Friggin Idiot!

Today is the last day of school before I head to South Dakota for the wedding. It is also the last day of this six weeks, so I let one of my students bring in the movie Napoleon Dynamite. The movie is so funny. For those of you who have not seen it, the movie revolves around a nerdy red head boy going through the challenges of the teenage years. He wears the strangest clothes, desires to be popular, with no sucess, and can't seem to pick up a chick for trying. It wasn't so funny though when I was in his place. It makes me so happy to know that those years are past. I hated high school and always feeling like such a nerd. It is amazing what a few years in college and in the real world will do your confidence. Back then I wore the nerdy clothes and was nervous when it came to talking to girls, especially the ones that I thought were cute. Along those lines, it is a relief to know that I will be married in three days and the dating game will be over for the rest of my life. A special thanks to all of my friends, especially Roy and Jesse, who stayed by me during those years when everyone else thought I was a nerd.

To Live or Let Die

What is society coming to when judges no longer stand up for what is right. Ever since Roe v. Wade the court system has seen fit to end the lives of innocent human beings. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the court was set up to make sure that every person was treated equally and that good always wins. Instead today, the court system is the big bad wolf who sees fit to destroy as many innocent people as possible. I don't get it, the courts should be ending lives of murders and rapists, but no, they are ending the life of an innocent woman, Terri Schivo because her husband, who has a history of abuse, wants her dead. Something doesn't make sense. Even the President, Congress, and the American people see what is right and yet this country's judges are making the wrong choice. Whatever happened to impeachment? In my opinion, there are several judges who need a trial of their own, ending in a guilty verdict. www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151227,00.html

Chips Are for Cookies Not People

Last night I watched the movie The Manchurian candidate. It really made me think and worry. In the movie, there were scientists who implanted computer chips into a group of military men. These chips allowed the people who installed them to add and delete information in the peoples memories. Sounds like something out of a science fiction novel. You may say, this will never really happen, but I beg to differ. My sister and her husband took their dog with them to Germany and in order to do so they had to have a chip inserted behind the dogs head with all of it's vital information. How long will it be before countries begin to say that you have to have a chip in your own head before you will be allowed to enter or leave a country. It sounds like a great idea, heck you could put your medical information, identification, credit card information, and criminal history all on this little device and it could be easily accessed by a machine. No longer would you have to worry about carrying money or credit cards, everything would be saved on your little chip. Maybe you could even unlock your car and drive it just by scanning it. My question is, what price would we pay for this convience? Is it possible that who ever installed these devices could control a humans thoughts and actions? Are we only a couple steps away from the mark of the beast?

"He causes all, both small and great rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666." Revelation 13:16-18 KJV

Getting Married...Or Not

Is it just me or does it seem like you always have at least one friend who can't seem to keep a significant other. My friend who falls into this category called me last night and wanted to get together to talk. He told me that his latest relationship was over, suprise! Last time I talked to this guy, he was soon to be getting engaged and was already planning his wedding. Sure, break-ups happen, but this isn't the first time this guy has been engaged or close to engagement and things have dissolved. This is at least the third or fourth time this has happened. I am at a loss for words. What do you say to a guy who can't seem to get it together? I see things that he is doing wrong, but he is already torn enough, right now the last thing he needs is one more critic. The thing is, he is a nice guy, a college graduate, and he has a steady job. Maybe he could use a little help from Mr. Hitch.

The Silent Killer

To prepare for my up and coming marriage I am reading a book called The Most Important Year In A Man's Life, What Every Groom Needs to Know, by Robert Wolgemuth and Mark Devries. In this book I came across an interesting fact. Divorce dramatically increases the likelihood of early death from stroke, hypertension, respiratory cancer, and intestinal cancer. Astonishingly, being a divorced non-smoker is only slightly less dangerous than smoking a pack (or more) of cigarettes a day and staying married! (Should divorce papers come with the surgeon general's warning, too)?" Wow, that's tough stuff. Think, fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, that is a lot of people who are at risk for these complications. Maybe more people should count the cost before walking down the aisle. I fear too many people do not take marriage seriously and go into the covenant with one foot out the door in case things are not really the way they think it should be. Marriage was not designed with a 90 day return policy, but rather as a lifetime commitment, "Till death do us part".

