwarded your comments to the concerned department for review. We'll consider your feedback as we plan further improvements.
Thanks for taking time to offer us your thoughts.
We hope to see you again soon.
Did I solve your problem?
If yes, please click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=yvyqecgx3285663517
If no, please click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=yvyqecgx3285663517
Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.
To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.
Best regards,
Sirisha Y.
Amazon.com
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.
http://www.amazon.com/your-account
---- Original message: ----
I wonder if Amazon has any feelings at all about the integrity and effective use of the internet, or if Amazon's primary motivation to make money is so dominant that it obscures any other priority.
I am at Google, and do a search: "crumhorns for sale." And the number two link that comes up is Amazon. I am amazed. Could it be true that Amazon has crumhorns for sell. I click onto your site, skeptical, but willing to see if what you claim is true.
It isn't. You offer CD's with crumhorn music.
How can I be any more specific on a search engine? I put "crumhorn for sale" in quotes, and Amazon still twists it into what it has to sell -- regardless of what the user wants.
Anymore, I find that search engines are getting increasingly difficult to use because the various commercial giants have intervened to re-direct everything to their potential sales -- even if it is not even remotely close to what the individual wants.
I am more and more getting to the point where I feel it is a waste of time trying to use search engines, since I really can't seem to get past the various commercial monopolies, e.g. primarily Amazon.
I use to go to chat rooms, until the abuse become so pervasive, that it seemed futile to try to strike up a geniuine conversation.
I fear that search engines are going to be the next major tool on the internet that is subverted to the will of others.
I ask you: is this ultimately in Amazon's own best interest, if you chase away customers because they can't avoid you even when they actively seek to do so?
Do you understand that there are people out here who will hesitate to come to you when seeking a book, CD, or DVD because they feel so abused by you the rest of the time?
I suggest to you to be wary that you don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
If you are so aggressive to try to increase your percent of profits that you chase away your customers, you may some day discover that not only can you not increase the percentage of profits, you may find that there is actually a decrease in profits altogether.
I strongly urge you to use some self-restraint before you either kill interest by users in search engines altogether, or you entice the government to intervene, much as Congress finally intervened with large banks when credit card abuse finally went too far.
Amazon's response: (Note: I was surprised that part of it appears to have a genuine, personal response -- but then quickly reverts to form letter wording, e.g. the letter was referred elsewhere, but then wants to know if I consider that the problem has been resolved ...)
Hello,
I am sorry for any inconvenience caused.
I have forwarded your comments to the concerned department for review. We'll consider your feedback as we plan further improvements.
Thanks for taking time to offer us your thoughts.
We hope to see you again soon.
Did I solve your problem?
If yes, please click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=yvyqecgx3285663517
If no, please click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=yvyqecgx3285663517
Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.
To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.
Best regards,
Sirisha Y.
Amazon.com
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.
http://www.amazon.com/your-account
---- Original message: ----
Monday, May 24, 2010
Light of the World
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8: 12 Revised Standard Edition)
Jesus spoke in parables and utilized metaphors often. Since much of their culture as well as their environment contrast significantly to ours, we don't always catch the full significance of his picturesque literary language.
"Light" is one of those metaphors that is used in the Bible numerous times. Yet I have wondered sometimes if it might not also be literal.
I find it fascinating to listen to earlier cultures with their limited knowledge about the secrets of science try to explain phenomena that they observed but didn't fully understand anywhere to the degree that we do now, e.g. the writer(s) of Exodus trying to explain how a burning bush could be glowing as if on fire without being consumed. While I don't know how satisfactorily to explain such a burning bush, the possibilities I might consider can include radioactivity, fusion, chemical reaction, solar flares, aurora borealis, or UV lighting, -- choices that were beyond their awareness. While not clear to many of us today, at least we are aware that the concept exists and open to possible results or by-products.
And by the same token, if one believes that there is a God who created the world and universe, the more we become aware of scientific concepts, the more I personally have to believe that God would also be the author of these concepts. Further, if He is the author, then it seems reasonable to me that He would utilize these concepts.
Obviously, as we learn more in the realm of science, the more we realize how much more is out there that we do not yet understand.
But what if there were a literal component as well -- one that can only be explained by scientific concepts -- authored by God, the Creator -- that we do not yet understand?
There are other unexplained Biblical stories centered on light: Moses coming down from the mountain needing to be veiled to cover a face shining so bright that others could not look at him, Jesus coming down off the mountain after the transfiguration, or flames above the disciples head on the day of Pentecost.
There is one more mystery of the Bible that is not likened to light, but perhaps could be: the trinity. Many of us are not able to envision how God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit can be both one and at the same time, three separate entities.
I have heard metaphors such as water -- that water can be a gaseous vapor, a liquid, and frozen ice. All are water, and yet each can be unique. But that metaphor did not seem satisfactory to me -- it did not give me an example of how all three could be blended together simultaneously.
For me, light would seem like a better metaphor.
Imagine a room that is totally dark, but equipped with three lights -- each spaced at distinctly separate places in the room. Each light can be turned on separately, or in pairs, or all three.
Lighting can be combined -- different in some cases, a red light and a blue light can combined as a distinct blend that is different from either source, or it can be white lights that are impossible for most humans to distinguish separately.
To the average layman, we don't understand how light can combine instantly -- essentially the same, and yet brighter, stronger as another light(s) is(are) added, and at the same time, can just as quickly be separated -- unlike chemical reactions, or physical mixtures that often can not be easily or immediately undone. Essentially for us non-scientists, it is something we do not fully understand, yet easily accept.
Perhaps this metaphor can help us religious laymen to also better accept the notion of a trinity that is both one and separate at the same time.
Jesus spoke in parables and utilized metaphors often. Since much of their culture as well as their environment contrast significantly to ours, we don't always catch the full significance of his picturesque literary language.
"Light" is one of those metaphors that is used in the Bible numerous times. Yet I have wondered sometimes if it might not also be literal.
I find it fascinating to listen to earlier cultures with their limited knowledge about the secrets of science try to explain phenomena that they observed but didn't fully understand anywhere to the degree that we do now, e.g. the writer(s) of Exodus trying to explain how a burning bush could be glowing as if on fire without being consumed. While I don't know how satisfactorily to explain such a burning bush, the possibilities I might consider can include radioactivity, fusion, chemical reaction, solar flares, aurora borealis, or UV lighting, -- choices that were beyond their awareness. While not clear to many of us today, at least we are aware that the concept exists and open to possible results or by-products.
And by the same token, if one believes that there is a God who created the world and universe, the more we become aware of scientific concepts, the more I personally have to believe that God would also be the author of these concepts. Further, if He is the author, then it seems reasonable to me that He would utilize these concepts.
Obviously, as we learn more in the realm of science, the more we realize how much more is out there that we do not yet understand.
But what if there were a literal component as well -- one that can only be explained by scientific concepts -- authored by God, the Creator -- that we do not yet understand?
There are other unexplained Biblical stories centered on light: Moses coming down from the mountain needing to be veiled to cover a face shining so bright that others could not look at him, Jesus coming down off the mountain after the transfiguration, or flames above the disciples head on the day of Pentecost.
There is one more mystery of the Bible that is not likened to light, but perhaps could be: the trinity. Many of us are not able to envision how God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit can be both one and at the same time, three separate entities.
I have heard metaphors such as water -- that water can be a gaseous vapor, a liquid, and frozen ice. All are water, and yet each can be unique. But that metaphor did not seem satisfactory to me -- it did not give me an example of how all three could be blended together simultaneously.
For me, light would seem like a better metaphor.
Imagine a room that is totally dark, but equipped with three lights -- each spaced at distinctly separate places in the room. Each light can be turned on separately, or in pairs, or all three.
Lighting can be combined -- different in some cases, a red light and a blue light can combined as a distinct blend that is different from either source, or it can be white lights that are impossible for most humans to distinguish separately.
To the average layman, we don't understand how light can combine instantly -- essentially the same, and yet brighter, stronger as another light(s) is(are) added, and at the same time, can just as quickly be separated -- unlike chemical reactions, or physical mixtures that often can not be easily or immediately undone. Essentially for us non-scientists, it is something we do not fully understand, yet easily accept.
