Good, Bad and Ugly Ads

Since I have not been given much of a life, I watch an awful lot of television, which includes an awful lot of commercials.  Now, a GOOD ad is one that holds my attention and makes me want to at least learn more about the product or service it is for.  A BAD ad is one that quickly becomes nothing more than background noise when it cannot be skipped over.  UGLY ads are much worse.  For not only do they make we want to never see them again, they make me want to never have anything to do with the company that paid for them to be produced.  Of course, you may feel differently, but I sure wouldn’t say much about it around anyone with a lick of sense.  For I am, after all, an expert on such things—albeit only in my own mind!

GOOD

BAD

UGLY

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Ron Hearst Rocks!

It was brought to my attention that it would only be fair to write about when a member of one of our local news teams had me cheering out loud after [ranting] about the poor quality of many newscasts lately.  Oh yeah, my wife actually came a-runnin’ to see what was going on when she heard me hollering, “Now, that’s what I want to see!”

What got me so pumped up happened a few days back as I was watching a weather segment where [KY3 Chief Meteorologist Ron Hearst] was showing the movement of a couple of fairly severe thunderstorms in the area.  While he was doing so, he noticed a blue text box in the lower left part of his presentation screen with a message bout 1.75” hail reportedly falling 10 miles north of Terre Haute, and since Terre Haute is in Indiana and around 320 miles to the northeast of us, he pointed to the text box and said that he had no idea why it was there.

Hip! Hip!! HOORAY!!!

Seriously, that is all I am looking for!  For I know that none of us are perfect, and I can imagine just how hard it could become to keep everything straight while doing a live newscast.

Whereas, what has been happening far too often is no acknowledgement of anything being wrong!  Such as when another member of the KY3 news team on another broadcast went right on to the next story after reporting that a bull rider had been bucked off and trampled to death almost immediately after the chute opened at the beginning of the attempted 8 MINUTE ride at a rodeo in a town just over the Kansas state line (I think) when the ride is an 8 SECOND one!  (Needling someone about making a mistake like that would make for some great witty banter—don’t you think?)

Another recent major misinformation malfunction occurred when the anchor of another station’s newscast ended the evening with a funny little story, along with footage of the incident, about a bear checking out the lobby of a ski lodge at [Angel Fire], and calling it an Albuquerque resort, which would be like calling [The Lodge of Four Seasons] a St. Louis resort.  For they are both around 150 miles away and much closer to other well-known locations that could serve as a point of reference, such as Taos and Santa Fe, in the case of Angel Fire.  

Alas, I do not know if this means that the people in charge also don’t have a clue or that they just don’t care, but local newscasts around here are becoming a joke.  Still, they can serve as a place to hear about things that can be searched for elsewhere to find out what may be really going on.  So, I’ll keep trying to watch.

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2016 "Obama's America"

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Protecting Public Piety

By a wide margin last week, Missouri voters added what is being called [the prayer amendment] to the state constitution.  The reason why it is being called the prayer amendment is on account of it [guaranteeing] the right of citizens to make public expressions of their faith, which includes praying.  Another part of the amendment gives students the right to opt-out of classroom activities that conflict with their religious beliefs.

Oh yeah, liberals from all over are lining up to [challenge] the constitutionality of the amendment.  For we can’t be having prayer vigils being held in the hallways of our public schools while serious scientific learning should be taking place!

Alas, it is indeed a sad situation, but not for the reason that the more devoutly religious want to believe.  For no man-made law can prevent anyone from praying in the way that our Heavenly Father most wants to hear.  Neither can any amount of teaching on any subject lead any child too far away from Him.

Therefore, what are all of these “good Christians” really trying to accomplish?  Is it not that they are really wanting to protect the right to show anyone around just how pious they are?

No, what they are doing is most certainly not for our Heavenly Father’s glory.  In fact, they are doing more to diminish it than anything else.  For if you listen close enough, you will hear them (in effect) declaring that He needs them to be witnesses by praying out loud in public so that the lost can be saved, as well as (in effect) declaring that what He actually says is absolutely true cannot stand against the lies of the devil being presented as scientific fact.

