So, we decided to bite the bullet and add satellite to our household. After installing the dish and getting everything setup, I was channel surfing, and turned by "ABC Family". I remember this as having been "the Family Channel". Once Pat Robertson's domain, it was directed towards family friendly programming. When ABC (owned by Disney) bought this enterprise, it was under the assumption that it would remain so. So, it was to my utter shock to find an "R" rated movie on this "family" oriented...
Another fallen Oklahoma soldier will be buried soon in the Oklahoma Panhandle. And once again, Fred Phelps and his germs will make the trek down to the city of Guymon, Oklahoma to wave their banners of hate at the family of Joshua Pierce, who paid the ultimate price in Iraq. This time, Phelps and his bacteria are likely to get arrested under a new Oklahoma law that forbids protests at funerals. Many other states are working on enacting such laws. The problem I have is, while it makes me fe...
I watched a yahoo! News piece citing a NY Times story that WalMart was enlisting bloggers to fight the blog war. The reason that concerns me is that I have blogged repeatedly in favor of WalMart, and their actions undermine my credibility in endorsing a company I largely believe in. As a result, I will no longer be blogging on Walmart, pro or con, except to respond to other bloggers. Let me be very clear in stating that I have never received a dime from WalMart for promotion of their business...
Last year's film "Good Night and Good Luck" ressurrected the image of Joseph McCarthy, and I have found it interesting that many right wing pundits, in their zeal to attack George Clooney, have gone to great lengths to redeem the image of the tarnished senator. The movie about Edward R. Murrow's efforts to bring down McCarthy is one political movie that was necessary for Hollywood to make. In fact, it was long overdue. Many actors, screenwriters, and other entertainers lost their livelihoods...
Being the baseball fan that I am, I could not allow Kirby Puckett's passing to go unnoticed. I never followed the Twins very closely. Unless they are playing my Mariners or trading with the Mariners, they are largely irrelevant. But I lived for 12 years in the state of Wisconsin, where 4 of my 5 children were born, and where the spectre of the Twins easily overshadows the dismal Brewers (a likely motivation for Selig's ill-fated attempts of a few years ago to wipe the Twins from the map), and...
While politics have always been heated because of conflicts of various sides, our ability to succeed has always been contingent on a minimum level of civility. Sure, many conflicts have been less than civil, but at the end of the day, politicians should make decisions as to the best interests of their constituents. The current flap with President Bush is no exception. Bush won his second term as president in 2004, and his term of office expires in January of 2009. After that, he cannot hold t...
I actually like George Clooney as an actor. Even though I haven't seen the movie "Good Night and Good Luck", I appreciate Clooney's bringing the compelling story to the big screen. While I have NO desire to see "Syriana", I can respect Clooney's asking hard questions about current events, even if I wholly disagree with his conclusions. What I CAN'T accept is Clooney's condescension towards the American public. He appreciates being "out of touch", and rightly points out that Hattie McDaniel's ...
Bill O'Reilly on his radio show the other day detailed a school where the teacher wanted to stage a mock trial of President Bush for war crimes. The principal gave to thumbs up to the action. O'Reilly's take was, of course, that this shouldn't happen. But this is one area where I disagree pretty strongly. I say that we should let them have the trial. Let them debate, let them discuss, and let both sides bring evidence for the prosecution and the defense. Its potential value as a teaching ...
OK, this will be my final word on "the subject". I'll move on from here. But there's one thing more that needs to be said, and it needs to be said in front of all of you. First of all, this is not an apology. I don't feel I have anything to apologize for. Nor do I feel Sabrina or Simon have anything to apologize for. We said what we said, and we are who we are. What resulted from the recent conflict was simply a byproduct of who Sabrina is, and she should be proud of that, at least. Duri...
One of the pitfalls I've found about blogging is that, while it is my personal journal, sometimes readers tend to misunderstand that. If I write an article, they will always assume that it is about them, or about a current event related to blogging. And usually they're right. It may not be a direct connection, but there is a connection, nonetheless. But every so often something occurs in my life that piles up continually. And then something happens online, the "straw that broke the camel's ba...
This is from one of my LP discussion groups: ( Washington , D.C. ) Former Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate, noted scholar, and investment advisor Harry Browne died at his home in Franklin , TN on the night of March 1, 2006, after a long illness. A well-known inspirational speaker and writer, Harry was the author of 12 books that sold more than 2 million copies. In 1996 and 2000, he was the Libertarian Party’s candidate ...
OK, I'm being blasted for trying to be neutral. I will concede that it is possible that the fault is truly in me, so here goes. I will take an issue on everything I can think of. If I haven't hit on your pet issue, ask me on the comments. And if I haven't offended you, READ those comments. I'll get to it. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He IS the Way, the truth and the life. While God is a just God and someone may go to heaven some other way, the only certainty I see is in a...
Yes, this is related to my last article. When the latest incident here at JoeUser occured, I feel that there were a number of people who wrongly perceived my fence sitting as being selfishly motivated. It was not selfishly motivated, but in fact, came about because I am simply sick and tired of being ripped apart. It's not just here at JU; that's only a part of it. It's everywhere. As I mentioned in one of the previous articles on the subject, the minister of the church we have been attend...
Some months ago, Tex wrote a blog entitled "Stepping Away from God" where she made some statements about her spiritual outlook at the time. I'm not stepping away from God, or anywhere near it, but I AM stepping away from church. While I've been a committed Christian for 17 years, I have been in church my entire life. I have never doubted the reality of God, or of Jesus Christ, and, in fact, have very strong personal reasons for knowing that both are real. But as strong as my conviction is...
As I finished reading one of my latest books, I couldn't help but think back over the topic. I fundamentally disagreed with the author's thesis, yet agreed with a good number of his arguments. In our society, though, we are surrounded by people who seem to feel they must embrace all of a person's argument, or none of it. I believe this is one of the biggest obstacles to building a strong sense of community. As I've mentioned before, I am fairly certain that I could find an area of disagreeme...