Perhaps this metaphor can help us religious laymen to also better accept the notion of a trinity that is both one and separate at the same time.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Doing Time ...
Do the hands of the clock ever actually move? I watch and watch and watch ... sitting there and watch. Still, I don't see them move. Still, that is all those hands are: still. Has time frozen?
I don't even know why I am here. I didn't do anything wrong ... no matter what anyone says.
Actually, I don't have that much time left -- but it seems like I have been here already forever. I just don't see how I can bear this final leg ...
It's 2:58, there are only 17 more minutes till the middle school kids go home. This is the last Friday for this school year. All the others are outside running around and signing yearbooks. The others here in five of the classrooms are stuck with detention.
15 minutes now ... will time ever pass?
I don't even know why I am here. I didn't do anything wrong ... no matter what anyone says.
Actually, I don't have that much time left -- but it seems like I have been here already forever. I just don't see how I can bear this final leg ...
It's 2:58, there are only 17 more minutes till the middle school kids go home. This is the last Friday for this school year. All the others are outside running around and signing yearbooks. The others here in five of the classrooms are stuck with detention.
15 minutes now ... will time ever pass?
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Leave No Patient Dead
This is a re-print of an article that I wrote and was published in the Washington Education Association's WE monthly journal in December 2003:
Leave No Patient Dead
Reporter M. Naive
with apologies to Art Buckwald
An interview with Surgeon General Undersecretary Phil N. Blank
Reporter M. Naive: First of all, congratulations on your promotion from Assistant to the Undersecretary of Education to Surgeon General Undersecretary.
Undersecretary Blank: Thanks.
Reporter M. Naive: What prompted you to move to the political realm of health from public education?
Undersecretary Blank: Well, after our success with passage of the ESEA, the “leave no child behind” act, which insures that all public school students will meet standards within 12 years, I needed a new challenge.
Reporter M. Naive: And so that is why you authored the AMA, “leave no patient dead” act?
Undersecretary Blank: Yes, precisely, more or less.
Reporter M. Naive: How did you convince the White House to sponsor this bill? What made you think that you knew more about medicine than our nation’s doctors?
Undersecretary Blank: Well, President Bush himself explained to us that since almost all Americans at one time or another have self-prescribed headache medicine, put band-aids on family members, or used a thermometer, that we were just as qualified to critique doctors as was anyone, who ever coached little league sports, a Sunday School class, or taught a child to tie her shoes, qualified to critique public school teachers. The president is clearly a man of vision!
Reporter M. Naive: Explain for our readers the key component of the AMA.
Undersecretary Blank: Basically, just as we have legislated that public schools will have all students up to standard within 12 years, we no longer are going to tolerate doctors who can’t cure all patients. Simply put, all medical practices are going to be expected to cure any patient, no matter the injury, condition or mental status.
Reporter M. Naive: Other than guiding passage of the Bush Administration’s bill through Congress, how exactly can you guarantee that all patients will indeed be cured?
Undersecretary Blank: Well, thanks to legislators in Washington State who introduced a bill that would have mandated teaching phonics for any fourth-grade students not passing their state assessment, we have hit upon the idea that any patients not cured within 48 hours, will be medicated with penicillin.
Reporter M. Naive: All patients?
Undersecretary Blank: Sure! Just as we know that all student problems in reading are attributed to phonics, we have come to realize that penicillin is the perfect cure for infections, broken arms, stomach ulcers, strokes, and the common cold. Sheer genius!
Reporter M. Naive: Will there be any other consequences?
Undersecretary Blank: Definitely! Any medical practice failing to cure all ills will be taken over by “charter clinics.” They will be staffed only by self-appointed doctors that have not been tainted with university training and state licensing procedures.
Reporter M. Naive: But won’t this cause a shortage of people willing to join the medical profession?
Undersecretary Blank: Nah, just as in public education, we firmly believe that raising teacher certification standards, establishing high-stakes student assessments, while withdrawing financial support will cure all educational ills, we can do the same with doctors. You just have to be firm and set the right tone. The president has assured us it will work.
Reporter M. Naive: This is so fantastic! But after the AMA passes, what will you do?
Undersecretary Blank: Well, the President pulled me aside recently, and talked to me about creating similar legislation that would guarantee that no business will be allowed to fail, go bankrupt, or have declining shares on the stock market.
Leave No Patient Dead
Reporter M. Naive
with apologies to Art Buckwald
An interview with Surgeon General Undersecretary Phil N. Blank
Reporter M. Naive: First of all, congratulations on your promotion from Assistant to the Undersecretary of Education to Surgeon General Undersecretary.
Undersecretary Blank: Thanks.
Reporter M. Naive: What prompted you to move to the political realm of health from public education?
Undersecretary Blank: Well, after our success with passage of the ESEA, the “leave no child behind” act, which insures that all public school students will meet standards within 12 years, I needed a new challenge.
Reporter M. Naive: And so that is why you authored the AMA, “leave no patient dead” act?
Undersecretary Blank: Yes, precisely, more or less.
Reporter M. Naive: How did you convince the White House to sponsor this bill? What made you think that you knew more about medicine than our nation’s doctors?
Undersecretary Blank: Well, President Bush himself explained to us that since almost all Americans at one time or another have self-prescribed headache medicine, put band-aids on family members, or used a thermometer, that we were just as qualified to critique doctors as was anyone, who ever coached little league sports, a Sunday School class, or taught a child to tie her shoes, qualified to critique public school teachers. The president is clearly a man of vision!
Reporter M. Naive: Explain for our readers the key component of the AMA.
Undersecretary Blank: Basically, just as we have legislated that public schools will have all students up to standard within 12 years, we no longer are going to tolerate doctors who can’t cure all patients. Simply put, all medical practices are going to be expected to cure any patient, no matter the injury, condition or mental status.
Reporter M. Naive: Other than guiding passage of the Bush Administration’s bill through Congress, how exactly can you guarantee that all patients will indeed be cured?
Undersecretary Blank: Well, thanks to legislators in Washington State who introduced a bill that would have mandated teaching phonics for any fourth-grade students not passing their state assessment, we have hit upon the idea that any patients not cured within 48 hours, will be medicated with penicillin.
Reporter M. Naive: All patients?
Undersecretary Blank: Sure! Just as we know that all student problems in reading are attributed to phonics, we have come to realize that penicillin is the perfect cure for infections, broken arms, stomach ulcers, strokes, and the common cold. Sheer genius!
Reporter M. Naive: Will there be any other consequences?
Undersecretary Blank: Definitely! Any medical practice failing to cure all ills will be taken over by “charter clinics.” They will be staffed only by self-appointed doctors that have not been tainted with university training and state licensing procedures.
Reporter M. Naive: But won’t this cause a shortage of people willing to join the medical profession?
Undersecretary Blank: Nah, just as in public education, we firmly believe that raising teacher certification standards, establishing high-stakes student assessments, while withdrawing financial support will cure all educational ills, we can do the same with doctors. You just have to be firm and set the right tone. The president has assured us it will work.
Reporter M. Naive: This is so fantastic! But after the AMA passes, what will you do?
Undersecretary Blank: Well, the President pulled me aside recently, and talked to me about creating similar legislation that would guarantee that no business will be allowed to fail, go bankrupt, or have declining shares on the stock market.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Justifiable Reason
Theirs was a peculiar relationship -- traditional in many ways, some would even say a bit chauvinistic. Despite all of their progressive talk, she still walked behind him if they walked from their home to the marketplace near the heart of Baghdad, Iraq. In fact, as time went on, she walked even further behind him, more like 20 paces than 5.
Yet she claimed it was not male dominance that precipitated this change, but rather all of the land mines.
In earlier times before the war while he was courting her, they used to go dancing at least once a week. But now things were different. He was more sullen as the protracted war dragged on.
She begged him to take her dancing, just like the old secular days before the religious zealots had intervened. But he adamantly refused -- with no reason given. How could he? There really wasn't any justified explanation. He didn't have a leg to stand on.
But now after the explosion, and being rushed to the hospital, and having most of the shrapnel removed, as well as both of his legs from the knees down, he finally had a justifiable reason for not dancing: he didn't have a leg to stand on.