Now, there would be great cause for concern if it all really did come down to His servants making a stand against evil.  For there has been a shadow across the land since the Garden of Eden, and it has been getting steadily darker with each passing day.

Oh, but what far too many (even in the Christian community) refuse to truly believe is that nothing has ever happened that wasn’t in accordance to our Heavenly Father’s will, and that He has always been with each and every one of us (even those who do not want to acknowledge His existence) every step of the way.

No, this is not to say that everyone will eventually be saved from facing eternal damnation.  For it would not fulfill our Heavenly Father’s purposes to force anyone to have to spend all of eternity with Him in His Kingdom of Heaven as an heir to all that is His in glory against their will.

In any event, be assured that the Lord God Almighty does not need anyone to do anything for Him.  In fact, He delights in taking a personal interest in every aspect of our daily lives in this world, and come Judgment Day, no one will be able to honestly say that they did not fully understand everything that He wanted them to because He will make sure of it Himself.

Tragically, that is not something that far too many in the Christian community want to hear—is it?  For they want to believe that He is depending upon them to finish the work in His absence that was started on the cross at Calvary.  For if He is not, what glory can there really be for them?

Yes, much of that sounds awfully harsh.  I am sorry, but the time has come for such.  For He has been making it abundantly clear for quite some time now that there is much about what has been presented in His name as being the truth that is quite contrary to what He actually says is absolutely true, and He has provided His Holy Scriptures as written confirmation of that.  Yet, the hardness of far too many hearts remains exceedingly great.

If you don’t believe it, please ask Him about it yourself.  Ah, but who is so deaf as the one who does not want to hear?

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5-Hour Energy Fraud?

With me suffering from [Chronic Fatigue Syndrome], my ears really perk up when I hear something about a product that might give me more energy.  Sadly, most are nothing more than a concentrated dose of caffeine, which offers no relief for me.

I have been wanting to give [5-Hour Energy] a try, but I have been reluctant to waste any more money on something basically worthless.  If you listen close to what is being said in the following commercial, I think you may come to the same conclusion as I have.

Did you catch, “Over 73%, who reviewed 5-Hour Energy, said they would recommend A low calorie energy supplement,” which is most certainly not the same as 73% of the doctors actually saying that they would recommend 5-Hour Energy to their healthy patients who use energy supplements?  Come on now, how much confidence can one really have in a product being marketed by a company trying to be that slick?

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ESPN Additions

Ironically, some of the best television commercials are for ESPN and only air on ESPN.  Now, I do not know if these ads really are meant to add all the more to the viewing experience, but it works for me.

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Good, Bad and Ugly Ads

Since I have not been given much of a life, I watch an awful lot of television, which includes an awful lot of commercials.  Now, a GOOD ad is one that holds my attention and makes me want to at least learn more about the product or service it is for.  A BAD ad is one that quickly becomes nothing more than background noise when it cannot be skipped over.  UGLY ads are much worse.  For not only do they make we want to never see them again, they make me want to never have anything to do with the company that paid for them to be produced.  Of course, you may feel differently, but I sure wouldn’t say much about it around anyone with a lick of sense.  For I am, after all, an expert on such things—albeit only in my own mind!

GOOD

BAD

UGLY

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"Dal Maxvill"

While checking to see what sites could be included in the [A Sunday Drive] on AsTheCrackerheadCrumbles for this week a couple of days ago, I ran across a site that is mostly about collecting baseball cards.  This brought up memories of my own long lost collection.

No, I do not know if any of the over 600 [Topps] cards that I had from the 1960s and early 1970s would be very valuable now.  Nonetheless, they were precious to me.

One of the things that made them so special was that I had at least one card of every starter on the [1967 St. Louis Cardinals], who beat [Carl Yastrzemski], who I also had a card of, and the Boston Red Sox in the World Series that year.  For there was Lou Brock in left field, Curt Flood in center, Roger Maris in right, Orlando Cepeda at first base, Julian Javier at second, Mike Shannon at third, Tim McCarver was catching and Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton and Nellie Briles were the main starting pitchers.

Yeah, there was someone playing shortstop for the Cardinals that year, but I couldn’t remember his name to save my soul when I was thinking about my card collection while waiting for sleep to come later that night.  I even tried going through the alphabet and thinking of names that started with each letter, which has appeared to jog my memory in the past.  Nope, not that night.