Respect...What is that?

As I have shown in my profile, I am a teacher. I spend seven hours of my day with middle school and high school students. Since this is my first year of teaching, I have no frame of reference except my own experience as a student, but I wonder if respect for authority has long been lost. I have one student in particular who always has something smart to say when I ask him to do his work or sit down. This young man thinks he is funny, but I view it as a lack of respect. I remember when I was a child, if I even delayed in doing what I was told, I knew there would be dire consequences at school and at home. Not only were there negative repercussions from adults, but my own peers would have looked down on me. Today, it seems like the students who are the most disrespectful are the students that the pretty girls and many of the boys want to date and be like. What has happened? I think the key to this issue is that many parents have changed their roles from being parents to being their child's "buddy". Parents were not given children to be their "friends", they were given children to nurture and train them to be successful individuals that can turn around and be good leaders and parents. I fear if this trend continues, the school system will continue to fail, because students are not giving teachers the time of day and there is no way that instruction time be successful. If taxpayers want to blame anyone, take a look at themselves first, before pointing fingers at us.

When Life Throws You A Curve

Growing up I always thought I would be the strong one, the healthy one, the one that lived on longer than anyone else. Why not, I could run a mile under 5 minutes, I was all-confrence all-county in Cross-country, and I rode a bicycle from CA to FL, NY to FL and around the perimeter of Wales in the United Kingdom, not to bragg, but to prove my point. If I have done all of this then why am I the one to be diagnosed with Diabetes at the prime age of 25? Just when my life seems to have been getting on its way. I just started my teaching job, I am soon to be married, and I just finished building a place to live and whammo this strikes. Talk about a blow. It makes a person such as I ask why? Why me? Why now? Why not when I am 60, old and grey. At the same time, I am trying to be optimistic. Sure, the sugar tests and shots of insulin are a pain(literally), but it could be worse. I know there are many others who have much worse problems than myself. I could be going through chemo, or know that I only have months to live. So I have chosen to make the best of the situation and press on even though I once again have learned that life is not a bed of roses. I sure am glad this world is not my home. One day I will have a new body, a heavenly body, thank you Jesus.

Are We Boiling?

For those of you who are "politically correct" I am going to probably upset you, and honestly, I don't care. Is it just me or is it virtually impossible to watch a television show anymore without being forced to view lewdness and gender confused individuals? Will and Grace, Friends, ER, Survivor (those are network shows) and the obvious Sex and the City. My question is, are there really that many Americans who wish to view homosexuality and nudity, or are we being forced to lower our standards? It pains me to see so many people who would not normally condone such behavior support and watch such filth. I know I am also to blame in this scenario. At what point do we stand up and say enough is enough? Lets not forget, a frog is easily boiled alive when sitting in a pot of water that is slowly turned up. We're in the pot.

Why Can't the Cows Be Milked an Hour Later?

More than likely, no matter where you're from you've probably heard about the daylight savings time dispute in Indiana. Hey, I know all of you non-Hoosiers think Indiana is in the dark-ages when it comes to setting back the clock. To tell you the truth, don't point fingers at all of us. We're not really that lazy, when it comes to changing our clocks. Rumor has it that some dairy farmer somewhere says his cows refuse to be milked on a differnt schedule, but they seem to do fine in Wisconsin. Plus, I only know of one dairy farm even remotely close to where I live, and let me tell you there are plenty of farms to go around, because I don't live in the city. The real issue here has more to do with politics. Just like yeasterday when a certain political party associated with donkey's left the congressional session because they wanted to flex their muscles and left 132 bills in limbo including daylight savings time. So next time you want to blame someone because Indiana doesn't have daylight savings time thank your fellow Democrat.