Yet she claimed it was not male dominance that precipitated this change, but rather all of the land mines.
In earlier times before the war while he was courting her, they used to go dancing at least once a week. But now things were different. He was more sullen as the protracted war dragged on.
She begged him to take her dancing, just like the old secular days before the religious zealots had intervened. But he adamantly refused -- with no reason given. How could he? There really wasn't any justified explanation. He didn't have a leg to stand on.
But now after the explosion, and being rushed to the hospital, and having most of the shrapnel removed, as well as both of his legs from the knees down, he finally had a justifiable reason for not dancing: he didn't have a leg to stand on.
Response on Facebook to "What Is Red Green?" (abridged)
In a series of comments on Facebook, my dear sweet, though obviously non-worldly friend, Suzi asked: "and, what is Red Green?"
Obviously, her question -- open for all of the world to see, needed to be answered.
My response:
OMG!!!!!!! What???? "What is Red Green"?????
First of all: WHO is Red Green?
Why, he is the owner of Possum Lodge, and is a staple of most fine PBS stations with their weekly import from Canada.... ......
Basically, Red can fix anything with duct tape, e.g. changing flat tires -- even if the lug nuts are rusted. All you do is just duct tape the spare tire to the flat one and then it is guaranteed to hold for at least 100 yards, actually 100 meters -- you know, Canadian metric system, eh? .... , or you can make your own DeLorean car door that opens by raising up instead of swinging sideways with a little help using a garage-door opener and more duct tape.
Essentially, Tim Allen's Tool Time is the woman's perspective of what men with tools are, whereas Red Green and his junkyard and duct tape is a man's version of what men with tools are....
The true sign of understanding this difference can be detected by watching the difference in re-action when a husband and wife watch their first episode of Red Green together (which can be checked out from your local public library if needed!!!) As Red is explaining how to duct tape whatever his latest project is -- the man can be seen nodding his head up and down saying un-huh, while at the same time, the wife is shaking her head sideways muttering, "I don't get it!!"
And it's true, women don't. When a woman gives her husband a chore to do from the honey do list, she expects things like that when he is done, it will: 1) work, 2) look good, 3) not need to be re-visited over and over, 4) not require the purchase of several hundred dollars of new tools, and 5) not take 6 months to complete a 2-hour project, especially when it requires leaving all of the tools out "until I can get the project finished -- as soon as I possibly can ... this next weekend, I promise ..."
But lest you fear that Red Green only deals with home fix-it projects, the show also does manly poetry and singing, re-citing the "man prayer", doing the word game where you try to get men to say words like: quiche, etc., and answer man-questions like how to answer your wife if she asks the husband if her new pants make her look fat, as well as other timely issues like how to try to get rid of your nerdy nephew who is totally unable to cope with the concept of dating or even mentioning women in any shape, way or form ....
And all of that packed into a mere half-hour session, though of course, since it is PBS, it is a full, 100% half hour -- not diluted with 8 minutes of commercials -- though of course, if you did feel the need to buy something, you could always go to their website and purchase Possum Lodge souvenirs and of course, duct tape....
Need I say anything more??
P.S. Would you care to see my picture of Red and me together when he visited the PBS station in Seattle 7 years ago??
It is one of my most cherished possessions -- if I can find where I put it when I packed to move back to Idaho. But I know it's here somewhere -- right along with my extra duct tape.
Posted by Kim at 10:33 PM
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post
Create a Link
Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Obviously, her question -- open for all of the world to see, needed to be answered.
My response:
OMG!!!!!!! What???? "What is Red Green"?????
First of all: WHO is Red Green?
Why, he is the owner of Possum Lodge, and is a staple of most fine PBS stations with their weekly import from Canada.... ......
Basically, Red can fix anything with duct tape, e.g. changing flat tires -- even if the lug nuts are rusted. All you do is just duct tape the spare tire to the flat one and then it is guaranteed to hold for at least 100 yards, actually 100 meters -- you know, Canadian metric system, eh? .... , or you can make your own DeLorean car door that opens by raising up instead of swinging sideways with a little help using a garage-door opener and more duct tape.
Essentially, Tim Allen's Tool Time is the woman's perspective of what men with tools are, whereas Red Green and his junkyard and duct tape is a man's version of what men with tools are....
The true sign of understanding this difference can be detected by watching the difference in re-action when a husband and wife watch their first episode of Red Green together (which can be checked out from your local public library if needed!!!) As Red is explaining how to duct tape whatever his latest project is -- the man can be seen nodding his head up and down saying un-huh, while at the same time, the wife is shaking her head sideways muttering, "I don't get it!!"
And it's true, women don't. When a woman gives her husband a chore to do from the honey do list, she expects things like that when he is done, it will: 1) work, 2) look good, 3) not need to be re-visited over and over, 4) not require the purchase of several hundred dollars of new tools, and 5) not take 6 months to complete a 2-hour project, especially when it requires leaving all of the tools out "until I can get the project finished -- as soon as I possibly can ... this next weekend, I promise ..."
But lest you fear that Red Green only deals with home fix-it projects, the show also does manly poetry and singing, re-citing the "man prayer", doing the word game where you try to get men to say words like: quiche, etc., and answer man-questions like how to answer your wife if she asks the husband if her new pants make her look fat, as well as other timely issues like how to try to get rid of your nerdy nephew who is totally unable to cope with the concept of dating or even mentioning women in any shape, way or form ....
And all of that packed into a mere half-hour session, though of course, since it is PBS, it is a full, 100% half hour -- not diluted with 8 minutes of commercials -- though of course, if you did feel the need to buy something, you could always go to their website and purchase Possum Lodge souvenirs and of course, duct tape....
Need I say anything more??
P.S. Would you care to see my picture of Red and me together when he visited the PBS station in Seattle 7 years ago??
It is one of my most cherished possessions -- if I can find where I put it when I packed to move back to Idaho. But I know it's here somewhere -- right along with my extra duct tape.
Posted by Kim at 10:33 PM
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post
Create a Link
Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Red Green on Facebook (unabridged version)
Kim:
Only 9 more days till Red Green is in town!! I practically have to duct tape myself to my chair, I am so giddy with excitement. I might just run out of tape ...
Fortunately, I am planning to buy a whole case of duct tape, so that I can make furniture, fix car parts, or any other ideas Red gives us at his performance May 1st at the Egyptian Theater!!
April 22 at 2:42pm · Comment · Like/Unlike
Deborah likes this.
Kim:
Oh did I forget to mention, the performance is all for a good cause, funding PBS (KAID) in its efforts to show the Red Green Show and other equally highly sophisticated programs!
April 22 at 2:44pm
Kim:
Cool, I just discovered that a person could comment on their own comments ...
April 22 at 2:45pm
Kim:
... and then I suppose comment on those comments that commented on my previous comments ...
April 22 at 2:45pm
Kim:
It's almost like having a discussion with myself ....
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
Or argument with myself ...
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
No, it's not ....
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
Yes, it is .....
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
Fine, then I am going to stop talking to you ....
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
Good riddance!! Just go away ....
April 22 at 2:47pm
Kim:
Would the two of you stop arguing right now???
April 22 at 2:47pm
Kim:
Now look what you have gone and done!!!
April 22 at 2:47pm
Kim:
Me???? It wasn't me, it was you that got us in trouble!!!
April 22 at 2:48pm
Kim:
And to think some people get emails sent every time there is a comment made -- just imagine how many emails could be piling up in emails accounts all around the country -- back logged, piling up, just like volcanic-prone European airports ....
April 22 at 2:51pm
Nice Niece Sarah:
o dear-- **shakes head**
April 22 at 5:18pm
Annie, the Wonder Wife:
Oh, good grief! Slow day at school??? Or just your multiple personalities asserting themselves??
April 22 at 5:19pm
Favorite Daughter, Hillary:
I think you should duct tape your keyboard...
April 22 at 6:18pm
Friend Suzi:
where did you find him Annie? But then you are pretty hilarious too!:) You 2 are my comic relief!
April 22 at 6:46pm
Friend Suzi:
and, what is Red Green?
