Christspeak, Rx

I'm always reading 2-3 books, but great ones are hard to come by. Any suggestions? Please

A must read is a book you can't put down and will read again.
Here's a just a few of my MUSTREADS.

For sports fans and the business minded: Moneyball, by Michael Lewis. Its truly ingenious- Lewis is one of the best writers around.

For WWII history: Band of Brothers, Stephen Ambrose

Best Mystery I read - (though I don't re-read mysteries): Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

Most Entertaining: Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry, Bonfire of Vanities, by Wolfe, Lords of Discipline/Prince of Tides/Great Santini by Conroy, Gold Coast by DeMille, Pillars of the Earth by Follett

Best Thriller: Red Dragon/Silence of the Lambs by Harris, Absolute Power by Baldacci, Eye of the Needle by Follett

A drunken, billigerent Mel Gibson makes anti-semetic slurs. The left side of the blogosphere- and presumambly their puppet masters are gleeful. Why? Gibson is only one of the legion of famous people who foul up.

They are gleeful over Gibson's demise because he made a historically accurate movie about the death of Jesus. Roger Ebert wrote about the movie:
"I prefer to evaluate a film on the basis of what it intends to do, not on what I think it should have done. It is clear that Mel Gibson wanted to make graphic and inescapable the price that Jesus paid (as Christians believe) when he died for our sins. Anyone raised as a Catholic will be familiar with the stops along the way; the screenplay is inspired not so much by the Gospels as by the 14 Stations of the Cross. As an altar boy, serving during the Stations on Friday nights in Lent, I was encouraged to meditate on Christ's suffering, and I remember the chants as the priest led the way from one station to another:
At the Cross, her station keeping ...Stood the mournful Mother weeping ...Close to Jesus to the last."

The film was not political. It is distinctly Christian and continues to be an overwhelming success. I really believe that is why Gibson's fall is important to liberals. They don't hate Gibson, they are thankful he said what he did. No, I believe their misguided happiness over Gibson's demise is a transferrance issue. They really resent Christianity.

The man who made a great film about Christ is revealed as a sinner! The immense suffering of Christ was as violent, painful and sickening as Gibson portrayed it to be in The Passion of the Christ. Christ suffered a revolting death because Gibson's (and our) sins are revolting.

...The LGBBC (Liberal Greensboro Blogging Buddy Club) have followed the lead of their puppet masters and have spent years chasing shadows. You could say I am taunting, but really this is a post about being open minded. I 've been accused of being narrow minded, but looking over the past 2 years, I've seen an undeniable pattern of the liberal bloggers jumping to conclusions, rushing to judgemment... all symptoms of close minded writing.

• remember Matt Gross' wife being so giddy about Cheney's indictment she couldn't sleep?
  
• What about all the glee from just about everyone here over the certain indictment of Rove?
• Or all the false and bold charges of Bush lying about WMDs? ( and the stunning silence now)
  
• remember all the shameful, false posts about Katrina?
  
• They call for Ann Coulter to be censured for her ugly form of satire, but they don't mind when Wonkette (Slutty Jenna Bush/Jenna drinks Jew blood) gets uglier.
• Constant glee and rush to judgement when a conservative or a Christian public figure says a curse word, gets a DUI or stumbles in any way.
  

Tolerance. It must be in limited supply on the left side of the Greensboro blogosphere. It's a word the LGBBC embraces. And for folks who are clearly so tolerant of their own mistakes, false charges and cruel insults, they run out of any tolerance with local and national conservatives.

Patience. It breeds tolerance. When Katrina hit, most conservative bloggers urged everyone to not rush to judgement. Same with WMDs, political indictments, etcetera.

Hypocricy. The most popular and misused term in the blogosphere. It is popular to label a person hypocritical who writes or makes a public statement encouraging his audience to, for instance, tell the truth, only to be caught lying. That is a very shallow view of hypocricy, because it encompasses all of us. (Rush is a hypocrite for condemning drug abuse and getting hooked on pain killers). Here's the real definition- "The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness." (see Dictionary.com) It goes way beyond making a mistake.

Narrow-minded. I have never seen the term used as anything else but a insulting put off. If you have the gall to call someone narrow-minded, explain why or how it is so. Otherwise you are just being a coward.

The fact is anyone brave enough to blog deserves our respect for putting their opinions on the line. They may not always be right, or tasteful, or funny, or smart, or write well, but they are sharing a part of themselves. I not only respect it, I admire it.

I vote Sue, but she's not evil. I really disagree with the term, but Sue and others love it- so lets turn a mirror on them.

What do you call it when someone consistantly describes people's views they disagree with as 'hate speech?' Without looking anything up, I can think of words and terms like ignorant, manipulative, impatient, close-minded, diversionary, sarcastic, slanderous, censorship, negative, condescending, biased, degrading, arrogant, presumptive... annoying.

Sue and many of the LGBBC absolutely writhe over people like Coulter and Robinson. They should take after Chris Matthews, who actually reads what he disagrees with. Thanks to Sue, I read the Matthews interview with Coulter. Outstanding, funny, yet too dark for my taste.

Why is it local liberals seek to censure conservative writers? Sue and Media Matters grossly mislead us about the tone and what was said in the Matthews interview. Why would they do that? Surely they understand Coulter uses the same dark wit Wonkette, Sue and Media Matters employ.
Are they dimwitted? Hardly.
Childish? Absolutely. They just don't like it when the same harsh tactics they love to prod opponents with are used on them.

I don't read the Rhino or Yes anymore, but if Yes pulls Coulter because of a few whining bullies who have to read publications just to have their opinions validated, it deserves to go the way of Air America.

I grew up here in Greensboro. Somewhere in the early 1970's I remember Dad having his Green Valley tennis buddy, Howard Coble, to dinner. I remember because they had a grand time tryin to explain to my sisters and me why he was a batchelor. Howard, much like Jim Melvin, is one of the more popular local figures in Greensboro over thepast 40years. There are few longtime Greensboro residents who don't have some memory of meeting Howard at some point in their history.

Who in Guilford County knows Brad Miller? A few lefty bloggers, campaign workers, local media... anyone else? No, I'm not stumping for Vernon- not many know him either. My point is, why are we not producing homegrown talent?

How about John Kornegay, Joe Guarino or Keith Holliday replacing Vernon and Randy Kaplan or Art Winstead or Anthony Jones replacing Miller? Why not send more folks like Horace Kornegay, Robin Britt, Richardson Pryor and Howard Coble?

hattip: Michelle Malkin

Can it be done? I suppose it depends on who you are looking at.

Lex has little respect for Jerry Falwell, which is understandable if you read Lex-or listen more than a little to Falwell. But in a comment he wrote, Lex said of Falwell, "He makes America look bad AND Christianity look bad, all in one rotund, loathsome, self-regarding package."