I finally asked for some help, but none was forthcoming.  That is, at least not until 15-20 minutes later, which is when, “Dal Maxvill,” came to mind (so to speak).  For I want to believe that it was actually our Heavenly Father who told me who was playing shortstop for my beloved Cardinals in 1967.

If asked, the vast majority of professing Christians would insist that what I experienced was nothing more than merely a temporary gap in my memory, and that the Lord God Almighty has better things to do than answer stupid questions like that—even if He was inclined to still seek to communicate with us directly these days.  Where would you want the line drawn between what He would care to get involved in and what He would not?

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Politics in Connecticut

The political race here in CT. is heating up to a frenzy of who did what and didn't do what.  One day I read a tweet explaining the Bible's stance on how we should choose our nation's leaders.  So I asked the question, "How do you know who to vote for seeing as none of them are completely honest?"  The response I got was quoted from the scripture as saying, " A man who has a heart for God....who hates wrong doing."  It was something like that.  So I responded back with,

Witty Banter Should Be Witty

By definition, [witty] has to do with something that is either said or done that is quite amusing and/or very clever.  To the extent of my understanding, it is more often used to describe something amusing than something strictly intellectual, such as what is supposed to be the witty banter between members of a newscast team that is often used to fill in the gaps between segments.

Yes, I am building up to another rant about the quality of our local newscasts.  For when one of the anchors on one of our local newscasts mentioned something about the wife of a former colleague giving birth to another Ole Miss fan, the other anchor quipped, “Ole Miss?  Well, maybe we can make a Cardinals fan out of him.”

Um, just in case you are as witty as she is, [Ole Miss] is a university that is mostly known for its football team (debatable, I know) while the Cardinals she was referring to was either the [St. Louis Cardinals] or the [Springfield Cardinals], with both of them being professional baseball teams.  In other words, we have a true apples and oranges situation here.  Okay, I suppose I should give her credit for keeping it sports related.

The next example doesn’t have anything to do with witty banter.  For it is about one of our local reporters reporting that a serious wreck occurred a couple of miles south of High Landville instead of Highlandville.

Since I am really not all that picky, this next example won’t have anything to do with witty banter, either.  For it is about one of our local sportscasters announcing that [Jaime Garcia] would make a rehab start with the Springfield Cardinals before joining the big league team after suffering a serious injury to his left shoulder earlier in the season, and pronouncing his name as Hay-may Garcia instead of High-me—even after conducting an on-camera interview with the pitcher!  No, I didn’t catch if he mispronounced his name during the interview, but it has taken him at least four tries since to get it right.

Keeping with sports, we have a local sportscaster who dreams of making it to the [big time], and it just might be that he is not as clueless as I give him credit for being.  For while presenting a story about the NFL wanting to make football (the real kind) an Olympic sport, a couple of the ESPN sportscasters put up a list of NFL players who were born someplace other than the U.S., and included on that list was [Tim Tebow] and [Hines Ward].

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, it is true that Tebow was born in the Philippians while his parents were doing missionary work there, and Ward was born in South Korea while his father was stationed there with the U.S. Army.  However, both were actually raised around real football in America when what the ESPN idiots were going for was NFL players who had grew up in a much different culture and started playing the game at a much older age than what most NFL players do.

No, I am not expecting perfection.  In fact, I find it quite endearing when a newscaster messes up and then corrects the mistake with nothing more than merely a roll of their eyes, and if there is time for not-so-witty banter, there is certainly time to start correcting the things that are driving me nuts.  Yeah, I really do need to get a life.

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Has Cleveland Been Cursed?

No, this is not about the city being [the mistake by the lake].  For those days are gone.

Nonetheless, the misery still continues for the fans of at least two out of three major sports franchises located in [Cleveland], and it is arguable that it is just as bad for the fans of the [Cleveland Indians].  For it has been many a moon since the last time they won the [World Series], but they did play in three during the [90s].

