aaalllrighty then… Thank you Chris Matthews of MSNBC for at least unambiguously stating what has otherwise been obvious to anyone who hasn't yet subscribed to the Obama cult of personality – that there has been no objective journalism of this guy throughout the campaign and election.
It's his job to ensure a successful presidency? How the hell are you supposed to do that as a journalist? That's like saying your job as court stenographer is to ensure that a court case is adjudicated successfully. You're either reporting and commentating on the facts, or distorting them intentionally. Of course, there exists a degree of bias in journalism as honest people view facts and events through the filter of perception, experience, etc. But to say, independent of any particular story that your job is to ensure a successful presidency is at best an admission of a willingness to distort or obscure the facts; and at worst, that he has already done so.
It is not just Chris Matthews by a long shot. He's just one of the ones so far removed from objectivity as to not even realize how appalling that statement was. It wasn't enough to get the hook along with Keith Olbermann from MSNBC's election coverage. One would think it a wake-up call when that network thinks you're too biased. Apparently not.
Where does that leave us? The notion that ideas such as creation of a civilian security force of equal power as the US military, or a government-mandated community service program, or raising taxes in the middle of a recession, are casually being tossed around by Barack Obama before he has even been sworn in is scary enough. But to think that the mainstream media is going to look the other way and give this guy the same free pass as during the campaign is frightening.
Have you seen the video of the schoolkids singing that song for Obama? Although the official version seems to have already been pulled from youtube, you can still see dozens of copies that creatively represent what many were thinking after seeing or hearing it; that the zeal for Barack Obama is approaching something disturbing. Here are just a couple:
I'm not much for the use of scare tactics in politics. But if you're a supporter of Barack Obama, does this give you pause? Do you look back at the way the mainstream press has all but adored Barack Obama and given him a pass on an otherwise poor resume? Can you imagine being openly supportive of McCain (or anyone else) on a college campus? I think a Yankee fan wearing an A-Rod jersey in Fenway Park would feel more love.
Do I think Barack Obama is comparable to Hitler? Of course not. But given our experience on this planet, we've learned the hard way that men (and woman) make for horrible substitutes for God and should not be adored this way. I do think win or lose in November, there is going to be a huge letdown for those folks who were hoping for their Messiah to be inaugurated in January. No man can live up to the expectations in this creepy song – especially if all he does is raise taxes and never mention the word "change" again.
Evan Tanner died on Monday September 8 in the California desert from apparent heat exhaustion. His death is a shock to thousands of fans, myself included who had come to know him well throughout his career as a fighter. Tanner was the middleweight champion of the UFC when I became a fan of MMA, and was one of the reasons why I became a fan. He was such a soft-spoken, humble gentleman out of the octagon. In the octagon he demonstrated a warrior spirit like no other. There are so many examples of Evan being at the very place where others lost their fights, yet hung in there, turned it around and won. Even when he didn't win, he gave an inspiring performance and was gracious to the victor.
Evan's struggle with alcohol and fall from the spotlight was well known by many thanks to Evan's blog, which read more like a journal than the simple notes to fans most celebrities would share. The way Evan fought in the octagon was perfectly analogous to the way he struggled outside of the octagon. We saw him as the middleweight champion at the peak of his career. We saw him suffer a series of tough losses and eventually get cut from the UFC. We read about him hitting the proverbial bottom with no place to go but up – and up he went. Evan confronted his alcohol problem and began training again with hopes of a return to the UFC. That he died this way, after successfully winning a contract with the UFC is so tragic. I don't think many would have been surprised to hear that Evan had taken his own life during his worst moments – he openly talked about it. It is a shock to lose him now. This was one of his latest blog entries about his upcoming trip to the desert where he died. It's haunting to read it now.
Evan Tanner was definitely a restless soul. Here's to praying that he found that rest with God the Father. We'll miss you Evan.
I suppose going 18-0 only to lose the Superbowl in a single play is adequate psychological conditioning for losing Brady for the season in the first quarter of the first game. What a horrible sight. Well, we no longer have to consider the big WHAT IF?. It's here. Unless some major moves are being considered, Matt Cassel is the man. Let's hope the offensive line turns in a pro-bowl year. The running game looked pretty good at times yesterday, and Cassel will still be throwing to Welker and Moss. It will be fun to watch them compete for a playoff spot.
I stopped betting against Rashad Evans after eating crow all the way up to his win in the Ultimate Fighter Finale. Every time I picked his opponent to win and every time he found a way. Since then, his striking has improved immensely, making his phenomenal wrestling all the more dangerous. But it was still a huge surprise to see Evans KO Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell so brutally. Chuck has never been knocked out like that and you seriously have to wonder if age isn't now becoming a factor in his ability to be such a devastating counter-puncher. I think Chuck can still be a big draw and have some success as a gatekeeper for the title. But I think his days as a contender are unfortunately over.
