Journalism rule #16: Turn off your microphone before going to the restroom:
- ACL
Archives
All posts for the month September, 2009
Just a few assorted thoughts:
1. Have you ever been walking somewhere only to realize you were going the wrong way? Rather than simply turning around you do something like pick up your phone, tie your shoe, or make some other gesture so people don’t notice.
2. When our Nintendo was acting up, the universal rule was to blow into the cartridge. EVERYBODY knew that. Meanwhile when we have problems today, we can’t do jack without checking on message boards or calling customer service. This new aged technology has taken away our ingenuity.
3. Microsoft needs to create a font to show when we’re joking. The smiley face thing is stupid.
4. Speaking of writing (somewhat), what was the point of learning to write in cursive?
5. It’s s shame that kids today didn’t get to experience the funny Eddie Murphy. “Kill the White People?” “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood?” Raw. ‘Nuff said.
6. Have you ever loved a movie or a CD so much that you were offended if other people didn’t share your enthusiasm?
7. Out of the 1400 songs on my iPod, I’d say that I only listen to about twenty of them consistently.
8. I’m generally pretty cautious on the road. But I’ll admit, I text while I drive. Please don’t pull me over Alan.
9. When people use “LMBO”, “LOL”, or any variants of that, are they really laughing? I’m usually not.
10. Kids who whine about talking naps have NO IDEA how precious that sleep time will get once they start graduate school.
11. Nothing is more humbling and defeating for me than that split second during an argument when I realize I’ve lost.
12. I hate when I’m doing a test with a Scantron and patterns start to form in the responses (i.e. A, B, C, D, D, C, B, A…). I think professors do that crap on purpose to freak us out.
13. Am I the only one who hates the person in the group who has to remind everybody else that they refuse to eat a certain kind of food (i.e. pork)?
14. I’m not so sure I can criticize R. Kelly for his problem with the kiddies. Nowadays, with the way girls dress and the hormonal/genetic imbalances they have, I can’t tell minors from adults myself.
15. I agree with the dude from “A Bronx Tale” when he essentially said the best way to get rid of somebody you don’t like (well, outside of whacking them, anyway) is to loan them money. Loaning them money usually means you’ll never see them again. A small price to pay in some cases.
16. Am I the only person who still gets nervous during icebreakers when we have to share our name and something about us? I should know these, right?
17. When people are telling me stories with too many details, I get bored easily.
18. Speaking of enduring long and boring stories, why don’t my non-verbal cues every work in getting out of a conversation? Slinging my backpack from shoulder to shoulder, checking my watch/cell phone, taking easing steps toward the door. None of it seems to work with some people.
19. I purposely assign certain people’s numbers with a specific ringtone so I know not to instinctively pick up if they call. I know I’m wrong. But don’t act like it’s just me.
20. I must be the world’s dumbest potential criminal, because even if I had your date of birth, your soc #, and knew your mother’s maiden name, I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with that information.
21. When I meet people online (it’s only been a few times), I have to be careful not to mention something I read on their profile unless they’ve mentioned it first. Otherwise, I look like a creepy internet stalker.
22. I hate when people get in my car and start changing the station or the CD tracks. Is that not the rudest thing on Earth? If I want to listen to Celtic Woman in the car I paid for, that’s what we listen to.
- ACL
It’s foolish to discount the racism, vitriol, and ignorance that has been demonstrated by some folks after the election of President Barack Obama. But, let’s not forget that hatred toward presidents is nothing new. Consider the evidence from the previous administration:
Extremism and lunancy are not attributes belonging to one group. Indeed, both our major parties have fringe elements to deal with. This stuff, as you can see, cut both ways.
Pray for our leaders. Be critical, but not hate-laced. Dissent if you disagree, but maintain civility and peacefulness in the process.
- ACL
Today’s video is a revisitation of one of the most important interviews I’ve seen so far about the Health Care Reform issues. On a July, 2009 episode of Bill Moyers Journal, Mr. Wendell Porter; former executive for powerful health insurance company CIGNA, is on blowing a whistle on the practices in the industry. Of particular note was one of his statements:
The industry has always tried to make Americans think that government-run systems are the worst thing that could possibly happen to them, that if you even consider that, you’re heading down on the slippery slope towards socialism. So they have used scare tactics for years and years and years, to keep that from happening. If there were a broader program like our Medicare program, it could potentially reduce the profits of these big companies. So that is their biggest concern.