Alas, the fans of the [Cleveland Cavaliers] and the [Cleveland Browns] have even less to cheer about, which I place most of the blame squarely on the management of the teams.  For the Cavaliers are owned by [Dan Gilbert], who acts like he truly [owns] his players, which is reflected in their play.

Now comes the news that the Cleveland Browns have been bought by [Jimmy Haslim], who is a very enthusiastic [Pittsburgh Steelers] fan, which would be like a diehard fan of the [Dallas Cowboys] buying the [Washington Redskins], and it will surely lead to even greater depths of mediocrity for the Browns.  For every move that Haslim could make to improve the Browns would eventually hurt his beloved Steelers—especially with them playing in the same conference division.

No, nothing personal—just business cannot be used to explain this away.  For owning a professional sports franchise has to more than just a business decision or you will wind up with a team like the...well…the Browns were, which I would think that the NFL would want to guard against at all costs for the good of the entire league.

Of course, maybe Haslim can keep his heart separated from his head without making too much of a mess out of things?  For he is currently the CEO of [Flying J], which was in direct competition with [Pilot], which is the company that his father founded.

No, I am not buying it, and it makes me a little angry to even be given the choice to.  For back during the early days of my over-the-road trucking career, a wonderful group of diehard Browns fans adopted me for a couple of days while a [lake-effect snow storm] shut down all travel in northeastern Ohio, and ever since, I have had a soft-spot for them.  Not enough to have me cheering for the Browns over my beloved Cowboys, of course, but one has to respect the devotion of someone who would stand in line while being covered by freezing rain just to buy a ticket to go see a team that was more than likely going to lose the game and [break] the hearts of their fans in the process.

Hey, maybe Haslim buying the Browns might actually be a good thing?  For it might not be long before the Browns are so obviously bad that there won’t be any expectations of them ever winning a game.  Hence, no more gut-wrenching losses!

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Some Kind of Special

Be assured that I had already been made well aware of the absolute truth of the matter truly being that I would not exist unless our Heavenly Father, who truly is the Lord God Almighty and the Creator of all that exists apart from Himself, had of wanted me to.  Yes, it is the same for everyone, but this is about me—okay?

Getting back to me, it was after receiving a phone call from a certain someone that it dawned on me that I really must be some kind of special—above and beyond being created by the One who created everyone else.  For that phone call was from Rush Limbaugh.

No, I do not consider the call actually being a recorded robo call to be of any less significance.  For my name was on the list, and not everyone can make such a claim.

Adding all the more to just how special I must be is that I have been also receiving emails from President Obama, Michelle Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and James Carville, and you know what that means—don’t you?  Yes, that is exactly right.  It means that I have some of the most powerful politicians in this country vying for my attention!

It is certainly a good thing that I am so humble at heart.  For all of this could go to my head.

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IGNORance

This piece picks up where [Stupid] left off.  For there is more to the word that is commonly used to describe a state of not knowing something than what is generally understood.

For quite a while, I considered being called ignorant a great insult.  For it implied that one did not have the capacity to know and understand something.

Then, somewhere along the way, I came to embrace the notion that being ignorant of something was nothing to get too upset about.  For to be ignorant was actually nothing more than to be without knowledge and understanding, and that no one from amongst us can be expected to know and understand everything.

Yeah, “I” really liked that revised definition of ignorance.  For it allowed me to feel better about myself when I was the one who did not know and understand something, and to not be so judgmental of others, which holds all sorts of other personal benefits.  For when you are willing to give others a break, it is often returned when dealing with the right kind of people, and even when it isn’t, you get to feel like a better person than them.

All of that is naturally-speaking, of course.  For ALL knowledge and understanding about EVERYTHING comes from our Heavenly Father [John 15:26], and when someone truly is in a state of ignorance, they are ignoring what He wants them to know and understand [Hebrews 5:11-6:3].

Subsequently, being in a true state of ignorance is actually wickedness.  For it is written: Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.  Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills.  You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom.  If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive. [Jeremiah 13:15-17 NIV]

Yes, it would be different if we had to depend upon others not so unlike ourselves to know and understand what our Heavenly Father wants us to.  For even the most dedicated amongst us are prone to failures, but since our Heavenly Father will make sure that no one can honestly say that they did not fully understand everything that He wanted them to, come Judgment Day, all are without excuse [Romans 1:18-20].