If we say that a person makes Christianity look bad, we are also saying he makes Christ look bad, because Christ can never be separated from Christianity. This is important, because rest assured, Jerry Falwell is a chosen disciple of Christ. My question to anyone who would say a person makes Christianity look bad is, "Why would Christ choose any person who was bound to misrepresent, embarrass, or rebel against Him as His disciple?"

The problem, and I say this with great respect for his writing ability and logic, is Lex's ignorance of what Christianity is and what Christ actually did for us.

This brings me back to why Christ would choose a man like Falwell. It is certain that anyone who looks very long at any Christian will get the wrong idea about Christ and Christianity. So why are you looking at Falwell, or me, or anyone else? I've heard and read enough of Falwell to know he very clearly points people to Christ above all things. I encourage us all- look to Christ for any true fulfillment.

Saying that 'so and so' makes Christianity look bad is the same thing as saying you don't. I have done it before. The truth is God will not be mocked. We are all rebellious- all of us.

Stupid is as stupid does. Jed Babbin explains: "The U.N.'s years-long record on the Israel-Lebanon border makes mockery of the term "peacekeeping." On page 155 of my book, "Inside the Asylum," is a picture of a U.N. outpost on that border. The U.N. flag and the Hezbollah flag fly side by side. Observers told me the U.N. and Hezbollah personnel share water and telephones, and that the U.N. presence serves as a shield against Israeli strikes against the terrorists." Giant hattip to Michelle Malkin. 'HEZBOLLAH AND THE U.N.' from Michelle Malkin.

Matt inspired me to get a counter for this blog- since blogger doent's have one. Christspeak on MS Spaces had a counter, but I never took the time to understand what the numbers actually represented.

This blog on MS Spaces had alot of traffic- according to their counter system- as many as 1000 hits per day when I entered 2-3 articles. Last year it recorded just under 80,000 hits. This counter, from statcounter.com, is much simpler and makes the statistics much easier to understand... I think!

Israel's purging of Hezbullah and America's extermination of Al Qaeda are providing the only hope of peace to the Muslim nations. How? They are exposing and destroying the evil of Islamic Fascism, something the majority of Muslims, the UN, and even the Democratic Party has managed to ignore.

We are fighting an evil every bit as dangerous and deadly as Nazi Germany. Negotiating with terrorists and tyrants only serves to prolong suffering of millions of innocent people. It does not breed peace, but rather it promotes the intentional ignorance of genocide. Israel and the US coalition are on the right side. God bless them.

Here's an interesting sob story about illegal aliens being flown home- on our dime.

HELEN THOMAS: The United States is not that helpless. It could have stopped the bombardment of Lebanon. We have that much control with the Israelis.
TONY SNOW: I don't think so, Helen.
HELEN THOMAS: We have gone for collective punishment against all of Lebanon and Palestine.
TONY SNOW: What’s interesting, Helen --
HELEN THOMAS: And this is what’s happening, and that’s the perception of the United States.
TONY SNOW: Well, thank you for the Hezbollah view, but I would encourage you --
HELEN THOMAS: Nobody is accepting your explanation. What is restraint? You call for restraint.
TONY SNOW: Well, I’ll tell you, what’s interesting, Helen, is people have. The G8 was completely united on this. And as you know, when it comes to issues of --
HELEN THOMAS: And we stopped a ceasefire. Why?
TONY SNOW: We didn't stop a ceasefire. Let me just tell you -- I’ll tell you what.
HELEN THOMAS: We vetoed --
TONY SNOW: We didn't even veto. Please get your facts right. What happened was that the G8 countries made a pretty clear determination that the guilty party here was Hezbollah. You cannot have a ceasefire when you've got the leader of Hezbollah going on his television saying that he perceives total war -- he's declaring total war. When they are firing rockets indiscriminately --
HELEN THOMAS: We had the United Nations --
TONY SNOW: Please let me finish. I know this is great entertainment, but I want to finish the answer. The point here is, they're firing rockets indiscriminately into civilian areas. The Israelis are responding as they see fit. You will note the countries that disagree with the --
HELEN THOMAS: -- bombardment of a whole country --
TONY SNOW: -- that disagree with the government of Israel in terms of its general approach on Palestine, many of our European allies agree that Israel has the right to defend itself, that the government of Lebanon has the right to control all its territory, that Hezbollah is responsible, and that those who support it also bear responsibility. There is no daylight between the United States and

Heather MacDonald writes: "The myth of the redemptive Hispanic is finally cracking." Read here.

"He said, The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they'll never miss, she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford -- she gave her all." Luke 21:3-4 Message
How much of all are you willing to give or receive today?
You are worth it all. The Final Solution, One has changed your life forever from a complex lie to the "plain truth". Everything you do ... Everywhere you go ... Everytime you give the ALL of your life ... you are sharing the story that your life is summed up in Jesus. He is the "once and for all" sacrifice that turns your life into something extravagant. Will you trust him today? Can you really believe that your life ... yes ... your life can be turned into an "offering" that is poured out in the world you live in. All of your relationships are defined by the plain truth of his sacrifice. You can give your all today and it will count because of Jesus. You can receive His all into your life today and it will change you forever. It only takes a moment to receive Jesus all in your life. After that, your all is turned into His all in the lives around you. It will be extravagant ...
"But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all, summing up all the other sacrifices in this sacrifice of himself, the final solution of sin." Hebrews 9:26 Message
In His Grip is sent M-F to Extravagant Followers of Jesus and Once-For-All friends of Priority One (www.priorityone.org)

... Check out this remarkable speach from a Republican Senator. Here's an excerpt:

Our only choices – choices imposed on us, not chosen by us – were either winning or losing, because there was no way out.

We are in the same kind of conflict today. Some say we are fighting a War on Terror. That is like saying World War II was a war on blitzkrieg. Terror like blitzkrieg is a tactic used by our enemy, not the enemy itself.
In World War II we fought Naziism and Japanese imperialism. Today, we are fighting against Islamic fascists. They attacked us on September 11th because we are the greatest obstacle to their openly declared mission of subjecting the entire world to their fanatical rule.

I believe that the threat of Islamic fascism is just as menacing as the threat from Nazism and Soviet Communism. Now, as then, we face fanatics who will stop at nothing to dominate us. Now, as then, there is no way out; we will either win or lose.

Too many people talk about this war as if it were simply an attempt to create fledgling democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Iraq and Afghanistan are battlefields in a much broader war, which now includes every continent except Antarctica.

Ask the Indians, the Thais, the Egyptians or the Argentines. Ask the Australians, the Indonesians, the British or the Spaniards. All have seen Islamic fascists at work, and have mourned their innocent victims.

...by Laura Ingraham. Hattip: Expose The Left

Laura: Is it too little too late from Condoleeza Rice, is that what you’re saying?