April 22 at 7:40pm
Kim:
OMG!!!!!!! What???? "What is Red Green"?????
First of all: WHO is Red Green?
Why, he is the owner of Possum Lodge, and is a staple of most fine PBS stations with their weekly import from Canada.... ......
Basically, Red can fix anything with duct tape, e.g. changing flat tires -- even if the lug nuts are rusted. All you do is just duct tape the spare tire to the flat one and then it is guaranteed to hold for at least 100 yards, actually 100 meters -- you know, Canadian metric system, eh? .... , or you can make your own DeLorean car door that opens by raising up instead of swinging sideways with a little help using a garage-door opener and more duct tape.
Essentially, Tim Allen's Tool Time is the woman's perspective of what men with tools are, whereas Red Green and his junkyard and duct tape is a man's version of what men with tools are....
The true sign of understanding this difference can be detected by watching the difference in re-action when a husband and wife watch their first episode of Red Green together (which can be checked out from your local public library if needed!!!) As Red is explaining how to duct tape whatever his latest project is -- the man can be seen nodding his head up and down saying un-huh, while at the same time, the wife is shaking her head sideways muttering, "I don't get it!!"
And it's true, women don't. When a woman gives her husband a chore to do from the honey do list, she expects things like that when he is done, it will: 1) work, 2) look good, 3) not need to be re-visited over and over, 4) not require the purchase of several hundred dollars of new tools, and 5) not take 6 months to complete a 2-hour project, especially when it requires leaving all of the tools out "until I can get the project finished -- as soon as I possibly can ... this next weekend, I promise ..."
But lest you fear that Red Green only deals with home fix-it projects, the show also does manly poetry and singing, re-citing the "man prayer", doing the word game where you try to get men to say words like: quiche, etc., and answer man-questions like how to answer your wife if she asks the husband if her new pants make her look fat, as well as other timely issues like how to try to get rid of your nerdy nephew who is totally unable to cope with the concept of dating or even mentioning women in any shape, way or form ....
And all of that packed into a mere half-hour session, though of course, since it is PBS, it is a full, 100% half hour -- not diluted with 8 minutes of commercials -- though of course, if you did feel the need to buy something, you could always go to their website and purchase Possum Lodge souvenirs and of course, duct tape....
Need I say anything more??
P.S. Would you care to see my picture of Red and me together when he visited the PBS station in Seattle 7 years ago??
It is one of my most cherished possessions -- if I can find where I put it when I packed to move back to Idaho. But I know it's here somewhere -- right along with my extra duct tape.
April 22 at 10:45pm
Annie, the Wonder Wife:
Hillary, you may have a very good point there! And Suzi, you DID ask . . .
April 22 at 11:18pm
Favorite Daughter, Hillary
You're forgetting to talk about the best side-kick/relative to ever grace the PBS airwaves...
Fri at 6:01am
Friend Suzi:
Kim, all I needed was a one sentence explanation. Now I remember you winning debates. I think you need to tape that part of your brain down.:)
Fri at 6:17am
Friend Suzi:
sorry I asked.....
Fri at 6:19am
Kim:
I beg to differ oh daughter of mine. I do believe that I mentioned (and I quote myself): "as well as other timely issues like how to try to get rid of your nerdy nephew who is totally unable to cope with the concept of dating or even mentioning women in any shape, way or form ...."
For I agree, who could ever think of not including good ol' Harold!!!!
Fri at 8:33am
Only 9 more days till Red Green is in town!! I practically have to duct tape myself to my chair, I am so giddy with excitement. I might just run out of tape ...
Fortunately, I am planning to buy a whole case of duct tape, so that I can make furniture, fix car parts, or any other ideas Red gives us at his performance May 1st at the Egyptian Theater!!
April 22 at 2:42pm · Comment · Like/Unlike
Deborah likes this.
Kim:
Oh did I forget to mention, the performance is all for a good cause, funding PBS (KAID) in its efforts to show the Red Green Show and other equally highly sophisticated programs!
April 22 at 2:44pm
Kim:
Cool, I just discovered that a person could comment on their own comments ...
April 22 at 2:45pm
Kim:
... and then I suppose comment on those comments that commented on my previous comments ...
April 22 at 2:45pm
Kim:
It's almost like having a discussion with myself ....
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
Or argument with myself ...
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
No, it's not ....
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
Yes, it is .....
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
Fine, then I am going to stop talking to you ....
April 22 at 2:46pm
Kim:
Good riddance!! Just go away ....
April 22 at 2:47pm
Kim:
Would the two of you stop arguing right now???
April 22 at 2:47pm
Kim:
Now look what you have gone and done!!!
April 22 at 2:47pm
Kim:
Me???? It wasn't me, it was you that got us in trouble!!!
April 22 at 2:48pm
Kim:
And to think some people get emails sent every time there is a comment made -- just imagine how many emails could be piling up in emails accounts all around the country -- back logged, piling up, just like volcanic-prone European airports ....
April 22 at 2:51pm
Nice Niece Sarah:
o dear-- **shakes head**
April 22 at 5:18pm
Annie, the Wonder Wife:
Oh, good grief! Slow day at school??? Or just your multiple personalities asserting themselves??
April 22 at 5:19pm
Favorite Daughter, Hillary:
I think you should duct tape your keyboard...
April 22 at 6:18pm
Friend Suzi:
where did you find him Annie? But then you are pretty hilarious too!:) You 2 are my comic relief!
April 22 at 6:46pm
Friend Suzi:
and, what is Red Green?
April 22 at 7:40pm
Kim:
OMG!!!!!!! What???? "What is Red Green"?????
First of all: WHO is Red Green?
Why, he is the owner of Possum Lodge, and is a staple of most fine PBS stations with their weekly import from Canada.... ......
Basically, Red can fix anything with duct tape, e.g. changing flat tires -- even if the lug nuts are rusted. All you do is just duct tape the spare tire to the flat one and then it is guaranteed to hold for at least 100 yards, actually 100 meters -- you know, Canadian metric system, eh? .... , or you can make your own DeLorean car door that opens by raising up instead of swinging sideways with a little help using a garage-door opener and more duct tape.
Essentially, Tim Allen's Tool Time is the woman's perspective of what men with tools are, whereas Red Green and his junkyard and duct tape is a man's version of what men with tools are....
The true sign of understanding this difference can be detected by watching the difference in re-action when a husband and wife watch their first episode of Red Green together (which can be checked out from your local public library if needed!!!) As Red is explaining how to duct tape whatever his latest project is -- the man can be seen nodding his head up and down saying un-huh, while at the same time, the wife is shaking her head sideways muttering, "I don't get it!!"
And it's true, women don't. When a woman gives her husband a chore to do from the honey do list, she expects things like that when he is done, it will: 1) work, 2) look good, 3) not need to be re-visited over and over, 4) not require the purchase of several hundred dollars of new tools, and 5) not take 6 months to complete a 2-hour project, especially when it requires leaving all of the tools out "until I can get the project finished -- as soon as I possibly can ... this next weekend, I promise ..."
But lest you fear that Red Green only deals with home fix-it projects, the show also does manly poetry and singing, re-citing the "man prayer", doing the word game where you try to get men to say words like: quiche, etc., and answer man-questions like how to answer your wife if she asks the husband if her new pants make her look fat, as well as other timely issues like how to try to get rid of your nerdy nephew who is totally unable to cope with the concept of dating or even mentioning women in any shape, way or form ....
And all of that packed into a mere half-hour session, though of course, since it is PBS, it is a full, 100% half hour -- not diluted with 8 minutes of commercials -- though of course, if you did feel the need to buy something, you could always go to their website and purchase Possum Lodge souvenirs and of course, duct tape....
Need I say anything more??
P.S. Would you care to see my picture of Red and me together when he visited the PBS station in Seattle 7 years ago??
It is one of my most cherished possessions -- if I can find where I put it when I packed to move back to Idaho. But I know it's here somewhere -- right along with my extra duct tape.
April 22 at 10:45pm
Annie, the Wonder Wife:
Hillary, you may have a very good point there! And Suzi, you DID ask . . .
April 22 at 11:18pm
Favorite Daughter, Hillary
You're forgetting to talk about the best side-kick/relative to ever grace the PBS airwaves...