Rumor has it that Evans will fight Forest Griffin for the title next. I would have loved to have seen Lyoto Machida get that chance first. But I'm sure the temptation to have two TUFers fighting for the title is too much for Dana White.
God forgive me for deriving pleasure from the reactions of the liberal media today after Governor Sarah Palin's speech last night. I must admit, I don't know if it's because I am still reluctant to believe that a true conservative, government reformer has a chance of being supported by a troubled Republican party, but I wasn't totally blown away by Gov Palin's acceptance speech last night. Don't get me wrong, of all the candidates for President – much less Vice President from the primaries to today, I am most excited about the potential of this woman than anyone else. Her speech was excellent. But judging by the reactions today, the media is behaving like the cabal of criminals around the table discussing what to do with this meddlesome Batman. They are freaking out!
So with a healthy skepticism, I'm getting more and more enthusiastically behind the McCain-Palin ticket. I hope President McCain allows a Palin influence commensurate with her contribution to their electability. She really has demonstrated toughness, integrity, humility, and espouses real conservatism and reform. It's like Ronald Reagan's reincarnated in a babe!
It's kind of weird to have been so detached from the lead-up to the 2008 election. That is, up until last Fri.
As a conservative, it's been difficult to be excited about politics for a while. With Bush abandoning conservative principals in legislation, wasting our military and resources to build a democracy in a place and with a people that don't want it, and watching the legislative branch spin their wheels under the tragic yet comical leadership of Pelosi and Reid, I haven't bothered to get invested in much. I considered the next presidential term to be what sports teams call a "rebuilding year."
While I will always respect John McCain's military service and the heroic choices he made as a soldier, he is not very conservative. In fact, I didn't see a whole lot of difference between McCain and Hillary Clinton in the way they would lead the country. At least if we were going to have a liberal in the white house, I'd rather have a liberal democrat so the country could more easily attribute the product of socialism with the correct political party. I also tried to find something redeeming in four years with a President Obama. Barack Obama is a gifted speaker. I think it's a good thing for the country to be inspired by our president and Obama has clearly energized alot of otherwise uninvolved people. The trouble is, my distrust of him has grown with every month. As it was with the Deval Patrick campaign, we mostly hear about concepts, generalities, and poetic platitudes that amount to nothing. He is a politician, groomed since his 2004 DNC speech and favored by the media to win an election. If I hear the word "change" one more time…
Sarah Palin…how about that? Apart from the fact that she's a hottie and a half, I love what I've read about her. I knew absolutely nothing about her until yesterday. But she seems to possess the qualities and values I think are missing with John McCain. She's socially AND fiscally conservative and willing to put her neck on the line to stand for conservative principals. She cares about the environment but isn't for wasting money and attention on ridiculous measures to combat global warming when there are REAL causes to rally around. It does sound like she's jetted her way through a young political career. But I'm much more willing to take a risk with an inexperienced conservative who has demonstrated a commitment to conservative values than with an inexperienced Barack Obama who has demonstrated no commitment to anything important except his own electability. Now I'm interested!
With so much buzz about this movie, I wanted to issue a spoiler-free caution to anyone considering going to see the new Batman flic. The Focus on the Family review is very helpful but also contains a few spoilers.
I saw the movie last night and was absolutely thrilled. Although it's rated at PG-13 and will undoubtedly be marketed, both directly and indirectly to the masses, this movie is not for the masses. Despite being a comic book on the big screen, this film is simply not for young kids. It is also not for anyone upset by both graphic and suggested violence in films.
The movie is extremely dark, and the bad guy is one of the most convincingly sinister characters I can remember. The knowledge of Heath Ledger's miserable death as you watch his portrayal of The Joker almost adds to the madness of the character. That he did not live to see the accolades for his performance will be one of the many sorrows for Heath Ledger.
The Dark Knight intelligently dances around the concepts of good and evil. But evil is on display in many shades; evil for personal gain, for self-preservation, and just pure evil. At times, I found myself charmed by The Joker despite his menacing appearance and terrible acts. Good is tinged with wrongdoing in even the most admirable characters. To dwell in this realm for very long can be provocative but also upsetting. I won't give away any more.
Although, I don't think this is a Christian film nor does it attempt to deliver a Christian message, I do think there are some things Christians can reflect on and take away some healthy self-examination. The Dark Knight is truly a blockbuster that deserves the buzz. But be careful about who you take to the theater.
I took the family out to dinner to celebrate the Mrs. birthday Sunday night at one of our regular restaurants. Food was great as usual, except it was served by a woman who was either suffering from an inner ear problem, or had been dared to spin in place for a few minutes before serving drinks that night. For her first trip to the table with drinks, she quickly drew my attention away from her thumb and finger resting on the rim of my martini glass by spilling about $1.50 of appletini (no laughing, I didn't know it was a chic drink) on the table. Then she just spread it around a bit with one of those totally non-absorbent cloth napkins. On her second trip, she dropped a bottle of root beer on the table in front of my daughter. It landed right-side up, but the impact launched root beer all over my daughter, who was gently escorted to the ladies room by our lazy-gripped waitress to be toweled off.