Juan: I think it’s too little, and I think it’s evidence of passivity. I mean it’s just weak, you know, people are throwing bombs over there, people are dying. I mean the pictures are just sadness. Lebanon is just being torn to shreds, and the U.S., somehow …

Laura: …and why is it being torn to shreds?

Juan: It’s being torn to shreds because of Israeli bombs at this moment, and because the terrorists, Hezbollah, started this.

Laura: So, are you blaming Israel for this? This whole situation in the Middle East? I don’t think even the Arab League is even doing that.

Juan: I’m not blaming them; I don’t know why you would say that. What I am saying is that the United States, as the world’s Super Power, has a responsibility here not to simply stand by, you know, as if it’s some Super Power that’s distracted, maybe pre-occupied. Instead, get involved and start saving lives.

Laura: Here’s my question to you: If Hezbollah’s strength is seriously degraded, is that good for America and our security interests, or bad for America and our security interests?

Juan: It’s TERIFFIC for American security interests.

Laura: So, why on earth, Juan, would we tell Israel to stop, cease fire, because a cease-fire applies to whom? It really applies to Israel. It doesn’t apply to Hezbollah, they’re not listening to anybody.

Juan: What is going on in your head? Where are you? Have you noticed lately how many people who are dying? Both on the Israeli and the Lebanese sides.

Laura: War is hell, Juan… war is hell.

Juan: War is hell? Well let me tell you something. If it is your family, if it’s someone you cared about, if you were…

Laura: Israel is unified behind their response, Juan. Did you see what Israel’s people are saying? They have never been as united as they’ve been now since the Yom Kippur war.

"Laura tries to cool things down, and wants to know what Juan would do if he were a decision-maker; specifically, what would he do if he were an advisor to President Bush?"

Laura: Juan Williams advising President Bush – go:

Juan: Immediately begin diplomatic efforts… start talking… start…

Laura: What does that mean?

Juan: …start talking to the Arab states about them getting involved in Lebanon, and having them put the blanket on Hezbollah.

Did he just say that?

Laura: It’s called the U.N. temporary peace-keeping force that has been there and done nothing. I mean, is the U.N. a savior here? Has the U.N. done anything?

Juan: No, the U.N. hasn’t been able to do it. The Lebanese army is too weak to do it.

Laura: So, Egypt is going to do it for us?

Juan: No, well, you know what, you can have a group…

Laura: Israel is the only place, the only country that can clean this out, Juan. Who else is going to clean out Hezbollah?

Juan: You know what Israel can do? Israel can do exactly what you’re seeing being done; bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb. It’s not going to get rid of Hezbollah; it’s just going to, in fact, create more terrorists and possibly even reverberate here in this country by creating more terrorists who would come here to roost here in the U.S.!

Watch the classroom here.

Kudos to Nancy at the Front Pew for bringing this Rabbi to my attention. He has an advise column- and a woman who has been married for 7 years just learned her husband is gay.

He writes: "I told her to tell him that it made no difference if he was straight or gay, because he had children and when he got married he took an oath before G-d to remain faithful. She had to demand his faithfulness. And as long as he could guarantee his faithfulness, then she should remain with him. My point to her was that where our sexual predilections lead us is not the issue, so long as we can bring them under control. "

So according to the Rabbi, our faithfullness to our mate and to God are more important than our sexuality. Here's how he describes it:

"I assume you’re asking what you should do because you love him and wonder what's to become of your marriage. I say, the marriage should continue and he should remain completely faithful. He will just have to battle his urges toward men just as he would have to battle his urges toward other women if he were a heterosexual male. The fact is, human sexuality is pretty malleable, and we can direct ourselves to be attracted to the target of our choice. There is instinctual attraction and then there is habituated attraction. Let your husband work on becoming habitually attracted to you and channeling his attraction towards you. "

Most Famous Pothead Ever?

Oh yeah...

Terry Gross on Fresh Air today interviewed a Lebanese chick and refused on numerous occassions to call Hezbullah terrorists. She asked her guest twice about "those people's" goal of destroying Israel, but didn't seem to mind that her questions were not answered.

Gross, a U Tenn grad, spoke at my son's graduation. It didn't make her look smart or respectful, rather she came across weak and silly-much like a cowering puppy. She's not alone.

Annan wants to talk with the terrorists. Cowardly Spain- who broke the minute terrorists blew up a train station.

“The great masquerade of evil has played havoc with all our ethical concepts. For evil to appear as light, charity, historical necessity, or social justice is quite bewildering to anyone brought up on our traditional ethical concepts, while for the Christian who bases his life on the Bible it merely confirms the fundamental wickedness of evil.

Who stands fast? Only the man who’s final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God- the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God. Where are these responsible people?” from Letters & Papers From Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Johan Santana and Saints beat Herd, 1-0
Boondock Saints 1, Nerd Herd 0
Game 46
Herd............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 1
Saints.......... 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 8 0

Win:Santana(7-4) Loss:Mulder(5-4) Save:Villone(1st)

At Busch Stadium, the Boondock faithful were treated to an intriguing
pitcher's duel. Johan Santana(7-4) finally bested his Nerd counterpart, Mark
Mulder(5-4), by the score of 1 to 0.

Santana was in control of the game from the outset. He surrendered only 4
hits and 3 walks in 7 and 2/3 innings seeing his ERA drop from 4.16 to 3.83.
Overall Boondock out-hit Nerd 8 to 4.

Ron Villone earned the save, his 1st. Mulder was the loser. He gave up 6
hits and 3 walks in 6 and 2/3 innings.

The Saints are 26-22, tied for 1st place in the West.

Yesderday I took my schizophrenic, poet pal (I'll call him Pee)to K&W and the Grasshoppers' day game. Pee paid for lunch, he made me promise to take him to a Wake football game in return for lunch. (He's really a Tarheel fan, but his schizophrenia took hold when he was a freshman at Chapel Hill. "I don't think the Lord wants me to go back to Chapel Hill," he said, "that's where my illness started."

This time we went to the left line and yes- the roast beef lady saw Pee and said, "Praise the Lord." Pee didn't need prayer, but he told me at lunch that that lady has a real prayer ministry. "If you ever need someone to pray with, she (roast beef slicer, left side) is the one to go to. She's a real blessing."

Pee has a bad foot and can't drive, so getting away from the retirement home was really good for him. He said during the game that this was the most relaxed he'd been in a long while. We sat behind the parents of 2cd baseman Gary Roche. They are from Venezuela, "no speak English", but we danced and cheered Gary on anyway.

Pee asked me if I thought he'd ever be cured. Then he asked, "If I was healed- say over 20 years ago- what do you think I'd have done professionally." I didn't hesitate, "you'd be writer, maybe a reporter to make a buck, but you'd write." Pee feels he would be a clinical physcologist, but I think it is because he knows so much about mental illness.