Fri at 6:01am
Friend Suzi:
Kim, all I needed was a one sentence explanation. Now I remember you winning debates. I think you need to tape that part of your brain down.:)
Fri at 6:17am
Friend Suzi:
sorry I asked.....
Fri at 6:19am
Kim:
I beg to differ oh daughter of mine. I do believe that I mentioned (and I quote myself): "as well as other timely issues like how to try to get rid of your nerdy nephew who is totally unable to cope with the concept of dating or even mentioning women in any shape, way or form ...."
For I agree, who could ever think of not including good ol' Harold!!!!
Fri at 8:33am
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Congressional Term Limits Too Limiting
I am sick and tired of hearing about term limits being limited to congressmen.
Actually while it is true that I am sick – it is not because of politics but because of a cold that I have had now for four weeks, and as for being tired, I pretty much am tired most of the time during the school year – but summer vacation isn’t that far off. – Still, I am truly sick and tired, and felt that I should follow the example set by so many political activists. But I digress ….
I am amazed at the short-sightedness, not so much of our politicians but of their critics. I feel pressured to accept the concept that professional politicians are harmful to the democratic process, and that instead America is better off having leaders with limited experience with an amateur status. As American business and involvement in world affairs becomes more complex, the argument is that it is better to use people who are not career experts but rather are temporary representatives from the American citizenry – taking a limited turn, and then returning back to their previous profession. The argument is based on the notion that somehow a politician changes with experience – but not for the better, but typically only for personal gain or convenience.
I do truly appreciate being clued in to these phenomena. Now I find myself watching for the dangers of seniority and experience throughout our society.
Let’s start with medicine. God knows that medical costs are going through the roof! I believe that it is a fact that most doctors are now paid more than when they first started their practice. Clearly there must be a connection with doctors being paid more while medical costs and insurance premiums continue to rise exponentially. Also, there can be a callowness that has been known to develop after years and years of seeing patients day in and day out – (both in patients and out patients!)
I believe that the answer of maintaining a fresh, amateur status of our congressmen should apply to doctors as well. First of all – is it any surprise with all of the years of schooling and interning that doctors are so expensive? Many of them already have that doctor tone of superiority before they have even finished interning. What we need are fresh, amateurs that still feel the desire to learn more each time you put a scalpel in their hand while sedating you for abdominal surgery.
In addition, with far less medical school expenses and less years of experience, medical expenses should plummet! After doctors reach their term limits, they could find other employment – possibly even in similar fields such as veterinary work on cattle, or pharmaceutical sales.
Same for air fare. Think of the expenses as well as the number of errors attributed to pilots that have spent far too much time up in the air. What we need are new pilots who are still thrilled with the prospect of preventing the next jumbo jet flight with over two hundred passengers from ending in a ball of fire. We need pilots still marveling at their first glimpse of various landmarks as they try to avoid getting lost – as an effective ways of keeping pilots from succumbing to sleep or overlooking safety factors due to excessive, mundane routine or even occasional boredom. And of course, patriotic passengers can expect a corresponding plummeting from the sky in the price of tickets …
God knows we could save money with term limits imposed on teachers – ridding public schools of expensive, burned-out teachers.
It’s a no-brainer that truck drivers can become jaded or distracted with too much time on the road – far better to have novices at lower pay!
Police corruption could be reduced by using only rookies and newbies. Vets sent out the door could become private detectives or mercenaries.
Actors should be turned away by age thirty – just think how much more attractive and realistic all characters would be …
I could cite other examples as well, but in all fairness, I think that I have spent too much time on this already, and that it should be turned over to someone younger and fresher …
Actually while it is true that I am sick – it is not because of politics but because of a cold that I have had now for four weeks, and as for being tired, I pretty much am tired most of the time during the school year – but summer vacation isn’t that far off. – Still, I am truly sick and tired, and felt that I should follow the example set by so many political activists. But I digress ….
I am amazed at the short-sightedness, not so much of our politicians but of their critics. I feel pressured to accept the concept that professional politicians are harmful to the democratic process, and that instead America is better off having leaders with limited experience with an amateur status. As American business and involvement in world affairs becomes more complex, the argument is that it is better to use people who are not career experts but rather are temporary representatives from the American citizenry – taking a limited turn, and then returning back to their previous profession. The argument is based on the notion that somehow a politician changes with experience – but not for the better, but typically only for personal gain or convenience.
I do truly appreciate being clued in to these phenomena. Now I find myself watching for the dangers of seniority and experience throughout our society.
Let’s start with medicine. God knows that medical costs are going through the roof! I believe that it is a fact that most doctors are now paid more than when they first started their practice. Clearly there must be a connection with doctors being paid more while medical costs and insurance premiums continue to rise exponentially. Also, there can be a callowness that has been known to develop after years and years of seeing patients day in and day out – (both in patients and out patients!)
I believe that the answer of maintaining a fresh, amateur status of our congressmen should apply to doctors as well. First of all – is it any surprise with all of the years of schooling and interning that doctors are so expensive? Many of them already have that doctor tone of superiority before they have even finished interning. What we need are fresh, amateurs that still feel the desire to learn more each time you put a scalpel in their hand while sedating you for abdominal surgery.
In addition, with far less medical school expenses and less years of experience, medical expenses should plummet! After doctors reach their term limits, they could find other employment – possibly even in similar fields such as veterinary work on cattle, or pharmaceutical sales.
Same for air fare. Think of the expenses as well as the number of errors attributed to pilots that have spent far too much time up in the air. What we need are new pilots who are still thrilled with the prospect of preventing the next jumbo jet flight with over two hundred passengers from ending in a ball of fire. We need pilots still marveling at their first glimpse of various landmarks as they try to avoid getting lost – as an effective ways of keeping pilots from succumbing to sleep or overlooking safety factors due to excessive, mundane routine or even occasional boredom. And of course, patriotic passengers can expect a corresponding plummeting from the sky in the price of tickets …
God knows we could save money with term limits imposed on teachers – ridding public schools of expensive, burned-out teachers.
It’s a no-brainer that truck drivers can become jaded or distracted with too much time on the road – far better to have novices at lower pay!
Police corruption could be reduced by using only rookies and newbies. Vets sent out the door could become private detectives or mercenaries.
Actors should be turned away by age thirty – just think how much more attractive and realistic all characters would be …
I could cite other examples as well, but in all fairness, I think that I have spent too much time on this already, and that it should be turned over to someone younger and fresher …
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Are You Better Off Now Than Eight Years Before?
Obama’s Democrats in the U.S. Senate are down to only 59 to the Republicans 41 and therefore can’t vote for cloture on any party-line vote in order to cut off debate so that legislation can be brought to a vote.
I am not quite sure I understand the logic. Apparently the Obama White House feels that the American public will side with the Republicans as they strive to stonewall the Democrats and bring the Senate to a standstill on anything substantive in Obama's proposed legislative package based on the campaign promises that got him elected.
Further, Obama seems to accept the notion that the American public (electorate) is tired of the wrangling and delays and therefore does not want any of the legislation passed that was the basis of Obama’s victory to address the economic, military, medical, and employment mess left by the Bush II administration.
Apparently, conventional wisdom by White House strategists is that the American public supports Republican efforts to continue the past year stalemate another three years, and then to elect a Republican to extend Republican policies that put us where we are now.
Ronald Reagan, tagged as the “great communicator” had a knack for taking an idea and presenting it in an overly simplified format to a receptive American public. One classic example was offered during the 1980 Carter – Reagan presidential campaign. Reagan simply asked Americans: are you better off now than you were four years ago.
I question why Reagan’s question wasn’t adapted to the 2008 election continuously whether Americans were better off after eight years of Bush II . While the public was pre-occupied with whether to impeach Clinton along party lines for whether or not he lied about sexual dalliances, his administration also became the first administration since the Great Depression and World War II to balance the budget. Thus giving Bush II the opportunity to give two tax rebates to the American public and launch not one, but two wars.
Now we find ourselves in record debt and barely avoided the recession spiraling into another depression. Bank loans and employment became priorities while having to forego addressing our indebtedness.