Nonetheless, do not assume that it is the same for all.  For it all depends upon what our Heavenly Father wants to accomplish in and through someone that determines when (and to what extent) He will allow and enable them to enter into His absolute truth, and in some cases, it may not be until just before they take their very last breath in this world that He will remove the scales from their eyes while others will be able to see things through His eyes from the time they take their very first breath in this world.

Ah, but who is so blind as the one who does not want to see?  For it is also written: It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.  Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.  But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. [Hebrews 6:4-8 NIV]

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Mercy

When I heard that [Mercy Hospital] in Springfield, Missouri was named the [sixth safest hospital] in the entire United States of America by [Consumer Reports], I actually shuddered.  For it is the very same hospital where my first wife, Sam, couldn’t receive any medication while having Vicki, our first daughter, on account of there being no doctor (let alone her OB/GYN) around to order it.

It is also the very same hospital where it was determined that the only thing wrong with my right knee was arthritis, which was proven to be outrageously untrue.  In fact, after I had it x-rayed at the other major hospital here in Springfield, the radiology tech asked me if I had been in a bad automobile accident on account of how damaged my right knee was.

Oh, but wait—there’s more!  For it is also the very same hospital where my sister-in-law almost died from an infection after having surgery, but in all fairness, it was one of the emergency doctors there that finally recognized that “that” smell about her was rotting flesh.

Okay, Springfield’s Mercy Hospital was still St. John’s in all three of those cases, and I suppose it is possible that drastic changes in the quality of care could have come with the name change.  On the other hand, it only took a score of 70 out of a hundred (I assume) to rank as the sixth safest in the country, with the safest scoring a 72.  Just makes you want to rush out and get a medical procedure done—doesn’t it?

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Not Senseless

There are a lot of people calling the [Aurora, Colorado movie theater massacre] senseless, and from our own ground-based points-of-view, it most certainly does.  For there appears to be no other reason for it but to kill and injure a great many people.

Nonetheless, let us not forget that everything really does happen for a reason, and the movie theater massacre is no exception.  For it gave us to clear examples of our Heavenly Father still being actively involved in our daily lives.

The first example was the shooter just stopping and calming walking out of the theater to stand by his vehicle when he still had thousands of rounds left and dozens of clear targets in front of him.  Be assured that this happened as a result of our Heavenly Father telling the demon to leave the shooter.

The second example occurred when one of the shooter’s neighbors balked at going through his unlocked front door to see if the blaring techno music could be turned down.  Hey, she has even said that it was on account of something inside of her that made her very reluctant to go through that door, which would have probably resulted in her death on account of the front door being booby-trapped.

In response to those who are wondering how a good and loving Heavenly Father allow such a tragedy to happen in the first-place, please understand that our lives in this world can be just the beginning of our existences and that even the very best of lives in this world is absolutely miserable in comparison to the worst of lives in our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom of Heaven.  Ah, but of what comfort is that to those who do not want to believe it?

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Smokin' Hot!

We have a new weather person on one of our local stations.  Her profile says that she is actually a meteorologist, but that appears to be in question.  For on the July 12, 2012 10 p.m. CDT broadcast, she said, “There is nothing worse, I think, than having the really hot temperatures, but the fact that we’ve just had this drought for so long, it makes it that much worse because the dryer air is able to heat up faster.  So, that’s why we get those heat index values so incredibly high.”

In an attempt to allow her to retreat some from the position she took, I emailed the following to her.  I would like to thank you for setting the record straight (indirectly) about 110 Degrees in Phoenix not being so bad because it is a "dry heat" by explaining that dry air heats up faster, which is the why heat indexes get so incredibly high, last Saturday on the 10 p.m. newscast.  For I have been in 110 degree heat in Phoenix, and it sure didn't feel all that good!  Of course, you might have a tough time convincing the rest of the meteorologists out there.  For they have been explaining that the heat index is derived from air temperature and humidity, with the higher the humidity, the higher the heat index.

She sent the following reply.  Of course. I always like to try and explain what I know to the viewers out there. While heat index is a result of the air temp and humidity, it chances vastly from region to region.