On the way home Pee asked me stop by an old friend's home in Irving Park. We did. The man had a small, thin, leather-bound book of poetry by Pee. (Pee has promised to let me borrow his book so I can read and share his poetry, but he wanted to first offer it to the library at his retirement home.) So on the way home, I asked him to read a few selections.

His hands slowly shook as he held the little red book, but he managed to read well anyway. He read a poem about basketball, Elvis, the greatest poem and my favorite, a poem about schizophrenia. We didn't have enough time, but in that poem he wrote about how he knows people view him in reality and how he prefers his own make believe world to that reality. Amazing stuff.

What a blessed day!

So says the Hogg. I think I know what he means, but there is alot of black and white in his world too... the law gravity for example. I believe that Christ is absolutely God and that He is regardless of one''s belief in Him so there' another, (though Hogg may disagree). Another absolute would be the law of right and wrong.

I've mentioned it before, CS Lewis writes about it in detail, it is prevelant in every human culture. Lewis calls one of the keys to understanding the universe. Anyway, unlike the law of gravity, we have a choice of whether to do the right thing or not. Herein lies the gray area I think Mr. Hoggard is talking about. Perhaps its something like this...

Theoretically, I can say abortion is wrong because a baby's life is destroyed. That is a fact- let's say it is black. But is it wrong for a mother to abort her child? Ah, someone's dripping white paint into the black bucket. Even if we believe it is wrong for the mother to abort the child, we must consider her mental, emotional and physical health. Now a stream of white is pouring into the black. What about her economical state? Marital situation? Family? Now there is no semblance of black or white, only a degree of gray.

In reality, there must be right and wrong. Regardless of the reason, we choose to do one or the other every day. It really doesn't matter how many people agree that right should be wrong or vice versa, they are what they are. So the question for a nation becomes, what is essential for us agree on in a civilized society?

Back to the paint analogy- if black paint represents truth, then white paint represents human compassion, rather than evil. A common mistake we make in politics is to presume one side is more compassionate than the other. We should be more concerned that our lawmakers are devoted to creating laws that uphold what is right.

But far more important than politics is the source of the law of right and wrong. The source is the only reliable judge of right and wrong. It is found in Christ, the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. And here is the good news... Christ's compassion far exceeds the most loving human's. He is the God of truth, mercy, justice, grace, righteousness.

There has been alot of stupid and Chicken Little rhetoric from Matt and Stench about Republicans and Gays. Lets get a few things straight.

Does anybody know what causes a person to desire gay sex? There is a big lie that I've heard Matt, Stench and hundreds of others repeat as if it is absolute fact- and that is a person is born one way or the other... they have no choice about their sexuality. The real answer is there are many reasons and they are as numerous and diverse as our population. Some theorize most homosexual men were sexually and emotionally abused as children and this robbed them of their masculinity- so they seek fullfilment in men. Some feel it may be partly genetic. So far, all attempts to find a Biological link to homosexuality have been inconclusive at best.

So why do Matt, Ed, Sue, Stench and others insist the argument is settled, without citing credible sources? Why do they use words like bigotry, hate, ignorance and prejudice-instead of presenting research and common sense in their argument? They do it because they are arrogant enough to believe they are right and virtually all religions, history, traditions are wrong. They argue that way because they are foolish enough to think because the majority of Greensboro bloggers agree with their views and politics, the majority of the country agrees with them as well. Most of all, they argue that way because they have no respect for people who disagree with them.

Stench, a self proclaimed idiot, actually thinks its horrible that a man of science, Joe Guarino, disagrees with him about homosexuality. Guess what- that's Stench's only argument! What is Matt's defense? He's against bigotry and hatred. So am I, but Matt conflates belief in scripture condemning gay sex as bigotry and hate. Sorry Matt, but that is a perversion of the truth.

These fellows argue that their take on sex is moral. Oh really? What do they base that on? Selective scriptures? Their own sense of justice? They and others have showed alot of ignorance reciting scripture- even when they refute its authority- to seemingly contradict or misdirect the Christian position. I suspect they don't want to know what the Bible says anyway.

The Republican's stance on homosexuality, despite the party's motivation, will be a major reason the GOP will win elections. Most Christians and Americans believe homosexuality is wrong- and that is a smart reason for a political party to say no to Gay rights.

I am in a manic phase- I'm pumped and I just have to share it with my liberal blogging buddies in Greensboro. Just finished listening to the soundtrack of Open Spaces, one of the all time best Westerns and an inspiring soundtrack to boot.

If any of you are interested, I'm offering $75 off the $300 retail price on a pair of the Kef Q1 Bookshelf Speakers.

Kef is a high end line famous for accuracy and perfect for jazz & classical lovers. Why- do you ask- are they perfect for those two genres of music? Jazz and classical songs are played without amplification an therefore the most difficult genres for loudspeakers to reproduce. Someone who listens to this music is more likely to notice irregularities in tonal quality from the different instruments.

Conservatives, since you are naturally more successful and appreciate quality, you may purchase the Q1's for $275.00.

I have a dear friend- a remarkable man- who has suffered severe mental illness since childhood, (he is now 62 or 63). He's a published poet, managed to get a degree at UNCG over many years- not a small accomplishment for a person with schizophrenia, paranioia and manic mental illness. I can't share his name, because of his paranoia about the net- but if anyone reading this would like to meet him, your life will never be the same.

My wife tells me that people like my pal become fixated over condemnation. In all the years I've known him, he has 3 major concerns or fears. Fear he will be sent to Butner, (or permanently institutionalized). Fear his extended family will gain control of the trust funds his Dad set up for him- and send him to Butner. (They've actually attempted this- and caused him great harm by playing on his anxiety.) And most important to him, his salvation.

He has to be constantly reassured about his faith. He'll ask me things like, "As we're talking now, do you feel the Holy Spirit talking to you about me? What do you fell Him saying?" or "I've been angry at God and I fear for my salvation, do you think I'm forgiven?" Once he said, "I've blasphemed against the Holy Spirit this morning, I've asked God to forgive me- do you feel like He will?- My response is always the same- You are going to be heaven one day. Pal- your salvation is sealed in Christ! You and I cannot change God and He has chosen us both!

Recently we had lunch at his favorite haunt- K&W at Friendly Center. He used to live within walking distance, but moved near me on North Elm last year. I directed him to right line- and as soon as we turned the corner to be served- a chorous of cheerful hellos greeted him. They all knew his name- even though it had been a year since he'd last visited. They were all so pleased he had chosen their side- they knew he preferred the left line! Word got to the left line he was there and he was quickly summoned. At 12:00pm the 'roast beef slicer on the left stopped the line while she prayed with my friend!

Here is one sick man, often lonely, always afraid, but whom God has chosen as His vessel to bless the lives of all the people he meets just by being himself.

Only one. Its not to be happy- or for good health, you may suffer greatly. It has nothing to do with wealth or stature, you may well end up poor and despised.