Now the public seems to have forgotten already: 1) who got us into this mess, 2) how close we came to being drawn into a major depression, 3) how many Americans are in extreme need of employment and/or medical coverage, 4) who is the one that is effectively confronting these problems, and 5) how problems of such magnitude cannot be contained easily or quickly.
With that as a basis, I wonder why the American public is allowing itself the excessive luxury of becoming intolerant and impatient of the current administration, and why the Democrats are allowing Republicans to frame the question in such negative terms.
It is beyond me as to why Democrats do not constantly ask if we are better eight years after Bush II took over, if we are better off or worse off in the one year that the Obama administration has been in power. And correspondingly, how Republican stonewalling is in the best interest of the American public and/or solving the problems that confront us. At what point does the needs of the country take priority over what is politically expedient for partisan gamesmanship?
Can we really afford the luxury of another three-year stalemate that leaves these threatening challenges unmet? Why isn’t the American public screaming bloody murder at the party responsible for creating the problems and now stonewalling any attempts to try to recover from them?
I am not quite sure I understand the logic. Apparently the Obama White House feels that the American public will side with the Republicans as they strive to stonewall the Democrats and bring the Senate to a standstill on anything substantive in Obama's proposed legislative package based on the campaign promises that got him elected.
Further, Obama seems to accept the notion that the American public (electorate) is tired of the wrangling and delays and therefore does not want any of the legislation passed that was the basis of Obama’s victory to address the economic, military, medical, and employment mess left by the Bush II administration.
Apparently, conventional wisdom by White House strategists is that the American public supports Republican efforts to continue the past year stalemate another three years, and then to elect a Republican to extend Republican policies that put us where we are now.
Ronald Reagan, tagged as the “great communicator” had a knack for taking an idea and presenting it in an overly simplified format to a receptive American public. One classic example was offered during the 1980 Carter – Reagan presidential campaign. Reagan simply asked Americans: are you better off now than you were four years ago.
I question why Reagan’s question wasn’t adapted to the 2008 election continuously whether Americans were better off after eight years of Bush II . While the public was pre-occupied with whether to impeach Clinton along party lines for whether or not he lied about sexual dalliances, his administration also became the first administration since the Great Depression and World War II to balance the budget. Thus giving Bush II the opportunity to give two tax rebates to the American public and launch not one, but two wars.
Now we find ourselves in record debt and barely avoided the recession spiraling into another depression. Bank loans and employment became priorities while having to forego addressing our indebtedness.
Now the public seems to have forgotten already: 1) who got us into this mess, 2) how close we came to being drawn into a major depression, 3) how many Americans are in extreme need of employment and/or medical coverage, 4) who is the one that is effectively confronting these problems, and 5) how problems of such magnitude cannot be contained easily or quickly.
With that as a basis, I wonder why the American public is allowing itself the excessive luxury of becoming intolerant and impatient of the current administration, and why the Democrats are allowing Republicans to frame the question in such negative terms.
It is beyond me as to why Democrats do not constantly ask if we are better eight years after Bush II took over, if we are better off or worse off in the one year that the Obama administration has been in power. And correspondingly, how Republican stonewalling is in the best interest of the American public and/or solving the problems that confront us. At what point does the needs of the country take priority over what is politically expedient for partisan gamesmanship?
Can we really afford the luxury of another three-year stalemate that leaves these threatening challenges unmet? Why isn’t the American public screaming bloody murder at the party responsible for creating the problems and now stonewalling any attempts to try to recover from them?
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Hitlerian Tendencies
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, it seems that the John Birch Society has not been able to maintain the high level profile that I had counted on in previous decades. Nor do whistle-blower warnings of the Tri-lateral Commission command the same attention they once did.
Even warnings of immoral governmental actions from televangelist pillars as Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker declined after each of their respective downfalls.
Fortunately, Pat Robertson has continued to inform the naïvely unaware and innocent so that they can be fully aware of efforts by the devil and Democrats. In addition, others such as Rush Limbaugh have risen to provide voice where once we could count on John Birchers. We even have networks such as Fox to fill the breech – not to mention a network of blogging and emailing citizens to circulate any real and/or imagined governmental sins.
Without these outspoken watchdogs, citizens like me are prone not to realize fully the threat that Democratic administrations pose.
For example, the recent tragedy in Haiti of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake would seem to much of the unaware citizenry to have been an act of God – albeit a devastating one. Yet both Robertson and Limbaugh have been faithful instruments trumpeting explanations that much of the rest of us would never have suspected. Robertson pointed out that Haiti deserves such tragedies as a result of having literally made a bargain with the devil in exchange for preventing being controlled by the French. Limbaugh contributed the warning that the Obama administration was using the event purely as a public relations opportunity.
Ashamed that others had to investigate for me, it was at this point that I determined to follow their inspirational leadership and sought on my own to research the matter further – using the always reliable internet (which is surprising considering it was created by Al Gore) at my disposal.
I was astonished and furious to confirm Limbaugh’s assertions. Limbaugh asserted that the 7.0 earthquake that rocked Haiti enabled Mr. Obama to highlight his “compassionate” and “humanitarian” credentials to “boost his credibility with the black community.” But Limbaugh does not go far enough. I pieced together from several unnamed and/or imagined sources that Obama’s henchmen not only compelled Haiti to submit to having a major earthquake with the epicenter located in their capital city, but that the White House refused to even consider agreeing to anything less than a 7.0 quake along with a mandatory series of successive aftershocks. Haiti officials complained that they had been willing to cooperate and accept a 6.5 or even 6.6 magnitude quake. They argued it would have been sufficient for Obama to display his compassion without what Haitian officials considered an unnecessarily excessive level of death and destruction. Indignantly, they felt a line had to be drawn on how much death a country should have to accept, just to help a U.S. president with his ratings!
Congressional critics also suggested that the White House insistence on a 7.0 quake was wasteful in cost, and that the U.S. should not have paid for anything over a 6.7 at the absolute highest – both in terms of costs directly to Haiti and in later emergency relief. White House officials justified the more extreme disaster saying Haiti deserved any additional destruction as a “cursed” consequence of their historical “pact to the devil” – as revealed by televangelist Pat Robertson.
But perhaps the most disturbing revelations that I uncovered came from Kitty Werthmann, president of the South Dakota Eagle Forum. Ms. Werthmann survived seven years in Austria under Adolf Hitler’s regime. She points out the haunting similarities between Hitler’s dictatorship and the Obama administration. She stressed that Hitler’s strangle hold was created incrementally rather than immediately and fully. It started with national identification cards, gun registration, daycare and evolved out of control from there.
But again, I don’t feel the Werthmann goes far enough. In my research, I uncovered several other disturbing, ominous similarities between the two demigods. I have conclusive proof that both Hitler and Obama were/are addicted to oxygen as if to have aspirations for public aspirations -- even in public meetings where the cameras were rolling. (Further, rumors have it that both so-called leaders are also addicted to food – consuming it even multiple times in a single day.)
Unfortunately, this is only the tip of the iceberg. I have been able to ascertain beyond any reasonable level of doubt that both leaders have two legs, which both openly use for walking and movement. Both wear clothes – so brazenly that neither has ever been on record as being apologetic for their continuous efforts to hide behind clothing. Both spoke a predominate language – though admittedly not the same language – yet. But time will tell. Both were married – though Obama actually had the gall to marry before even assuming national leadership rather than holding off till the last day or two of his administration.
Clearly Werthmann is a visionary, and I am convinced that Americans need to heed her words. Clearly boundaries need to be set and Obama can not be allowed to encroach further on our freedoms. For me, I propose we draw the line and begin a protest of civil disobedience the day Obama speaks to us in German or tries to force us to eat strudel.
The end.
Sources:
Citation regarding Limbaugh
The disaster enables Mr. Obama to highlight his "compassionate" and "humanitarian" credentials and to "boost his credibility with the black community," Limbaugh said.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at his daily press briefing today criticized Limbaugh's remarks.
"I think in times of great crisis, there are always people that say really stupid things," Gibbs said. I don't know how anybody -- I don't know how anybody could sit where he does, having enjoyed the success that he has, and not feel some measure of sorrow for what has happened in Haiti. I think to use the power of your pulpit to try to convince those not to help their brothers and sisters is sad."