Thanks for watching!

If you don’t get it, the [heat index] indicates what it really feels like, which is derived from a combination of the actual air temperature and the relative humidity in a given area.  In other words, it is just like [wind chill] that is talked about by meteorologists in the winter time, which is derived from a combination of the actual air temperature and the wind strength in a given area.

In an attempt to connect dots a little further for you, it is true that heat indexes can vary greatly from area to area, but this has nothing to do with how dry the air is.  That is, except in reverse of what she was saying.  For areas near bodies of water (stream, rivers, swamps, large ponds, lakes and oceans) can have much higher heat indexes than those with the same actual air temperature that are not so near bodies of water on account of the relative humidity usually being much higher near bodies of water.

I was advised against clearly identifying her.  Suffice to say that she is fairly smokin’ hot in appearance, and her voice doesn’t sound like fingernails scraping a chalkboard.  Therefore, she should have a successful career as an on-air personality on local news outlets, but this is a far cry from truly being a meteorologist—let alone a journalist.

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Atrocities Abound

Unless you have been completely out of it for quite a while, you probably already know all about the movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colorado.  Oh, but do you really?  For that matter, do any of us really know?

No, I am not about to stir the conspiracy fires, but at the risk of sounding plumb asinine at a time like this, I would like to focus more of the atrocious reporting of the tragedy in this piece.  The image above should give you some indication of what I am talking about if it hasn’t already been brought to your attention.

It all started around 7:00 a.m. CDT when our television was first turned on, and my wife asked me if I knew about what happened in Aurora a few hours earlier.  I did not at the time, and she went on to inform me that 12 were dead, which was about the same time as I was reading a [MSNBC] headline that declared that 14 were dead.

Yes, I understand that it is very difficult to keep the facts straight when dealing with multiple “official” sources of information at a scene like that.  However, around an hour later, the breaking news banner that could be seen on the screen under a correspondent reporting live from the scene had, “12 Dead, 50 Hurt,” while she was reporting that at least 12 were dead and 38 had been wounded.  Since 12+38=50, was it that 50 in total were hurt, with 38 of the rest being just wounded?  After all, casualty counts from war zones are usually presented as the number of dead being separate from the number of wounded, unless clearly specified otherwise.

[CNN] and [FOX News] were also reporting 12 dead, 50 hurt at the time.  So, do not think that I am being unfair to NBC News.

3-4 hours later, the breaking news banners were finally changed to read, “At Least 12 Dead, 38 Wounded.”  By the time for the [NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams] to air, the reported casualty count stood at 71 shot, 12 dead and 59 wounded.

Be assured that we love Brian Williams.  For he comes off as a highly-respectable journalist with a great sense of humor, which is a combination that my wife and I find very appealing.  So, it hit even harder when during an interview with an eyewitness to the movie theater massacre, we heard him tell her, “We Americans do not make much eye contact.  So, I can’t blame you for not getting a good look at his face,” or something quite similar.

In all fairness, it may have been on account of not being used to the thinner air, or that he was trying to make other reporters feel better about themselves.  For aside from Brian’s comment being rather insulting to most (if not all) who do not live in (or at least spend a great deal of time around) a run-down inner city, asking the eyewitness if she had seen his face was a waste of airtime since it had been already established that the gunman had been wearing a full gasmask.  (Okay, maybe not.)

As for [CNBC], they appeared to be going about their usual business every time I checked.  That is, except for the one time when I heard it being reported that the gunman had a .40 caliber [Glock], another unidentified handgun, a [Remington 870] shotgun and a Smith & Wesson AR-15-type assault rifle.  Granted, he was close, but I wonder how many at both Smith & Wesson and Colt will be all that forgiving?  For Colt is the maker of the [AR-15] while Smith & Wesson has the [M&P15].

No, I am not expecting absolute perfection, but I do hope for much better news coverage than what we have been offered lately.  Alas, in a day and age when one has thousands of news outlets available, I would think that all of the major networks would be making more of an effort to get it as right as possible—albeit only just in the hope of keeping what share of the market they still have.

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The Great Brazilian Beer Company!