There is only one reason to become a Christian, and that is because it is the truth.

...A paraphrase of joel's sermon today.

A new blog with questions launches today. They ask questions, readers answer. Today's question? "Why do wives and girlfriends love picnics?"

The second picture is the new endzone section.

Remember Rolando Rudolpho - the person my family sponsored from the Phillipines. We sent him monies for art classes, among other things. I received this and several other photos of his oils. The last pic is my sister Ann's work- Rolando refers to her below. Rolando's "Adam & Eve, Send In The Clown, Landscape, Masquerade & Birds... followed by Ann's painting.

Sue and others love to cry "Hate," instead of writing a thoughtful dissent when someone disagrees with them. Forget about Kindley. Look at the local bloggers- and their commentors and see where the hate really lies. Who gets angry when people disagree with them? This wonderful community of bloggers say things they would not dare say to someone's face.

A couple of months ago a Dave Allen of thoughtcrimes.org jumped in on Fec's site (Fec hates MSN where my site used to be and so he used his own site to write a belittling, personal slam post- without ever presenting an argument) and said a bunch of really bad things about me. I reacted in kind- calling the guy a p___y for being so cowardly. Now I apologized immediately, but I promise you this- I would have said it to the guys face. It is juvinile and trollish to insult folks in writing you really don't know, simply because you disagree with them. It is cowardly to belittle people in lieu of debating with them.

I understand an occasional low blow in the heat of debate, but the personal attacks make all of us look bad.

I think that most of the mainline churches have a healthy and loving attitude towards homosexuals, but that is not what is meant by being anti-gay. Anti-gay seems to include those Christian churches and believers who believe gay sex is sinful, are against gay marraige, gay ordination, etc.

Christ hates sin and loves the sinner. The Bible has alot to say about sexuality and other desires of the flesh. It isn't just a couple of passages and what the Bible says remains relevant today- epecially in our culture. (I don't like to quote scripture- in the hope readers will be inspired to explore it for themselves.)

Somewhere in recent history, the importance of an individual's sexual activity has been elevated to an essential part of his humanity. Mentioning the word abstinance creates a wave of indignation. Its a shame, because Christ makes it clear that He has come to give us abundant life. Yet there are those who reject His promise for a moments pleasure.

Marcus' stance against the normalization of homosexuality is infuriating the liberal Greensboro bloggers. Look at Sue's place. Sue is so sure everyone agrees with her, she makes no attempt to argue, but has the nerve to accuse Marcus of hate speech... and later to call him a coward!

She is also certain that Marcus' statement embarasses Guilford County. From her comments:
"My point: Marcus Kindley’s post portrayed pedophelia as equivalent to homosexuality and that is (a) wrong and (b) a stupid thing for a county party chair to post. It makes Greensboro and Guilford County look bad and if you checked the stats, you’d find the area score HIGH on “tolerance,” one of Richard Florida’s four Ts, and we have a thriving LGBT community that helps us be interesting to companies who are searching for diverse, talented, and creative communities in which to expand or locate their businesses."

Tolerance to the left doesn't mean people tolerate folks that are gay. That is not near what they mean. It means agreeing with them about the morality of homosexuality. I am confident most people in the city, county, state and country are tolerant of gays in our communities- but it doesn't mean we regard their sexual conduct as natural.

Today I listened to Edmund White, a famous Gay writer, on Fresh Air. He has an autobiograpghy about his life. He talked about lusting over older men as a 14 year old and his seeking professional counselling at the time to change his sexuality. How did he know he was gay? He lusted after men.

There it is. According to White and many enlightened, educated people, our sexuality is defined by our desire. And according to White and others, a person is not being true to himself unless they obey their sexual desires. So why is it wrong to compare or conflate gay sex with pedophilia? Or beastiality? If there is not any other method of determining one's sexuality, then a man who desires sex with a dog or a child has no more choice of his sexuality than a gay person does. Fortunately, most civilized countries condemn pedophilia and - at the very least-look down on beastiality.

As humans, we are born with a sense of right and wrong. It means we have a choice about whether we obey our desires or not. CS Lewis puts it this way:
"Now this Law or Rule about Right and Wrong used to be called the Law of Nature. Nowadays, when we talk of the 'laws of nature' we usually mean things like gravitation, or heredity, or the laws of chemistry. But when the older thinkers called the Law of Right and Wrong 'the Law of Nature,'they really meant the Law of Human Nature. The idea was that, just as all bodies are governed by the law of gravitation, and organisms by biological laws, so the creature called man also had this law - with this great difference, that a body could not choose whether it obeyed the law of gravitation or not, but a man could choose either to obey the Law of Human Nature or to disobey it."

So a man or woman may have all sorts of physical desires, but he or she is never without a choice whether to or not to act on that desire. The question becomes, what is right and what is wrong?

The New Testament tells us that believers in Christ must put to death the desires of the flesh- and replace them with the Spirit of Christ. The Bible is clear about any sex outside the bounds of marraige, including gay sex, beastiality, pedophilia and other sexual preferences. It is all sinful. (Sin is defined here as rebellion against God.)

While I'm here, I think it is important to point out that sex is a much smaller part of our life than our culture suggests. Sex is awesome, powerful, mysterious and more. But anybody who suggest it is essential is lying.

So what does a young man who believes in Christ do if he desires sex with another man? There are many in the world who will tell him to be true to his desire. They even say Christians who believe gay sex is sinful actually hate gays. (The Bible says God hates sin, but loves the sinner.) The Bible tells the Christian gay man (and woman) the same thing it says to all believers-to deny his desire and seek to be fullfilled by Christ.

To my brothers and sisters in Christ who desire gay sex, or any sex outside the bounds of marraige, I urge you to deny those desires. You are not alone. All of us struggle with sin- and we need each other to fight against the sin within us.

Via Drudge, " BOB NOVAK, My Leak Case Testimony: 'I learned Valerie Plame's name from Joe Wilson's entry in 'Who's Who in America'"

...at least the editors must demand it. I listened to a CD review on NPR and it struck me- I don't know what in the hell this guy is talking about. Then I thought, maybe its universal. I mean- in my own field, the audio-video industry- I rarely read a review that matters. And of course their are those movie reviews that always remind the most avid fan of how little they really know about film.

Note: I highlighted excerpts of the "too smart reviewers" in Harvard 'Crimson'

Take the review of Tom Verlaine's CD from Ken Tucker on today's Fresh Air, (click to listen). "...he sang in a strangled groan and he distended high register notes with a precision that was rare among the primative bashing that characterized most punk..." or "...what distinguished Verlaine's music in the 70's from bands like Blondie or The Ramones, was his meticulousness..."