I don’t know Porter’s complete story. Perhaps he has an axe to grind with his former employer (though he indicated he left on his own steam). Perhaps he truly felt the road to redemption was through uncovering the shameful practices of the industry. Either way, the information shared in this interview needs to become a part of the health care discussion. If we leave the discussion up to the likes of these folks, we’re all in trouble:
- ACL
Duane over at the Black Informant raises a complex question: In light of the dismal state of the economy, should people to stop having so many so kids? I say yes. But Pastor Voddie Baucham shares a very interesting opposing viewpoint:
I do not believe that an economic downturn is a sufficient reason to prevent pregnancy. I base my argument on four key factors. First, children are a blessing. The Bible is clear on this issue
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Second, we are commanded to “be fruitful and multiply.” (Gen 1:28; 8:17; 9:1, 7; 35:11; Jer 23:3) One of the principle purposes of marriage is procreation. Of course, this goes beyond merely having children to actually bringing them up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4) in an effort to spread the image of God (and the gospel) throughout the earth. As such, it is unthinkable for Christians to attempt to enjoy the benefits of marriage and avoid the responsibility of having and raising children to the glory of God.
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Third, any decision to avoid pregnancy has to be based on biblical reasons, and a struggling economy is not one of them. While I do not believe that there are many instances where preventing pregnancy would be “biblical”, I do believe that there are some instances where one could make a strong biblical argument for doing so.
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Read the rest of the article here.
Even though Pastor Baucham’s history of conservatism when it comes to interpreting God’s Word and its modern-day applications is a far stretch from my views on living God’s word, I think we agree in principle on this one. But I’ve always believed that subscribing to religious-based ideologies should not be done without also displaying some level of pragmatism. As I’ve mentioned before, the tone of the rhetoric found in recent townhall meetings provides me clear indication that people are simply NOT willing to show compassion toward their neighbors. In one clip for instance, I heard an attendee say to a woman and her child “It’s not my job to pay for your health care.” In the face of that reality and with the resentment growing for parents (unwed, mostly) who take advantage of certain economically-based social programs, it is my contention that people are better off not having children until they can adequately afford them.
Pastor Baucham creates his argument using both the mandate given by God to be fruitful and multiply and the blessings thereof as context. So in that respect, we agree. But in another vein, I don’t consider multiplication and fruitfulness as being one in the same. When many parents have a slew of kids that would make Bebe envious (often a product of bad parenting), they may be in a position where they are satisifying one aspect of God’s mandate – multiplying – without necessarily accomplishing the fruitful cultivation of said children. Even in environments where people may have accomplished both – bearing children and exhibiting solid parenting, the economic hardships that may still ensue don’t automatically disappear. Diapers aren’t discounted just because a person is a good parent. Formula and baby clothes don’t magically appear just because a person prays for them.
There are indeed blessings that come with parenthood, I’m sure. But they are usually not blessings of the economic variety (until tax time, that is). The blessings of which Baucham is speaking are of an intrinsic nature, not of palpability. The feeling a parent gets when their child learns to walk, their first words, the time when junior scores the game winning goal, or when the child is marching across the stage to earn a diploma are all examples of the “blessings” associated with parenthood. The actual hardships to be persevered are not included in the discussion.
I’m certainly not arguing that economics is the only thing that determines good parenting. I’m from a two-parent, mostly single-income, working class family with four brothers and sisters…and we all managed to turn out pretty good in our own ways. But I’d be a fool (or so would anybody else, for that matter) to think that economics should have no bearing at all on the decision to have children. A sundry of things – like having both parents in the household, instilling a deeply rooted sytem of values, and placing an emphasis on education also greatly contributes to the child-rearing process. But economics is – and always will be – a portion of that equation. Given that economic support for many families is largely based on social programs – programs often met with disdain from ‘fed up’ people – parents and would-be parents should take all that into consideration before the stork pays them a visit.
- ACL