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/14/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6097183.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
Citation regarding Robertson
Televangelist Pat Robertson said Wednesday that earthquake-ravaged Haiti has been "cursed" by a "pact to the devil."
"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," he said on Christian Broadcasting Network's "The 700 Club." "They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal."
Robertson said that "ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other" and he contrasted Haiti with its neighbor, the Dominican Republic.
"That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle; on the one side is Haiti on the other is the Dominican Republic," he said. "Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to god and out of this tragedy I'm optimistic something good may come. But right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/13/pat-robertson-haiti-curse_n_422099.html
Citation regarding Werthmann
Freedoms can disappear in a hurry if we aren't careful
Those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.
I lived in Austria under Adolf Hitler's regime for seven years. Dictatorship did not happen overnight. It was a gradual process starting with national identification cards, which we had to carry with us at all times.
We could not board a bus or train without our ID card. Gun registration followed, with a lot of talk about gun safety and hunting accidents. Since the government already knew who owned firearms, confiscation followed under threat of capital punishment.
Freedom of speech was the next target. Free speech was curtailed with the enforcement of the federal police (Gestapo). With a large network of informers, people were afraid to say anything political, even in their own homes.
The liberal mindset in America has promoted gun control for a long time and is beginning to advocate national identification cards.
Law-abiding American citizens should not have to carry national identification cards. Aliens and non-citizens should be required to carry ID cards. Even their driver's licenses should be different than a citizen's driver's license.
Our government also needs to take strong measures against illegal aliens and tightly close our borders to protect American citizens.
Even though we are in a state of war, we have to protect our civil liberties. While some people need power to secure our freedom, we must be ever-vigilant to maintain a system of checks and balances.
I am sorely disappointed with France and Germany. If it was not for the United States, the French would be speaking German today. And if our troops had not protected Germany, Russian tanks would have rolled all the way to the Rhine River.
How ungrateful those nations are. We have to stand by our country and our troops. I am grateful that our troops are protecting freedom.
America is the greatest country in the world. After America, there is no place to run.
http://www.eagleforum.org/misc/states/articles/2003/werthmann-3-11-03.shtml
Kitty Werthmann
Kitty Werthmann, 77, of Pierre, is president of the South Dakota Eagle Forum. She lobbies the state Legislature on family issues. She has lived in the United States since 1950 and has been a U.S. citizen since 1962
Even warnings of immoral governmental actions from televangelist pillars as Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker declined after each of their respective downfalls.
Fortunately, Pat Robertson has continued to inform the naïvely unaware and innocent so that they can be fully aware of efforts by the devil and Democrats. In addition, others such as Rush Limbaugh have risen to provide voice where once we could count on John Birchers. We even have networks such as Fox to fill the breech – not to mention a network of blogging and emailing citizens to circulate any real and/or imagined governmental sins.
Without these outspoken watchdogs, citizens like me are prone not to realize fully the threat that Democratic administrations pose.
For example, the recent tragedy in Haiti of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake would seem to much of the unaware citizenry to have been an act of God – albeit a devastating one. Yet both Robertson and Limbaugh have been faithful instruments trumpeting explanations that much of the rest of us would never have suspected. Robertson pointed out that Haiti deserves such tragedies as a result of having literally made a bargain with the devil in exchange for preventing being controlled by the French. Limbaugh contributed the warning that the Obama administration was using the event purely as a public relations opportunity.
Ashamed that others had to investigate for me, it was at this point that I determined to follow their inspirational leadership and sought on my own to research the matter further – using the always reliable internet (which is surprising considering it was created by Al Gore) at my disposal.
I was astonished and furious to confirm Limbaugh’s assertions. Limbaugh asserted that the 7.0 earthquake that rocked Haiti enabled Mr. Obama to highlight his “compassionate” and “humanitarian” credentials to “boost his credibility with the black community.” But Limbaugh does not go far enough. I pieced together from several unnamed and/or imagined sources that Obama’s henchmen not only compelled Haiti to submit to having a major earthquake with the epicenter located in their capital city, but that the White House refused to even consider agreeing to anything less than a 7.0 quake along with a mandatory series of successive aftershocks. Haiti officials complained that they had been willing to cooperate and accept a 6.5 or even 6.6 magnitude quake. They argued it would have been sufficient for Obama to display his compassion without what Haitian officials considered an unnecessarily excessive level of death and destruction. Indignantly, they felt a line had to be drawn on how much death a country should have to accept, just to help a U.S. president with his ratings!
Congressional critics also suggested that the White House insistence on a 7.0 quake was wasteful in cost, and that the U.S. should not have paid for anything over a 6.7 at the absolute highest – both in terms of costs directly to Haiti and in later emergency relief. White House officials justified the more extreme disaster saying Haiti deserved any additional destruction as a “cursed” consequence of their historical “pact to the devil” – as revealed by televangelist Pat Robertson.
But perhaps the most disturbing revelations that I uncovered came from Kitty Werthmann, president of the South Dakota Eagle Forum. Ms. Werthmann survived seven years in Austria under Adolf Hitler’s regime. She points out the haunting similarities between Hitler’s dictatorship and the Obama administration. She stressed that Hitler’s strangle hold was created incrementally rather than immediately and fully. It started with national identification cards, gun registration, daycare and evolved out of control from there.
But again, I don’t feel the Werthmann goes far enough. In my research, I uncovered several other disturbing, ominous similarities between the two demigods. I have conclusive proof that both Hitler and Obama were/are addicted to oxygen as if to have aspirations for public aspirations -- even in public meetings where the cameras were rolling. (Further, rumors have it that both so-called leaders are also addicted to food – consuming it even multiple times in a single day.)
Unfortunately, this is only the tip of the iceberg. I have been able to ascertain beyond any reasonable level of doubt that both leaders have two legs, which both openly use for walking and movement. Both wear clothes – so brazenly that neither has ever been on record as being apologetic for their continuous efforts to hide behind clothing. Both spoke a predominate language – though admittedly not the same language – yet. But time will tell. Both were married – though Obama actually had the gall to marry before even assuming national leadership rather than holding off till the last day or two of his administration.
Clearly Werthmann is a visionary, and I am convinced that Americans need to heed her words. Clearly boundaries need to be set and Obama can not be allowed to encroach further on our freedoms. For me, I propose we draw the line and begin a protest of civil disobedience the day Obama speaks to us in German or tries to force us to eat strudel.
The end.
Sources:
Citation regarding Limbaugh
The disaster enables Mr. Obama to highlight his "compassionate" and "humanitarian" credentials and to "boost his credibility with the black community," Limbaugh said.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at his daily press briefing today criticized Limbaugh's remarks.
"I think in times of great crisis, there are always people that say really stupid things," Gibbs said. I don't know how anybody -- I don't know how anybody could sit where he does, having enjoyed the success that he has, and not feel some measure of sorrow for what has happened in Haiti. I think to use the power of your pulpit to try to convince those not to help their brothers and sisters is sad."
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/14/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6097183.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
Citation regarding Robertson
Televangelist Pat Robertson said Wednesday that earthquake-ravaged Haiti has been "cursed" by a "pact to the devil."
"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," he said on Christian Broadcasting Network's "The 700 Club." "They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal."
Robertson said that "ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other" and he contrasted Haiti with its neighbor, the Dominican Republic.
"That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle; on the one side is Haiti on the other is the Dominican Republic," he said. "Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to god and out of this tragedy I'm optimistic something good may come. But right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/13/pat-robertson-haiti-curse_n_422099.html
Citation regarding Werthmann
Freedoms can disappear in a hurry if we aren't careful
Those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.
I lived in Austria under Adolf Hitler's regime for seven years. Dictatorship did not happen overnight. It was a gradual process starting with national identification cards, which we had to carry with us at all times.
We could not board a bus or train without our ID card. Gun registration followed, with a lot of talk about gun safety and hunting accidents. Since the government already knew who owned firearms, confiscation followed under threat of capital punishment.
Freedom of speech was the next target. Free speech was curtailed with the enforcement of the federal police (Gestapo). With a large network of informers, people were afraid to say anything political, even in their own homes.