Here's an excerpt of a review of Canton Speakers in Sound and Vision,
"But no matter — despite the specs, these speakers aren't really made for full-range sound, and reactivating the subwoofer worked wonders. Bass heft and cleanliness were restored, and the speakers delivered a big, deep, satisfyingly dynamic presentation. For example, Chris Isaak's channeling of Roy Orbison on "Only the Lonely," from The Baja Sessions, reproduced all of the singer's meticulously modulated breathiness and "head tones" with great detail.

Overall tonal balance was quite natural, with just the faintest hint of extra warmth in the lower midrange frequencies (which I'd rate more as euphony than any bothersome coloration). The speakers also had a relaxed mid-treble that wasn't recessed enough to subtract any detail but worked to give them a touch less "air" than I'm used to with my reference speakers."

Let's see if I can help on this one- he mentions full range sound- I know healthy ears hear from a low of 30 hertz to a high of 20,000 hz. So the speakers' range don't cover the full range of our hearing. "Bass heft and cleanliness were restored?" I know alot of cheaper subwoofers can't reproduce lower sound precisely- perhaps he means a degree of precision of realistic bass. The heft might refer to timing?....

The point is that if you want to know if the speakers are worth buying, read the last paragraph.

Let's look at a NY Times review of one of my favorite movies, Tombstone. (written by Steve Holder).

"In this capacious western with many modern touches, the Arizona boom town and site of the legendary O.K. Corral has a seedy, vaudevillian grandeur that makes it a direct forerunner of Las Vegas." and his take on Val Kilmer as Doc- ""Tombstone" goes to great lengths to portray Doc as a prefigurement of a dissolute modern poet, a frontier-era Jim Morrison. In one scene, the character flourishes Latin phrases. In another, he bangs out part of a Chopin nocturne on an out-of-tune piano. Mr. Kilmer, who gave an uncanny impersonation of Morrison in "The Doors," can be terrific at this sort of thing. But in "Tombstone," a performance that aims to chew all the scenery in sight seems slightly mannered."

Or the Times' view of 16 Blocks as written by Mahnola Dargis:

"And so, over the course of a generally tight 105 minutes, Mr. Donner and Mr. Wenk revisit the interracial pairing that has been a staple of action movies since the late 1950's, when Sidney Poitier was chained to Tony Curtis and which, of course, was central to the "Lethal Weapon" series. They also unleash fleets of bad cops, rumpled heavies right out of a Sidney Lumet movie, and stage an enjoyably chaotic chase with a bus that tips "16 Blocks" owes its largest debt to Clint Eastwood's thriller "The Gauntlet." In that film, Mr. Eastwood played the tough cop while his then-lover Sondra Locke played the would-be witness, which, for those familiar with the 1977 feature, gives the pairing of Mr. Willis and Mos Def an odd frisson."

Book Reviews are fun to read. Recently, NPR got my attention with this opening statement about books:

Call them buttonhole books, the ones you urge passionately on friends, colleagues and passersby. All readers have them -- and so do writers. This week, All Things Considered is talking with authors about their favorite buttonhole books. And the series continues all summer long on NPR.org.

First book- "47" by Walter Mosely. The review, written by Stephen Barnes, is a good one. It captures my attention right away and -in this case- makes me want to read the book. But even so, Barnes can't help himself, "47, named after the eponymous slave at the center of the story, is gripping from the opening scene, a first-person narrative of loss, hope, shattered dreams and small victories. The tale becomes both fantastic and allegorical when a mysterious, omniscient runaway shows up at the plantation: Tall John, who carries a yellow carpet bag of healing potions, impossible devices and something even more revolutionary: the belief that there are no masters and no slaves."

Another good reviewer from NPR is Nancy Pearl. Again- a great review, but- well- Tell us how smart you are Nan!
"But again, Brockmeier doesn't mean this metaphorically -- in this intermediate place are ordinary people living their quotidian lives, publishing newspapers, falling in love, regretting the past, anticipating the future. In alternating chapters, we also get the story of Laura Byrd, who's part of a scientific team in the Antarctic. How these two seemingly disparate stories intersect gradually unfolds as the novel progresses. This is the kind of book you'll find yourself thinking about long after you've gone on to other novels. The writing is masterful, the ideas are provocative, and, all in all, this is a stunning achievement." Read an Excerpt: 'The Brief History of the Dead'

and Pearl completely sells me again on another book, but not before letting me know she really is smarter than the rest of us.
"It's compulsively readable, with simply gorgeous (but not overblown or especially lush) prose, and peopled with completely realized characters, both good and bad (and the bad are really, scarily bad). I have to warn you: Don't start the last chapter on what I still quaintly call a school night -- it's especially impossible to put down. Read an Excerpt: 'The Little Friend'

One of my favorite books- I read it when first came out in paperback- is Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris. Here's my kind of review from "Blah Blah Kent" on Amazon.

"Like everything in life, books too have classes, but, unlike us humans, books tend to divide themselves up according quality instead of quantity (money), and a novel like Thomas Harris's brilliant "Red Dragon" sits right there on the top, looking down on us and swooning with its evil, raving madly, because, guess what? You can't reach it. "Red Dragon" is a revolution, the book that has and continues to rip the thriller genre from the inside-out. It's one of the few books out there that will poison your sleep with fear and be worth studying in literature class. "


Nowhere in his review is Blah Blah Kent from Nowhere the least bit pretentious. And he's right when he says the book will "poison your sleep with fear AND be worth studying in literature class." Here's a smidgen of other reviewers :

"Critic Jospeh Amie, writing in theSaturday Review, observed: "The suspense is sustained by deft characterizations, fascinating crime-lab details, and a twisting plot, and understated prose," while Newsweek's Jean Strouse deemed Red Dragon "gruesome, appalling, occasionally formulaic and mechanical," but "guaranteed to terrify and succeed." In the New York Times Book Review Thomas Fleming recommends the book for "those who like their flesh to crawl."

I love reading, movies, music and high end audio-video sound and picture. I love being around smart(er) people and hearing them describe their reation to those things as well. But I'm just as easily put off at the hint of superiority I often pick up in reviews.

A good review makes me want to share the experience or grateful that I won't have to endure a bad one. A bad review makes it clear I will never understand or appreciate the material as much as the reviewer. A great reviewer writes or speaks in a manner we all can identify with- and appreciates what the material he/she reviews represents to its author. To put it another way, a great reviewer is someone I'd love to have a beer with.

Johan Santana (SAI) shuts out Torents, 8-0
Boondock Saints 8, Titusville Torents 0
Game 22
Saints............. 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 3 1 - 8 9 0
Torents......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 2
Win:Santana(3-2) Loss:Morris(0-3)
Homeruns- M.Cabrera(8th), R.Aurilia(2nd)

Johan Santana whitewashed Titusville on 3 hits as the Boondock Saints defeated the Titusville Torents by the score of 8 to 0 at Coors Field. Santana(3-2) simply dominated Titusville. He was stingy on the mound, allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks in 9 innings lowering his ERA from 4.54 to
3.66. Boondock rapped out 9 hits for the afternoon.