My second appletini (after all I didn't get to drink a whole one), came in a different martini glass. This one was beefy, without a stem, was very stout, and seemed to be designed just for the caliber of wait service we were getting. I was really curious whether she asked for it to be poured in this clutzware or if the bartender was hip to her.
At the end of the meal, which was excellent, butter-fingers Mary informed us that the root beer would be taken care of, but that was all she was permitted to take off the check. She then thanked us for being so patient and said something close to, "you were all much nicer than all the other people I've spilled on." Huh? We were apparently only the latest victims in this woman's drink-spilling rampage!! Clearly this occurred often enough to start impacting revenue for the establishment, necessitating the "pay for the drink only" rule to be enacted. I shared with my family my temptation to suggest that maybe she should practice, which in turn gave way to all kinds of hysterical scenarios involving crash-test-dummies sitting at a dinner table being served on nerf dishes, with a coach giving instructions behind a one-way mirror. I laughed so hard my head hurt.
After two years of being unsatisfied with the cross designs for tattoos we had seen, the Mrs. and I got some new ink over the weekend. Hers is a simple cross with script-style lines on the back of her neck. I love it!
Mine is based on another design I found with lots of swirly, ornate stuff in the middle. I worked with the artist to have a triquetra in the middle replace the swirly stuff. I'm stoked with how that came out.
I wanted the sharp bottom of the cross to appear to just pierce the skin. The artist took a little license with that idea and "opened the wound" a bit. I suppose that if you're gonna say something with a tattoo, say it! I'm ok with it. The scripture verses are Isaiah 53:5 and 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.
If you've been following the posts, it would seem to the casual visitor that I 'went away' for an extended period to mourn the Pats' Superbowl loss. That's somewhat true, but doesn't account for not having posted for a couple months.
I should have been documenting the busyness that instead kept me away from the blog. Starting at about the third week in Feb, my work hours really ramped up in preparation for an ERP go-live on March 1. It was pretty insane but turned out ok. Things have pretty well gotten back to normal.
In other news, my second eye surgery seemed to take and my vision is spot-on in both eyes now. After I got off the steroid drops, things really improved quickly. Having to go under the laser twice kinda sucked. But I'm still very happy I did it.
I'm also walking around funny alot these days. The kids talked me into switching our training from Kempo to grappling or MMA. So I researched some gyms and found a good one ten minutes from home. This place trains professional fighters, including UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon. It's taken about a month to keep my wind and not be so sore I can hardly walk the next day. But it is a ton of fun. Everyone we train with has been cool and accommodating to the newbs. I've even rolled with J-Lau (and gotten promptly submitted). So the next time you see Joe fight on PPV or Spike TV, know that I personally helped him hone his technique for choking out a guy two weight classes above him in a matter of seconds.
Tanner was the middleweight champion of the UFC when I became a fan of MMA, and was one of the reasons why I became a fan. He was such a soft-spoken, humble gentleman out of the octagon. In the octagon he demonstrated a warrior spirit like no other. There are so many examples of Evan being at the very place where others lost their fights, yet hung in there, turned it around and won. Even when he didn't win, he gave an inspiring performance and was gracious to the victor. 
Evan's struggle with alcohol and fall from the spotlight was well known by many thanks to 
We saw him as the middleweight champion at the peak of his career. We saw him suffer a series of tough losses and eventually get cut from the UFC. We read about him hitting the proverbial bottom with no place to go but up – and up he went. Evan confronted his alcohol problem and began training again with hopes of a return to the UFC. That he died this way, after successfully winning a contract with the UFC is so tragic. I don't think many would have been surprised to hear that Evan had taken his own life during his worst moments – he openly talked about it. It is a shock to lose him now. This was one of his latest blog entries about his 
I suppose going 18-0 only to lose the Superbowl in a single play is adequate psychological conditioning for losing Brady for the season in the first quarter of the first game. What a horrible sight. Well, we no longer have to consider the big WHAT IF?. It's here. Unless some major moves are being considered, Matt Cassel is the man. Let's hope the offensive line turns in a pro-bowl year. The running game looked pretty good at times yesterday, and Cassel will still be throwing to Welker and Moss. It will be fun to watch them compete for a playoff spot.
Since then, his striking has improved immensely, making his phenomenal wrestling all the more dangerous. But it was still a huge surprise to see Evans KO Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell so brutally. Chuck has never been knocked out like that and you seriously have to wonder if age isn't now becoming a factor in his ability to be such a devastating counter-puncher. I think Chuck can still be a big draw and have some success as a gatekeeper for the title. But I think his days as a contender are unfortunately over.
I love it!