Be assured that it has nothing to do with having money to invest in the stock market.  For our Heavenly Father seems bound and determined to have me and my family live by faith and not by sight [2Corinthians 5:7] by having us live from paycheck to paycheck—quite literally.  Nonetheless, I have found myself being more and more attracted to the programming that [CNBC] has to offer.

On the surface, there is a lot more going on there than just what could be assumed.  For like it or not, business and government are joined at the hip—if only for the reason that it hard to keep productivity at the optimum when enemy tanks are rolling down the street in front of the plant.  Subsequently, a lot of politics is discussed.

Of course, the main topic of conversation is economics, but aside from politics, this also involves product lines, marketing, financing, energy availability, workforce readiness and even the weather.  In other words, EVERYTHING effects business trends in one way or another.  Therefore, EVERYTHING is at least touched upon during a typical broadcast day.

Another thing that I have found rather attractive about the CNBC reporting is that it is generally very politically-neutral.  That is, except for [The Kudlow Report].

Furthermore, I have not noticed them making a whole lot of mistakes.  Of course, it helps when you don’t really understand half of what they are talking about.

However, there was one when time when one of the rotating panelists on [Fast Money] boldly announced (three times, no less!) the headline for an upcoming segment, “The great Brazilian beer company…”

In all fairness, I think that it had to be more of an inside joke than pure stupidity.  For I would think that such a high-profile analyst would know that [Budweiser] is actually a brand name of [Anheiser-Busch], who is now owned by [InBev], which is more of a Beligian company than a Brazilian one.

It still irritated the snot out of me.  For our Heavenly Father has yet to remove all of my nationalist pride, and adding all the more to that particular [thorn] is that Anheiser-Busch owns my beloved [St. LouisCardinals], which would make it a Belgian baseball team in a technical sense, I suppose.  Not that I have anything against Belgium, but…

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A Taxing Situation

Probably not to the political junkies, but to the rest of us, all of the back and forth over whether or not to extend the [Bush Era Tax Cuts] is taxing in every sense of the [word].  For President Obama wants to extend the cuts to everyone but those making over $250,000 a year, and the Republicans are not having any part in that.

Alas, it is just politics as usual, and in an election year with the White House being contested, it is understandable.  It is still taxing—especially to those who believe that what is in the best interest of the country should take precedence over what is in the best interest of a political party.

Oh, but that is exactly what each side is insisting that they are doing.  For the Democrats insist that the wealthy can afford to be of more help to our country during a time when more than ever are in need of government assistance on account of the economy being so bad while the Republicans insist that adding to the tax burden of the wealthy is a huge mistake because they are the ones who [create jobs], which is exactly what is needed to get out economy hitting on all cylinders again.

So, why not purpose a compromise where all monies spent on job creation are tax deductible?  Would this not appease both the liberal hunger for what the wealth have and the desire of the wealthy to maintain some semblance of control over every penny they can obtain by any and all means necessary?  That is, of course, unless too many of the wealthy have no plans for creating any more jobs.

No, such a proposal would never make it out of committee.  For it is too simple—not to mention rather transparent.

Besides, such a proposal would be at best merely a light bandage for a wound that needs some serious stitching.  For we would have more than enough money to balance the budget, pay off the national debt, make the American economy more vibrant than ever and fully fund all sorts of programs that would be of great benefit to all of the citizens of the United States of America without having to raise taxes a bit (in fact, taxes could probably be significantly lowered in a few years) if our leaders would just get serious about getting rid of as much corruption and incompetence as possible—starting with the federal government and continuing all the way down to the local level.

Yeah, like that would ever happen, but one can still dream.  There isn’t a tax on dreaming—is there?

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No right to complain-Doing what you have to do

Doing what you have to do waylays all the excuses one may come up about why something is the way it is. Our world today and the culture is more about complaining than doing.  I've found that many would rather complain than to step forward and do something about anything.  If people are not willing to do what they have to do, especially when they know what to do, then they do not have the right to complain.

People's reasons for something also becomes their excuses for the same thing.  Don't get me wrong, some reasons are very valid and extreme, but not all.  Many times the reasons people use are to justify themselves and their behavior, but these same reasons also becomes their excuses for not doing what they needed to do.  For some it's just easier for them to complain about something than it is to do what they have to or need to do. If this is the case, then why complain.  By not doing what they have to do or need to do they forfeit their right to complain it about to anyone.