Matt Morris(0-3) took the loss. He pitched 5 innings giving up only 3 hits and no walks. 'Santana just dominated us' losing pitcher Morris said. 'Hopefully we can get to him the next time around.'

Saints AB R H RBI AVG Torents AB R H RBI AVG
W.Betemit SS 5 1 2 0 .362 T.Hunter CF 3 0 0 0 .343
B.Abreu RF 4 1 0 1 .160 B-C.Patterson CF 1 0 0 0 .063
M.Cabrera 3B 5 2 2 2 .315 J.Rollins SS 3 0 0 0 .320
T.Clark 1B 5 0 1 1 .183 C.Jones 3B 3 0 0 0 .382
M.Alou LF 3 1 0 0 .265 A.Pujols 1B 4 0 1 0 .410
C.Duffy CF 0 0 0 0 .221 V.Martinez C 4 0 0 0 .299
A-E.Bruntlett PR,CF 3 1 1 0 .400 J.Cantu DH 3 0 1 0 .333
R.Aurilia 2B 3 1 1 3 .224 J.Dye RF 3 0 0 0 .272
B.Hawpe DH 4 0 0 0 .217 C.Lee LF 3 0 0 0 .206
B.Schneider C 4 1 2 0 .290 A.Nunez 2B 3 0 1 0 .333 -- -- -- --- -- -- -- --- Totals 36 8 9 7 Totals 30 0 3 0A-Pinch Ran For Duffy In 2nd InningB-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Hunter In 6th InningINJURY: Chris Duffy INJURED (for 0 more games) in 2nd inningINJURY: Torii Hunter INJURED (for 1 more game) in 5th inningINJURY: Brad Hawpe INJURED (for 2 more games) in 8th inningSaints.......... 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 3 1 - 8 9 0Torents......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 2
Saints IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
J.Santana WIN(3-2) 9 3 0 0 2 6 0 139 3.66
Totals 9 3 0 0 2 6 0
Torents IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
M.Morris LOSS(0-3) 5 3 2 1 0 2 0 68 7.31
J.Sosa 0 2/3 2 2 1 2 1 0 28 8.83
E.Guardado 1 2/3 3 3 3 1 2 1 36 6.88
C.Hammond 1 2/3 1 1 1 0 1 1 16 7.32
Totals 9 9 8 6 3 6 2
ATTENDANCE- 47,201 WEATHER- GoodT- 2:53
LEFT ON BASE- Saints: 5 Torents: 5
DOUBLE PLAYS- Saints: 0 Torents: 1
ERRORS- A.Pujols, J.Dye
DOUBLES- W.Betemit-2(3rd), E.Bruntlett(1st), A.Pujols(7th)
HOME RUNS- M.Cabrera(8th), R.Aurilia(2nd)
WALKS- B.Abreu, M.Alou, R.Aurilia, J.Rollins, C.Jones
HIT BY PITCH- C.Duffy
STRIKE OUTS- W.Betemit, M.Cabrera, T.Clark, E.Bruntlett, R.Aurilia, B.Hawpe, T.Hunter-2, A.Pujols-2, V.Martinez-2
GIDP- M.Cabrera

A really sad and problematic story of a liberal prof here. And Dr. Helen talks about women behaving badly on the net.

an example:
"Some blogger — a psychology professor, no less — has made threatening comments about Jeff Goldstein’s son. Just to take one example:
[…] as I said elsewhere, if I woke up tomorrow and learned that someone else had shot you and your tyke it wouldnt slow me down one iota. You arent human to me.
[…]
So if you could just tell me the AGE and SEX of your tyke, Id be stoked!
Thanx!"

Key To Understanding The Meaning of the Universe
I’m reading Mere Christianity.

CS Lewis wrote that every culture has the same moral laws in common. He labels moral law as one of the keys to understanding the meaning of the universe.

"Now this Law or Rule about Right and Wrong used to be called the Law ofNature. Nowadays, when we talk of the 'laws of nature' we usually meanthings like gravitation, or heredity, or the laws of chemistry. But whenthe older thinkers called the Law of Right and Wrong 'the Law of Nature,'they really meant the Law of Human Nature. The idea was that, just as allbodies are governed by the law of gravitation, and organisms by biologicallaws, so the creature called man also had this law - with this greatdifference, that a body could not choose whether it obeyed the law ofgravitation or not, but a man could choose either to obey the Law of HumanNature or to disobey it."

Two examples (of hundreds), there is no culture that honors theft over work or cowardice over bravery. And since this moral law is common in all culture, it is as certain as the law of gravity. Although with gravity, man has no choice of whether he can obey it-and with moral law man can choose whether or not to obey it.

I conclude then, that though the difference between people's ideas of Decent Behaviour often make you suspect that there is no real natural Law of Behaviour at all, yet the things we are bound to think about these differences really prove just the opposite. But one word before I end. I have met people who exaggerate the differences, because they have not distinguished between difference of morality and differences of belief about facts. For example, one man said to me, 'Three hundred years ago people in England were putting witches to death. Was that what you call the Rule of Human Nature or Right Conduct?' But surely the reason we do not execute witches is that we do not believe there are such things. If we did — if we really thought that there were people going about who had sold themselves to the devil and received supernatural powers from him in return and were using these powers to kill their neighbors or drive them mad or bring bad weather — surely we would all agree that if anyone deserved the death penalty, then these filthy quislings did? There is no difference of moral principle here: the difference is simple about matter of fact. It may be a great advance in knowledge not to believe in witches: there is no moral advance in not executing them when you do not think they are there. You would not call a man humane for ceasing to set mousetraps if he did so because he believes there were no mice in the house.”

So where does moral law come from? Certainly we learn from our parents, but it is not enough to say it is learned if it is true of all of us.

I believe it begins with God. It is one of the reasons I have little trouble believing that God created the world as it is described in Genesis. We learn that everything God created was good. He made man and woman in His image. We gained knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Evil. It may be too simple for some, but it makes perfect sense to me.

After a 4 month layoff, I have started another season based on last season's results. I think the reason this game is so addictive is that it so thoroughly involves numbers/stats in the success of the team. The type of pitching matters (groundball versus strikeout versus flyball), defensive range matters more than errors, injuries matter, onbase and slugging matters, running speed and skill matters.

My team, the Boondock Saints (after one of the great B Movies of all times), has the best rotation in the 12 team league. Santana, Martinez, Randy Johnson & Burnett make up my 4 man rotation- all can pitch after 3 days rest. My bullpen is lacking. Tony Clark, M Cabrerra and Abreu make up the heart of my hitting corps. After a 3-6 start, we are tied for 1st at 12-9.