The liberal mindset in America has promoted gun control for a long time and is beginning to advocate national identification cards.
Law-abiding American citizens should not have to carry national identification cards. Aliens and non-citizens should be required to carry ID cards. Even their driver's licenses should be different than a citizen's driver's license.
Our government also needs to take strong measures against illegal aliens and tightly close our borders to protect American citizens.
Even though we are in a state of war, we have to protect our civil liberties. While some people need power to secure our freedom, we must be ever-vigilant to maintain a system of checks and balances.
I am sorely disappointed with France and Germany. If it was not for the United States, the French would be speaking German today. And if our troops had not protected Germany, Russian tanks would have rolled all the way to the Rhine River.
How ungrateful those nations are. We have to stand by our country and our troops. I am grateful that our troops are protecting freedom.
America is the greatest country in the world. After America, there is no place to run.
http://www.eagleforum.org/misc/states/articles/2003/werthmann-3-11-03.shtml
Kitty Werthmann
Kitty Werthmann, 77, of Pierre, is president of the South Dakota Eagle Forum. She lobbies the state Legislature on family issues. She has lived in the United States since 1950 and has been a U.S. citizen since 1962
Friday, January 29, 2010
An Open Letter Response to an NEA Article
To: ALinebaugh@nea.org
Cc: wa_tchr@yahoo.com
Subject: Opening Bell Feedback
January 29, 2010
There are some fundamental concepts that should simply be a standard any
time a report like this is published: who is the group making the report, and what is their criteria. It might also be fair to state historically what
their overall agenda has been for existing.
So the report (copied below) states that they give a grade of D-.
So despite all of the vast changes made in educational reform this past
15 years, our critics still give us a grade of either D- or F -- as if
there has been nothing substantive done in all of that time.
At some point, I think it is fair to ask the questions: is there really
anything that we could do that would ever merit their praise? What is
their criteria for an A?
The fiscal realities are that as long as public education remains the
single most expensive ticket item in probably every state legislative
budget (and personnel saleries being the biggest ticket item in public
education expenditures) -- any legislator or legislative candidate that
wants to adhere to a no tax increase and/or tax cut platform, is almost
automatically compelled to have to attack public education.
Politically, it is extremely difficult both to praise public education
(and public educators) while saying that we need to also cut taxes and
funding for public education.
The other fundamental conflict is that the more successful public
educators are in teaching students to be able to think independently,
this will be construed by some as being subversive in terms of
challenging authority. There are some who still believe that children
should be obedient to parents and authority figures without their having
to justify their mandates.
So to the point that we successfully increase students' abilities to
operate at higher thinking levels, the more some people are going to
feel threatened by being held accountable in having to explain the
reasoning for their dictates.
So as a general concept, before I blindly accept some unknown group's
evaluation of public education, I feel it is only fair to know whether
or not either of these factors exist to the point that it significantly
impacts their overall perspective and judgment of public education.
I doubt that I am stating anything new to people working for the NEA --
sort of like preaching to the choir.
What does surprise me is that the NEA would present a story that seems
to blindly accept an outside group's assessment without any comment or
information as to who the assessor is.
Respectfully submitted,
Kim Wardwell
(Wayne K. Wardwell)
Title I Teacher
Jefferson Middle School
Caldwell School District
Caldwell, Idaho
360 202-3427 cell
kwardwell@glacierview.net
wa_tchr@yahoo.com
Included below is the article that was published and sent out online by the National Educatio Association (NEA) on January 29, 2010:
Report: State Policies Protect Ineffective Teachers.
The AP (1/28, Turner) reported, "Most states are holding tight to policies that protect incompetent teachers and poor training programs, shortchanging educators and their students before new teachers even step into the classroom, according to a new" study from the National Council on Teacher Quality. The study "paints a grim picture of how states handle everything from pay to discipline for public school teachers. States are using 'broken, outdated and inflexible' policies that ultimately hurt how children learn, according to the report."
The Denver Post (1/29, McGhee) reports that the report finds Colorado "regulations governing teachers fail to ensure that all students have effective teachers." The report "gave the state an overall grade of D-plus in its 2009 review of state laws, rules and regulations governing the teaching profession." The "organization found that Colorado's teacher policies largely work against the nation's goal of improving teacher quality at a time when Race to the Top, a $4.5 billion federal grant competition has put unprecedented focus on education reform and teacher quality."
Dave Murray writes in a column for the Grand Rapids (MI) Press (1/29) that Michigan received a "grade of D-, saying that our state fails to ensure that all students will have effective, well prepared teachers. That seemed kind of harsh, since I know Michigan has some great college education programs, and it's rare that I run into an ineffective teacher." However, the "group said the state has some bright spots, including 'requiring induction for all new teachers.'"
Cc: wa_tchr@yahoo.com
Subject: Opening Bell Feedback
January 29, 2010
There are some fundamental concepts that should simply be a standard any
time a report like this is published: who is the group making the report, and what is their criteria. It might also be fair to state historically what
their overall agenda has been for existing.
So the report (copied below) states that they give a grade of D-.
So despite all of the vast changes made in educational reform this past
15 years, our critics still give us a grade of either D- or F -- as if
there has been nothing substantive done in all of that time.
At some point, I think it is fair to ask the questions: is there really
anything that we could do that would ever merit their praise? What is
their criteria for an A?
The fiscal realities are that as long as public education remains the
single most expensive ticket item in probably every state legislative
budget (and personnel saleries being the biggest ticket item in public
education expenditures) -- any legislator or legislative candidate that
wants to adhere to a no tax increase and/or tax cut platform, is almost
automatically compelled to have to attack public education.
Politically, it is extremely difficult both to praise public education
(and public educators) while saying that we need to also cut taxes and
funding for public education.
The other fundamental conflict is that the more successful public
educators are in teaching students to be able to think independently,
this will be construed by some as being subversive in terms of
challenging authority. There are some who still believe that children
should be obedient to parents and authority figures without their having
to justify their mandates.
So to the point that we successfully increase students' abilities to
operate at higher thinking levels, the more some people are going to
feel threatened by being held accountable in having to explain the
reasoning for their dictates.
So as a general concept, before I blindly accept some unknown group's
evaluation of public education, I feel it is only fair to know whether
or not either of these factors exist to the point that it significantly
impacts their overall perspective and judgment of public education.
I doubt that I am stating anything new to people working for the NEA --
sort of like preaching to the choir.
What does surprise me is that the NEA would present a story that seems
to blindly accept an outside group's assessment without any comment or
information as to who the assessor is.
Respectfully submitted,
Kim Wardwell
(Wayne K. Wardwell)
Title I Teacher
Jefferson Middle School
Caldwell School District
Caldwell, Idaho
360 202-3427 cell
kwardwell@glacierview.net
wa_tchr@yahoo.com
Included below is the article that was published and sent out online by the National Educatio Association (NEA) on January 29, 2010:
Report: State Policies Protect Ineffective Teachers.
The AP (1/28, Turner) reported, "Most states are holding tight to policies that protect incompetent teachers and poor training programs, shortchanging educators and their students before new teachers even step into the classroom, according to a new" study from the National Council on Teacher Quality. The study "paints a grim picture of how states handle everything from pay to discipline for public school teachers. States are using 'broken, outdated and inflexible' policies that ultimately hurt how children learn, according to the report."
The Denver Post (1/29, McGhee) reports that the report finds Colorado "regulations governing teachers fail to ensure that all students have effective teachers." The report "gave the state an overall grade of D-plus in its 2009 review of state laws, rules and regulations governing the teaching profession." The "organization found that Colorado's teacher policies largely work against the nation's goal of improving teacher quality at a time when Race to the Top, a $4.5 billion federal grant competition has put unprecedented focus on education reform and teacher quality."
Dave Murray writes in a column for the Grand Rapids (MI) Press (1/29) that Michigan received a "grade of D-, saying that our state fails to ensure that all students will have effective, well prepared teachers. That seemed kind of harsh, since I know Michigan has some great college education programs, and it's rare that I run into an ineffective teacher." However, the "group said the state has some bright spots, including 'requiring induction for all new teachers.'"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)