People that are not willing to do what they have to do have no right to complain about anything.  The only time one may be justified of complaining is only after they have done whatever it was they needed to do.  Now with that said, this is the only time that constitutes a legitimate complaint, but they also continue doing what they have to do while they complain.

And so it is with God.  Many people would rather complain about what God does or doesn't do, not realizing that a lot of what God does or doesn't do resides with them and doing what they have to do.   Even if Christians are not willing to do what they have to do in order for their lives to be pleasing to God, then again, they too have no right to complain.  They forfeit that right.  God will do what He says He would, but people are different.  They say they're going to do something but never get around to doing it and yet they constantly complain.  And then here comes the excuses.  Oops I mean reasons of justification why they didn't do something.

One thing about God is that you can always trust that He will do what He says He will do, no questions asked.  But people on the other hand still would rather complain about God than to do what He is asking them to do. However, they do not realize that by complaining and not doing anything they have no right to complain about not seeing the blessings of God manifest in their own lives.

The only way for God to bless His people is for them to do what they must do in order for Him to have the freedom to bless them.  And what people have to do or need to do is to obey His commands and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. This means that by doing whatever it is they need to do or even have to do God will do for them just as He did for Jesus.   God will do for those who follow closely in the footsteps of His Son Jesus.  In other words being a true disciple of Christ will waylay a lot of the complaining among God's people.

"I'm just sayin'."

The Daze of Our Lives

The more I listened to a pastor of a church talk about how angry he had been (and still is to a certain extent) at our Heavenly Father for allowing the lives of two of his children to be cut way too short, the more I felt compelled to shake my head in dismay.  For when someone who does not know and understand what is really going on in this world holds a position of authority over others who do not know and understand, it is truly a blind leading the blind situation.

Yes, the death of one’s child is most certainly a very sensitive subject, and if you are familiar with [The Crackerhead Chronicles], you should know that I have spent way too much time being way too upset over less.  In fact, I still suffer from such weakness far too often.  So, please do not think that I am completely bereft of sympathy—not to mention compassion.

Nonetheless, let us look at our time as a part of this world through our Heavenly Father’s eyes.  For even what we would naturally consider to be the most wonderful of lives in this world are absolutely miserable in comparison to the worst of lives in His Kingdom of Heaven.

No, that does not appear to bode well in His favor, and if our time as a part of this world is all that will ever be to our existences, we would be most justified to think that He surely created most (if not all) of us to be the objects of His scorn—certainly not His affections.  Ah, but the biggest points of all to this matter is that this world was never meant to last but a little while in comparison to the whole of eternity, and that our time as a part of it was never meant to be the end of our existences.  Furthermore, there can be more to our continued existences than what any of us can even start to naturally comprehend!

Perhaps it would be helpful to think of our time in this world as being like teenaged years in a natural sense.  For there were things that we truly believed at the time had to happen or life would not be worth living anymore—things that are no longer nearly as important to us as adults, such as going on a date with someone or having a particular style of clothes to wear.

In my own case, I was in absolute agony for around six months on account of my parents not letting me go get a driver’s license as soon as I turned 16, and the agony intensified when they refused to let me drive by myself after I had scored a 100% on the written part and a 98% on the driving part of the licensing test.  Be assured that there were other life or death situations, but that 10-month period of time was the worst to me.

No, this is not to suggest that not getting a particular present on your fifth birthday was any less traumatic at the time, but the cares of life always weight heaviest on teenagers.  Hey, I do believe that there are even scientific studies to prove it!

Through it all, a good parent should always be patient with their children—regardless of at what stage of development they may be.  Be assured that this is the way our Heavenly Father always is with all of us, but there is a time to grow up in both a natural and Spiritual sense.

Yes, the physical death of very young children may deprive their parents of much joy and satisfaction in the remaining years of their lives in this world.  On the other hand, could this not actually spare them from having to endure more anguish than what any of us would naturally want to bear, and who would know better about what is yet to come than our Heavenly Father?