omagah

huckchuck

see him

hear him

Merry Christmas, friends:

David Bazan Live at the Grey Eagle - 11.4.07

another (big) reason why i like mike

finally, a good candidate who supports the fairtax.

from the pen of abe

yet another reason why i love abraham lincoln (this is a letter he wrote to his brother):

Dear Johnston:--

Your request for eighty dollars, I do not think it best to comply with now. At the various times when I have helped you a little, you have said to me, "We can get along very well now," but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again. Now this can only happen by some defect in your conduct. What that defect is, I think I know. You are not lazy, and still you are an idler. I doubt whether since I saw you, you have done a good whole day's work, in any one day. You do not very much dislike to work, and still you do not work much, merely because it does not seem to you that you could get much for it. This habit of uselessly wasting time, is the whole difficulty; and it is vastly important to you, and still more so to your children, that you should break this habit. It is more important to them, because they have longer to live, and can keep out of an idle habit before they are in it easier than they can get out after they are in.

You are now in need of some ready money; and what I propose is, that you shall go to work, "tooth and nail," for somebody who will give you money for it. Let father and your boys take charge of things at home--prepare for a crop, and make the crop; and you go to work for the best money wages, or in discharge of any debt you owe, that you can get. And to secure you a fair reward for your labor, I now promise you that for every dollar you will, between this and the first of next May, get for your own labor either in money or in your own indebtedness, I will then give you one other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars a month, from me you will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month for your work. In this, I do not mean you shall go off to St. Louis, or the lead mines, or the gold mines, in California, but I mean for you to go at it for the best wages you can get close to home, in Coles County. Now if you will do this, you will soon be out of debt, and what is better, you will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again. But if I should now clear you out, next year you will be just as deep in as ever. You say you would almost give your place in Heaven for $70 or $80. Then you value your place in Heaven very cheaply, for I am sure you can with the offer I make you get the seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months' work. You say if I furnish you the money you will deed me the land, and if you don't pay the money back, you will deliver possession-- Nonsense! If you can't now live with the land, how will you then live without it? You have always been kind to me, and I do not now mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth more than eight times eighty dollars to you.

Affectionately your brother,

A. LINCOLN.

stars, stripes, and the like

mike huckabee and ron paul dominated the stage last night. i like mike. and as much as i disagree with ron's views on things, i like his style.

i'm really glad they were allowed to go at it like that, rather than being kept to rigid guidelines about how long they can talk (30 seconds) to whom (the moderator) about what (the question asked).

also, i watched the democratic youtube debate on cnn back whenever it was on, and as entertaining as it was, the questions are so much better when posed by professionals in the news industry, as they were last night. the republican youtube debate is scheduled to air on november 28.

ps: fred thompson is finally officially in the race:

voluntary imperative?

"i demand an apology!"

sillier words are rarely spoken. i feel silly for even making this entry because this seems so obvious, but apparently, people just dont get it.

demanding an apology renders the subsequent apology meaningless.

assuming that the person demanding the apology does understand that, the only other reason i can think of as to why they would demand such a thing is because they think it will make them feel better to see the other party publicly admit error. even when that happens, however, the apology is rarely accepted. they say it's not enough even though it's exactly the thing for which they asked.

that leads me to believe that the demander never expected the apologizer to apologize in the first place. that way, they could just keep saying that they want the apology that will never come. once the apology is given, they still feel the need to make demands.

mouse with a sweet tooth, anyone?

on the drop

to those of you who were griping about predictions of gas prices reaching 4 dollars a gallon this summer, i hope you've opened your eyes and stopped complaining. i told you that they might reach 3.17 or 3.20, like they have in the past, but then they'll go back down to the mid to upper 2.00's. now what's happening? they're taking a striking downturn ($2.79 and dropping). this is due in part to previously downed oil refineries being started back up again (not a nationwide no-pump-gas day). there's more supply, so the price goes down. it's that simple.

now, as far as laying the blame on someone for prices being "high," take into consideration the fact that oil companies get an average of about 8 cents per gallon sold to the public when the government gets an average of about 50 cents per gallon in taxes on that gas. stop blaming exxon, and work to get a major tax reform enacted.

enabling more refineries is, of course, just a short term fix to fuel costs. i agree that the long term solution is new technologies that would relieve us of our dependence on this oil, but you cant expect that to happen overnight while you prevent more refineries from being built because you want to preserve your precious coastal view. seeing a metal thing in the water is a small price to pay for cheaper gas. also, it's been proven that marine life thrives around these rigs. not to mention alaska's caribou population growing dramatically with the advent of their oil pipeline system.

all i ask is that you lighten up, enjoy life, realize how good things are, and smile a bit.

wise words

shaunna posted this on her blog, and i liked it, so i'm posting it too:

"Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling... Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go... But, of course, ceasing to be "in love" need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense - love as distinct from "being in love" - is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriage) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God... "Being in love" first moved them to promise fidelity; this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run; being in love was the explosion that started it."