There are 162 games played- 3 each night. Each team has a $80 million dollar budget. A minimum of 24 players- 10 or 11 pitchers/ 13 or 14 fielders. Some leagues are DH. Each player has a value based on his previous year's actual performance. (Pedro & Santana cost me $8.5 each Cabrerra was $9m, Schneider $1.7m.)

There are several versions- Historical- (Imagine a team with Ruth, Dimaggio, Mays, Ted Williams, Hornsby, Clemente, Steve Carlton, Bob Gibson, etc.) - Back to the 80's ( Gary Carter, Guerrero, Blylevin, Ryan, Ozzie, McGuire, Rose)- Alot of sportswriters and old geeks like me play on the Sporting News site for $25 a pop. If your team sucks- and mine often do- it is still alot of fun- every morning I get box scores like this:

Clark launches 10th HR
Boondock Saints 5, Nerd Herd 2
Game 19
Saints.......... 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 5 8 0
Herd............ 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 7 1
Win:Burnett(2-1) Loss:Lackey(0-1) Save:Baez(5th)
Homeruns- W.Betemit(3rd), T.Clark(10th), T.Glaus(5th)

A.J. Burnett struck out 11 batters as the Boondock Saints defeated the Nerd Herd by the score of 5 to 2 at US Cellular Field.

Burnett(2-1) pitched a fine game. He allowed 7 hits and 3 walks in 8 innings lowering his ERA to 4.30. Boondock had 8 hits for the afternoon. Danys Baez recorded the save, his 5th.

John Lackey(0-1) took the loss. He gave up 4 runs in 2 and 1/3 innings of work.

Burnett was asked about his big strikeout performance, 'Well, it's a little odd when you rack up these numbers on the road - instead of cheers and a running tally in the stands, everything gets real still and quiet. Just strange - but it's nice to be able to take the crowd out of the game.'

Saints AB R H RBI AVG Herd AB R H RBI AVG
W.Betemit SS 4 1 1 1 .357 R.Winn LF 5 0 2 0 .378
B.Abreu RF 4 2 1 0 .188 G.Sizemore CF 4 0 1 0 .295
M.Cabrera 3B 5 1 1 1 .316 M.Teixeira 1B 3 0 1 0 .263
T.Clark 1B 4 1 2 3 .200 G.Jenkins RF 4 0 0 0 .304
M.Alou LF 4 0 1 0 .296 J.Valentin C 4 0 0 0 .203
C.Duffy CF 3 0 1 0 .203 T.Glaus DH 2 1 1 1 .298
B-E.Bruntlett PR,CF 0 0 0 0 .333 B.Mueller 3B 4 0 1 0 .214
R.Aurilia 2B 3 0 1 0 .239 T.Iguchi 2B 3 0 0 0 .324
B.Hawpe DH 4 0 0 0 .267 N.Perez SS 2 1 1 0 .338
B.Schneider C 4 0 0 0 .208 A-A.Blanco PR,SS 0 0 0 0 ----
C-S.Burroughs PH 1 0 0 0 .333
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 35 5 8 5 Totals 32 2 7 1
A-Pinch Ran For Perez In 7th Inning
B-Pinch Ran For Duffy In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Blanco In 9th Inning
INJURY: Neifi Perez INJURED (for 1 more game) in 7th inning
INJURY: Chris Duffy INJURED (for 1 more game) in 8th inning
Saints.......... 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 5 8 0
Herd............ 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 7 1
Saints IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
A.Burnett WIN(2-1) 8 7 2 2 3 11 1 143 4.30
D.Baez SAVE(5th) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 12 2.70
Totals 9 7 2 2 3 12 1
Herd IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
J.Lackey LOSS(0-1) 2 1/3 4 4 3 2 4 2 46 4.91
S.Schoenewei 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 1 0 21 0.00
S.Munter 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 29 1.46
M.Gonzalez 3 2 1 1 1 3 0 44 3.97
Totals 9 8 5 4 3 10 2
ATTENDANCE- 17,294 WEATHER- Bad
T- 2:32
LEFT ON BASE- Saints: 7 Herd: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Saints: 1 Herd: 0
ERRORS- N.Perez
DOUBLES- B.Abreu(5th), B.Mueller(3rd)
HOME RUNS- W.Betemit(3rd), T.Clark(10th), T.Glaus(5th)
CAUGHT STEALING- E.Bruntlett, R.Winn
WALKS- W.Betemit, B.Abreu, R.Aurilia, T.Glaus-2, T.Iguchi
HIT BY PITCH- C.Duffy, M.Teixeira, N.Perez
STRIKE OUTS- B.Abreu-3, M.Cabrera-2, T.Clark, M.Alou, B.Hawpe-2, B.Schneider,
R.Winn-3, G.Sizemore-2, M.Teixeira, G.Jenkins, J.Valentin-2,
T.Glaus, B.Mueller, T.Iguchi
GIDP- G.Sizemore
WILD PITCHES- A.Burnett, M.Gonzalez

I recently posted the following article and 2 well educated bloggers, Sue and Hogg, accused me of hate speech. In both cases, their over-eagerness to correct a conservative and ignorance of the Bible and the early history of the Jews caused them to unfairly criticize and slander my blog.

I say slander, particularly in reference to Sue, because she refused to comment on my site, refused to answer fair questions on her own site and is shrewd enough to know labelling a person as a hater sticks- regardless of the truth. At least Hogg disagreed on my blog- but even he should allow argument.

If a blogger seems grossly unfair, it seems only logical to debate him/her before labelling him/her. But not in Greensboro... not for conservative bloggers.

Who says Jesus is the only way?
Well, Jesus said it. "I am the way, the truth and the life...no one comes to the Father but through me." Recently, some American Episcopal leaders have rejected Christ as the only way- but in truth- many folks have expressed alot of problems with one true religion. I never have been bothered by this. For me, believing in God has always made sense.

"What about someone in Africa or China who have never heard of Christ?" This question and those like it have served as a stumbling block, primarily to our sense of justice or fairness. I don't have the answer. I know God reveals himself through creation, but it does not answer the the justice question.

Why did God choose the Jews to be His chosen people? It hardly seems fair. The history of the Jews' relationship with their Creator is sordid at best. They constantly rebelled, worshipped false gods and flat out rejected God outright. The entire Old Testament reveals a mighty God pursuing a rebellious, conniving and ungrateful people...
(with severe short term memory loss!)
Which brings me to my faith in Christ. I believe God chose the Jews for two reasons:

* He wanted to send Jesus- as a Jew- to create a new covenant.
* The early history of the Jews (from creation in Gen 1 till Revelation, about 86AD) is a shadow- an image of our own character and relationship with God.

We know that Jesus claimed to be God on numerous occassions. This is extremely important to remember. To say Jesus was a wise man, or a prophet is contradicting what He said about Himself. As C.S. Lewis wrote, (my paraphrase), "Jesus was either a liar, lunatic or who he said he was- God."