- C.S. Lewis

nice stuff

the other day, as i was driving down 75, i saw the best thing. there was a car parked on the side of the road with its hazard lights flashing. the man and woman whose car it was were there. were they sad? no. they were dancing! right there in the grass off the side of the interstate. dancing together, enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

i also bought a pair of these yesterday:

update on mike mcclung

new developments:

Hello Everybody,
I just wanted to shoot you an update on Michael. If you didn't get word earlier, Michael had a slight stroke on Monday. I spoke with him this morning. He is feeling much better. The physical therapist has released him from therapy because his walking has greatly improved. He will still need to take it easy though. He still has a little numbness on his right side, but that also has gotten a little better. He said that he may be able to go home Saturday or Sunday. He is at St. Joseph's Hospital, feel free to give him a call or stop by.

Thanks for all of your prayers.

God Bless,
Daniel Hoover
NorthStar Church
Worship Pastor

:)

he who says prayers, let him pray

background info: mike mcclung is an awesome guy who led a Bible study that i went to several years ago. my dad just forwarded this email to me:

Hello Everybody,
I wanted to drop everyone a quick note and let you know about Mike McClung. Mike was playing golf yesterday and started to get dizzy and lose his balance. He had not felt well over the weekend and knew his neck felt like it had a "crick" in it. Due to that and losing his balance while out at the golf tourney - he had a friend take him to an urgent care to get him checked out. The urgent care then sent Mike on to St. Joseph's where they determined that Mike had a mini-stroke due to an artery in his neck. They feel like he will make a full recovery but he is currently in ICU at St. Joe's until they feel good about moving him out. He is on some blood thinner and just does not have a lot of energy right now. Please pray for Mike and Heidi during this time and if you are down that way - drop by and let them know you are praying for them! I visited him today and he was in pretty good spirits. I will keep you updated as info comes in!
--
God Bless!

Daniel Hoover
NorthStar Church
www.northstarchurch.org
daniel@northstarchurch.org

as the subject of this entry says, prayers would be appreciated. thanks much.

in cold skies

i picked up winged migration and infamous at blockbuster last night. i watched winged migration with peter, katie, and kristina. you guys, it is absolutely incredible. by far my favorite documentary now. incredible cinematography. we were scratching our heads trying to figure out how they got some of those shots. the birds it shows are beautiful; God's masterful workmanship really shines through how perfectly aerodynamic their bodies are, how skillfully they get their food, and how interestingly they interact with each other and their surroundings.

at melissa's request, after i watch infamous, i will update again with my thoughts and a comparison between it and capote.

no news is what?

"no news is good news."

i have a problem with that idea. it dismisses the validity of gratitude and celebration. the expectation that things are supposed to be good, and only noteworthy if things go wrong, is a tragic -- and sometimes dangerous -- state of mind.

tragic: when parents dont praise their kids for doing something right, but only berate them when they do something wrong.

dangerous: the mainstream media. destruction and failure makes a good news story. success and accomplishment is boring. controversy for the sake of controversy. it stops being merely annoying and becomes dangerous when they deliberately influence public opinion on major situations (wars, etc.) by only showing the downsides and ignoring the good that is being accomplished and what is at stake if things go one way or the other.

all news should be presented, be it good or bad. "no news" is not an option.

again with the scapegoat

"gotta blame him. gotta blame her. gotta blame this. gotta blame that. dont blame me."

that's all i hear when i hear about fast food politics and trans fat news stories. the same people who rally behind so-called documentaries like super size me are the same people who protest the banning of trans fats in restaurants. am i the only one who sees the contradiction there?

"it's mcdonald's fault that i'm fat. they shouldn't be so careless with how unhealthy they make their food. why is the government telling restaurants that they cant put trans fats in their food? we should be able to eat what we want."

i made a post on my livejournal a while back about a story about some folks who blamed the federal government for holding them down socially and financially, then refused to take advantage of federally-provided free transportation to a job fair. it's the same mentality.